Don't Resist It

This summer’s Terminator Salvation may be set in in 2018, but much of it was filmed in New Mexico in 2008. Terminator fans, here’s your go-to guide for visiting the locations of the movie you love. By Ashley M. Biggers and Tricia Ware

First, view the movie trailer.

In Terminator Salvation, John Connor (played by a husky-voiced Christian Bale) leads The Resistance, the last surviving members of the human race, determined to defeat the genocidal regime of Skynet and their assassin robots. In this movie, New Mexico provides the otherworldly mountain-and-desert landscape representing Southern California, post-apocalypse.

Begin your visit in Albuquerque, where many of the film’s interior scenes were created at Albuquerque Studios. Although you won’t be able to visit the studios, you can visit a nearly deserted road in the area, which also leads to the Journal Pavilion concert amphitheatre. The road set the scene for Marcus Wright’s (a humanoid-terminator played by Sam Worthington) battle with moto-terminators.

On 2nd Street between Atlantic and Santa Fe Avenues, an abandoned train yard building with a mosaic of broken windows became the location for Wright’s introduction to the post-Judgment Day world. In the scene, he walks down a debris-strewn street, calling out to what he assumes is a fellow human, only to find himself face to face with a hostile terminator. Fortunately, the real downtown Albuquerque is much more friendly. While you’re there, check out the Gold Street Caffe (218 Gold Ave.), which also provides free wi-fi along with their stellar salads and sandwiches. Check into the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque (330 Tijeras NW) for a night’s rest before heading out for your next excursion.
  
Southern Day Trip    
Traveling south on I-25, then turning west on N.M. 60 in Socorro, you can visit the Cibola National Forest(Juan Tabo Basin) where Wright, Kyle Reese (John Connor’s father played by sweet-faced Anton Yelchin), and Star (Reese’s young friend) race down a mountain road in a Jeep to escape a flying terminator. After hiking and camping in the Cibola National Forest, visit the Very Large Array, one of the world's premier astronomical radio observatories consisting of 27 gargantuan radio antennas, located 50 miles west of Socorro. Though we’re pretty sure the production didn’t film on location—the scientists at the VLA probably didn’t want their equipment to actually explode—the VLA inspired the film’s opening scene in which Connor and his men infiltrate a Skynet hub to discover a cruel experiment combining robot parts and human bodies.

Northern Day Trip
Travel north on I-25 to Algodones. In the film, this stand of cottonwood trees along the Río Grande sets the scene for Wright’s daring escape from Resistance headquarters, but instead of exploding land mines and hostile hydrobots, you’ll find the delicate silvery minnows lurking in the slowly moving waters. Spend the night in the scenic Hacienda Vargas bed-and-breakfast to take in the vibe of the pastoral town.

A hundred miles north, Taos is known for its plaza, art scene, shopping, and historic Taos Pueblo—but you can get the dish on those things in any guidebook. For Terminator fans, the excitement starts 10 miles northwest of town at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, the scene of the dramatic aerial face-off between Skynet’s terminators  and The Resistance. With Wright behind the wheel, a tow truck careens down the bridge, crashing into abandoned vehicles. Wright tumbles over the edge into the jaws of a robot-aircraft, transporting its human prisoners to Skynet’s concentration camp. As the enemy aircraft zooms off, Resistance A-10 jets follow hot pursuit through the Gorge.

On your own visit, you won’t find planes and robots, of course, but you’ll see that the height of the bridge and the depth of the gorge look exactly as they do on-screen. At a height of 650 feet, the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge is the third highest in the United States. The Gorge, which reaches a depth of 800 feet, is known for its world-class white water and steep pocketed rock climbing. Not surprisingly, it’s a picture-taking hotspot, too, and tourists pepper the site most days. Also, locals sell their jewelry, crafts, and other handmade goods in the open air near the bridge.

For good eats, head back into town for pizza and pasta at Taos Pizza Outback, 908 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, called “the Outback” by locals. For an otherworldly stay, consider renting an Earthship in the Greater World Community, a sort of subdivision of sustainable homes about two miles north of the bridge. Usually, about three vacant homes in the community are available for rent at any one time. If they’re booked, try Dobson House, a 6,000-square-foot Earthship B&B in the area with stupendous views.

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