Raiders of the Lost Ark: Tunisia to La Rochelle

The film opens in 1936 with archaeologist Indiana Jones taking a Golden Idol from a booby-trapped Peruvian temple. In late September 1980 the crew moved to Hawaii for the exteriors, and Kauaʻi's Hulēʻia National Wildlife Refuge was one of ten locations used across the islands. The mountain that the Paramount logo dissolves into is Kalalea Mountain, also on Kauaʻi. Near the cave exterior a pool bred mosquitoes, and the whole crew got bitten. The refuge is closed to the public; the nearest shoreline access is at Niumalu Beach Park.

Location precision: The film's sources name the refuge among ten locations across Hawaii but not the exact spot of the temple; the pin marks the refuge.

The opening trek needed donkeys, and they gave the crew trouble: the brown donkeys used for the trek suffered lameness. So a pair of gray donkeys were dyed brown with colored hairspray and flown by helicopter to Nā Pali Coast State Park to finish the scene. The cliffs along this shore rise as much as 4,000 feet above the Pacific. There is no road here; the Kalalau Trail is the only land access along the coast, and boat and helicopter tours also run.

Location precision: The film is reported to have used the state park to finish the trek scene, but not a specific spot; the pin marks the park.

Visitor guidance: The Kalalau Trail is the only land access; the coast can also be seen by helicopter, kayak or tour boat.

Before he is a treasure hunter, Indiana Jones is an archaeology professor, and his school was built from two places. The interior was filmed at the Royal Masonic School for Girls in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, while the exterior was the University of the Pacific in California. The Stockton campus has been used in numerous Hollywood films, and its tower, rose gardens, architectural columns and brick-faced buildings have all been featured on screen.

Location precision: Only the school exterior was filmed here and the exact building is not stated; the pin marks the Stockton campus.

In the story Jones and Marion reach Cairo and meet his friend Sallah. Tunisia was used to portray Egypt, and the Cairo village was filmed in the city of Kairouan. The 1936 setting caused a headache: a day of filming was lost because over 300 TV antennas had to be removed from the surrounding houses. Filming in Tunisia was punishing: the temperature was often over 130 °F and more than 150 crew members fell ill.

Location precision: The sources say the Cairo scenes were shot in the city of Kairouan without naming streets; the pin marks the city.

Jones captures a truck carrying the Ark. The Sidi Bouhlel canyon near the city of Tozeur is where a rocket launcher-equipped Jones confronts the Nazis for it. George Lucas had already used the same canyon in Star Wars to portray the planet Tatooine. The salt flats of nearby Nefta were also used.

Location precision: The scene is placed in the Sidi Bouhlel canyon outside Tozeur without a precise spot; the pin marks the Sidi Bouhlel area.

A German U-boat intercepts the tramp steamer, seizes the Ark and Marion, and Jones covertly boards the sub. Shooting began here on 23 June 1980, with the capture of the Bantu Wind by a Nazi U-boat. The submarine was borrowed from Das Boot on condition it stayed out of deep water, and an Egyptian boat found in an Irish port was dressed up and sailed to France as the steamer. The World War II German U-boat pens at La Pallice played the U-boat dock. The site is closed to anyone not working at the port.