This Is Where The Great Outdoors Was Filmed

Filming for "The Great Outdoors" kicked off in late 1987, and considering that the subject matter of the movie revolves around camping, the call was made to shoot it almost entirely on-location. As recalled by the Los Angeles Times back in 1995, Bass Lake, California — a resort town not too far from Yosemite National Park — acted as the perfect backdrop for the film. Ducey's Bass Lake Lodge was used to create Wally and Juanita's Perk's Pine Lodge, Pines Bar acted as the set for the bar scenes, and Paramount Ranch made the go-kart sequences happen (via Screen Rant).

Additionally, the actual vacation cabin was constructed on a Universal Studios backlot and was later reused for a handful of other productions. The Studio Tour notes that ABC's "Coach," "Naked Gun 3," "Shooter," and "Desperate Housewives" found a use for it long after filming on "The Great Outdoors" was all said and done. To this day, it remains a fixture of the Universal Studios backlot, and the corresponding website includes an in-depth look at both the exterior and interior of the impressive vacation home.

Despite being set in the fictional Pechoggin, Wisconsin, Bass Lake, California helped sell "The Great Outdoors" as an ode to outdoor family vacations and the mishaps that come to define them in hindsight.