History and culture - Mountains
Ridgway is True Grit country, and you can still walk to the film's traces
Much of the 1969 western True Grit, the film that won John Wayne his only Oscar, was shot in and around Ridgway, and several of its locations are still recognizable in town.
Published June 10, 2026 - Last verified June 15, 2026
Most people come to Ridgway for the mountains or the railroad past. But the town has another quiet claim: much of the 1969 western True Grit, the film that won John Wayne his only Academy Award, was shot here and in the valley around it.
You can still pick out some of the places. The grassy square at the center of town, Hartwell Park, is where the movie’s gallows were built for its hanging scene, and the park looks much as it did then. The nearby buildings stood in for the streets of “Fort Smith.” At the True Grit Cafe, an everyday filming detail survived in an unusual way: an interior wall of the cafe was the original outside wall of the “Chambers Grocery” storefront seen early in the film, so a piece of the set is now part of the dining room.
Some scenes happened on private land, including the ranch on Last Dollar Road used for the opening and closing shots. Those are working properties, so it is best to take them in from the public road and leave the rest alone.
It is a small, friendly layer of history you can cover on foot. The Town of Ridgway tells the story on its own site, and a local walking-tour brochure points out the marked spots.