The shining hotel set for the 1980 film was primarily built on soundstages at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, England. These studio sets covered most of the Overlook’s interiors, including corridors, the Colorado Lounge, kitchen, and many other rooms.
Main hotel exteriors
The exterior of the Overlook Hotel in the movie is the Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon, USA. The famous car‑approach shots and mountain drive were filmed along Going‑to‑the‑Sun Road and around Saint Mary Lake in Glacier National Park, Montana.
Interior inspiration
Although interiors were constructed at Elstree, many design elements were modeled on the Ahwahnee Hotel (now The Majestic Yosemite Hotel) in Yosemite National Park, California. Features like the lobby, timber beams, and some decorative motifs echo that real hotel rather than the Timberline itself.
Other related locations
Additional real locations tied to The Shining include Kensington Apartments in Boulder, Colorado, used for the Torrance family’s apartment exterior, and Stansted Airport in England, used as the stand‑in for Denver’s Stapleton Airport. Exterior hedge‑maze and other outdoor sets were built on backlots near Elstree and the former MGM Borehamwood site rather than at Timberline Lodge.
