Untamed filming location and Yosemite double are revealed in this gripping Netflix miniseries, blending mystery, drama, and breathtaking landscapes.

I find myself lost in the mountains, a world of granite and green, of towering cliffs and whispering pines. The story of Untamed is etched into this landscape, a six-part miniseries that breathes with the spirit of Yosemite yet was born far from its sun-drenched valleys. It is a creation of shadows and light, a mystery born from the pen of Mark L. Smith, who gave us The Revenant, and brought to life under the direction of Nick Murphy. I am drawn into its world, a place where beauty conceals a heart of darkness.

The narrative follows Kyle Turner, portrayed with a simmering intensity by Eric Bana, a National Park Service agent whose investigation into a young girl's fatal fall from El Capitan unravels secrets. The show is a masterful blend of genres:

• Mystery: The central, haunting case.

• Drama: The human tensions it exposes.

• Crime: The acts that stain the pristine wilderness.

• Thriller: The relentless pace of discovery.

It is TV-MA in its raw, unflinching exploration, a story that premiered in 2025 on Netflix and captivated audiences with its 8.9/10 rating.

Yet, here is the first great illusion. The Yosemite we see—its iconic vistas, its sheer rock faces—is a grand cinematic sleight of hand. Not a single scene with the actors was captured within the actual boundaries of the California park. The production, which began its journey in late June 2024 and concluded in late September of that year, found its home in the misty forests and studios of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This is a well-trodden path for filmmakers; North Shore Studios in North Vancouver has been the birthplace for giants like Man of Steel, Deadpool, and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. The series employed aerial shots of the real Yosemite, stitching the authentic sky with a fabricated earth, creating a seamless, breathtaking whole.

The reasons for this displacement are both artistic and pragmatic. Mark L. Smith revealed the core inspiration: "Everyone thinks of Yosemite as this beautiful place with all the vistas and all the scenery, but we were trying to touch on the dangers that are just beyond that." Canada's rugged landscapes provided a convincing, and crucially, a more financially viable, double. Shooting in a U.S. National Park brings layers of logistical complexity and cost that the production sidestepped. The cast, including the formidable Sam Neill as Paul Souter, walked the trails of Chip Kerr Park in Port Moody, BC—the same ground that later felt the footsteps of warriors in FX's Shōgun.

I remember reading about the transformation of a quiet Canadian neighborhood for this tale. In August 2024, the streets of Port Moody—Henry, Hope, William—were overtaken. A dozen semi-trailers, a boom lift, a catering truck, and a small army of creators: set designers, production assistants, camera operators, actors, directors. They built a piece of Yosemite in a Canadian suburb, a temporary wilderness of plywood and passion.

The legacy of filming in Yosemite is rich—Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier all captured its majesty directly. Untamed joins their ranks in spirit, if not in geographical fact. It uses the park's mythic status as a character itself, a silent witness to human frailty. The supporting cast, like William Smillie's smiling yet inscrutable Bruce Milch, adds layers to this complex portrait of a community on the edge of the wild.

As I reflect on this creative journey from script to screen, the table below captures its essence:

Aspect	Detail
Setting (Narrative)	Yosemite National Park, California
Setting (Filming)	Vancouver & Port Moody, BC, Canada
Filming Period	June - September 2024
Key Studio	North Shore Studios, North Vancouver
Primary Inspiration	The hidden dangers within beauty
Practical Reason	Financial and logistical feasibility

So, what is real? The fear is real. The tension etched on Eric Bana's face as Kyle Turner is real. The creative ambition to tell a story about the darkness lurking in our most sacred spaces is undeniably real. Untamed is a testament to the magic of filmmaking—the ability to distill the essence of a place and transplant it, to make the forests of Canada sigh with the soul of Yosemite. It reminds me that sometimes, to tell the truest story about a wilderness, you must first leave it, and build its echo somewhere else. The granite cliffs in the final cut are a magnificent illusion, but the chill they send down your spine? That is absolutely genuine. The wilderness, whether real or recreated, remains untamed.