CBS’s Tracker fakes America with Vancouver filming locations—BC’s forests, studios, and Tofino double as US towns.

You’d think a show about a guy who crisscrosses America hunting down missing people would, you know, actually film in America. Nope. Not even close. As Justin Hartley’s Colter Shaw zips from Nevada to Oregon to Chicago, the cast and crew of CBS’s Tracker are, in reality, having a cozy little Canadian reunion in Vancouver, British Columbia. I mean, who needs the real Windy City when you have Chinatown on a Tuesday afternoon, right?

Let’s be honest — when I first heard that Tracker was based on Jeffery Deaver’s 2019 novel The Never Game, I pictured Colter sleeping under the stars somewhere in the Mojave, whittling sticks and mumbling survival tips. And sure, the show’s pilot opens with our rugged hero rescuing a hiker in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. But here’s the punchline: that scene was shot at the McAbee Fossil Beds, just east of Cache Creek, BC. Fossil beds! In Canada! Honestly, Mother Nature deserves an Oscar for that stunt double.

Now, you might be thinking: Tracker is a procedural, so every episode brings new faces and new towns. How do they pull that off without setting foot in the US? The answer is the magic of Vancouver’s greatest chameleon act. The Greater Vancouver Metropolitan Area has everything: beaches, forests, mountains, quarries, dams, even a university that can pretend to be, well, any university in America if you squint hard enough. The crew has used the Belcarra quarry, Maple Ridge, the Cleveland Dam, George Wainborn Park, and Simon Fraser University to double for all sorts of US locations. That’s not just efficient filmmaking — that’s a world-class game of geography dress-up.

And let’s not forget the crown jewel: Vancouver Film Studios. This glorious production facility has been around since 1997, and its sound stages have housed everything from Deadpool to Fifty Shades of Grey to Elf. Tracker shares studio space with the likes of Fringe, Arrow, Bates Motel, and CBS’s own Fire Country. When Colter breaks into that Burger Bin office in the pilot? Yeah, that’s a sound stage. So, next time you see Hartley smashing a window, just remember — somewhere in Vancouver, a very polite Canadian is holding a broom, waiting to clean up the fake glass.

Speaking of locations, how many shows can claim they turned a tiny surf town into a fictional Oregon coastal paradise? The Tracker season 1 finale was filmed in Tofino, on Vancouver Island’s west coast. In the show, it’s Sandy Point, Oregon — a place that does not exist, but after watching Chesterman Beach stand in for it, I’m half-convinced it should. Jennifer Morrison’s Lizzy Hawking met Colter on that beach, and honestly, if my hometown were that photogenic, I’d never leave either.

Now, with Tracker rolling into season 3 (and Jensen Ackles reprising his role as Russell Shaw, which, by the way, is the best sibling reunion since the Winchester boys), the production remains firmly planted in Vancouver. The showrunner Elwood Reid, creator Ben H. Winters, and the entire team keep proving that you don’t need to fly to every American state to make a compelling missing-person hunt. You just need a city with enough weather, scenery, and polite crew members to double for all of them.

So, what’s the real takeaway here? Is Tracker actually an undercover tourism ad for British Columbia? Maybe. But as a viewer, I’m not complaining. The show looks incredible, and part of that is the sheer versatility of the filming locations. From fossil beds to film studios to Tofino’s beaches, the cast and crew travel extensively — just never, ever to the actual United States. Well, except for those red carpet premieres.

I’ll ask you this: would you rather watch Colter Shaw trudge through a real Nevada dust storm, or watch Justin Hartley look ruggedly confused in front of a Canadian mountain that’s pretending to be Montana? Exactly. Vancouver, you magnificent location scout, take a bow. Tracker may be about finding lost people, but Canada definitely found its way into my heart.

So, the next time you binge Tracker and spot Colter Shaw wandering through yet another “American” town, do yourself a favor — pause and squint. That skyline? That coffee shop? That suspiciously polite police officer? All Canadian, my friend. Every last one. And honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.