10 Other Times Star Trek Used The Vasquez Rocks

8. Friday’s Child - Star Trek: The Original Series

After a threefer in Season 1 (and a round of budget cuts for Season 2), The Original Series would make one more visit out to Vasquez Rocks and stage it all from a totally different angle. Friday’s Child remains my favorite undervalued and overlooked The Original Series episodes for so many reasons, so much McCoy, McCoy fully taking his place structurally in the Trek Trinity, McCoy actually gives the landing party briefing (we actually SEE a landing party briefing!), Scotty in command and to the rescue, a laughing Flintstones ha-ha ending for the ages, “Leonard James Aka-ar”, and, of course, two words: Julie Freakin’ Newmar. 

Thank you, Dorothy DC Fontana!

On the downs, though, those tall walking tassle-carpets as alien warriors look like they are burning up in that heat, but hey, you can’t have everything! 

That’s WHY, despite those tent camp scenes obviously filmed on a stage, shooting the overland pursuit and Our Heroes’ strategy banter over two long days at Vasquez Rocks adds so much scope to this one, and there was even a high-tech avalanche! 

These Capella IV scenes are actually across the main park road, opposite the main rocks and their backside, which are all carefully kept out of frame. Get to the site yourself with some guidance, and you realize just how compact all that location work was done: so much done with opposite angles, and close-ups on a rock wall and faux-cave entrance that all look far bigger onscreen— the magic of Hollywood, on a budget! 

But still, it’s another case where you too can bring along your own flip-top communicators, and imagine you’re hyper-frequency stopping some rebel alien pursuers right in their tracks!