Locations for The Hunger Games were found in the western
half of North Carolina , largely between Asheville and
Charlotte.
Adapted from the first of Suzanne Collins’ series of novels,
the film takes place in a post-war nation known as Panem
(which used to be the USA), consisting of a decadently
wealthy Capitol and twelve poverty-stricken districts,
punished for their part in the ‘uprising’.
‘District 12’, where the film begins, is located in the coal-
mining region that was formerly Appalachia, the area of the
eastern US, roughly running from Pennsylvania to Alabama .
An abandoned village about 50 miles northwest of
Charlotte, which was built in the 1920s as a planned
community with its own textile mill, dam, and company
store, serves as ‘Section 12’. It’s here you can see the home
of Katniss Everdene (Jennifer Lawrence) as well as the
Bakery where Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) works.
Now a ghost town, Henry River Mill Village, near Hildebran,
stands along a small gorge of the Henry River. The buildings
can be seen along Henry River Road, to the south of
Hildebran. The deserted homes are in a dangerous state –
and the land they stand on is private – so you’re seriously
advised to look only from the outside.
The local forest, where Katniss spends time with Gale (Liam
Hemsworth) before volunteering for the Games is officially
called the Big Ivy Area (after the Big Ivy River, not a
colourful local character), though it’s locally referred to as
the Coleman Boundary, part of the Pisgah National Forest ,
near Barnardsville on Route 197 / North Forks Road,
northeast of Asheville.
With more than 30 miles of trails that you can hike or bike,
the mountain region, bordered to the east by the Blue Ridge
Parkway, contains some of the most rugged and scenic
terrain in the state.
About 30 miles south of Hildebran, is the town of Shelby .
Private warehouses west of South Lafayette Street ,
downtown, were used for ‘District 12’s Hob’, and the
‘Reaping Ceremony’, where the two Tributes (competitors in
the games) are chosen by Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks ).
Commercial buildings alongside the railway tracks on South
Morgan Street at Blanton Street were transformed into the
district’s scruffy industrial section.
The chosen tributes are whisked away from the drudgery of
the Districts to the floridly extravagant luxury of the Capitol.
West of Concord, the old Philip Morris Cabarrus Plant, 2321
Concord Parkway South , was used as a studio. Spanning
2,100 acres, and with 2.4 million square feet under one
roof, it was used for scenes at the Capitol, including the
Tributes’ training centre, as well as for Districts 7 and 13.
The tributes’ grand entrance riding in chariots, where
Katniss makes a terrific impression earning her the nickname
‘The Girl on Fire’, was filmed in Charlotte Convention Center,
501 South College Street , in Charlotte itself.
Also in Charlotte, the Knight Theater, 430 South Tryon
Street (part of the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center), was
used for the pre-Game interviews conducted by the
elaborately coiffed television presenter Caesar Flickerman
(Stanley Tucci).
With all the pomp and ceremony out of the way, the survival
games proper begin at the Cornucopia, where the Tributes
are tempted with survival packs. This was built on private
land alongside the North Fork Reservoir, Black Mountain,
about 20 miles to the northeast of Asheville.
Since the reservoir provides drinking water, access to it is
restricted, but you can view it from the Craggy Pinnacle
Trail, accessed at the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center, 364
Blue Ridge Parkway . To minimise damage to the
environment, you’re strongly encouraged to follow the law
and stick to the established trail.
The woods, where game makers prevent Katniss from
straying too far by conjuring up a forest fire, is DuPont State
Forest, Staton Road, Cedar Mountain, about ten miles
southwest of Hendersonville. Within the forest, Katniss
discovers the camouflaged, and wounded Peeta at the base of the Triple Falls, on the Little River. You’ll find the 10,400-acre forest in Henderson and Transylvania Counties, between the towns of Hendersonville and Brevard. The forest and its waterfalls are also seen in Michael Mann ’s 1992 film of The Last Of The Mohicans, with Daniel Day-Lewis.
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