Jackson is a miracle. It's also a lie.
If you’ve played the games or watched the HBO show, you know the vibe. Snow-dusted wooden gates. A bustling town square where kids actually play in the street. Hot soup. The hum of a hydroelectric dam. In a world where fungus-heads are trying to rip your throat out and FEDRA is busy being fascist, Jackson Wyoming in The Last of Us feels like the only place left on Earth where you can actually breathe.
But here’s the thing: the "Jackson" you see on screen isn't really Jackson. Not geographically, not economically, and certainly not in terms of where the cameras were actually rolling.
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Most fans think they can just fly into Jackson Hole Airport and walk through those massive log gates. You can't. Honestly, if you showed up in the real Jackson, Wyoming today, you’d find a town that is arguably the most economically stratified place in the United States. We’re talking billionaires playing cowboy in $30 million "cabins" while the actual working class commutes two hours from Idaho just to flip a burger.
The showrunners knew this. When they needed to film Season 1 and Season 2, they didn't head to Teton County. They went to Canmore, Alberta.
Why? Canada is just better at looking like the idealized version of the American West than the actual American West is. Canmore provided that raw, rugged, "end of the world but cozy" aesthetic. The famous bridge Joel and Ellie cross? That’s the Canmore Engine Bridge. The town square with the string lights? That was a massive set built over the streets of Canmore, not the real Jackson Town Square with its iconic elk antler arches.
It’s kinda funny. The real Jackson locals actually cringed a bit when the show aired. They noticed the mountains were in the wrong place. In the game and show, the valley looks wide and flat. In reality, Jackson is tucked tight between the Teton Range and the Gros Ventre mountains. It’s claustrophobic in a beautiful way, but the production teams chose a more "cinematic" open-plains look.
Survival is a Full-Time Job
Let’s talk about how the town actually works. It's basically a commune. Maria, the leader (and Tommy’s wife), explains it pretty bluntly: everyone contributes, everyone eats.
- The Dam: This is the heartbeat. Without the hydroelectric dam, Jackson is just a bunch of people freezing in the dark. In the first game, this is where we see the "Tommy’s Dam" chapter. In the show, they’ve already got it up and running by the time Joel arrives.
- The Patrols: You can't have a town without a wall, and you can't have a wall without people willing to die for it. The patrol system in The Last of Us Part II is how they track "hordes"—which migrate into the valley during the winter.
- The Economy: There isn't any money. You don't buy a beer at Seth's pharmacy-turned-bar with a credit card. You trade labor for security.
It's a "communist" setup, as Tommy awkwardly admits in the show, much to Joel’s "Texas-bred" discomfort. But in the apocalypse, it’s the only thing that doesn't collapse.
The Geography of a Nightmare
While the game takes liberties, it does use real Wyoming landmarks to ground the story. If you look at the patrol maps in the game, you’ll see mentions of Teton Village, Wilson, and Hoback. These are real places.
In The Last of Us Part II, Ellie and Dina's patrol takes them through a "supermarket" area. This is based on the actual grocery stores and outskirts of the real Jackson. Naughty Dog (the game developers) sent teams to the area to take thousands of reference photos. They even captured the specific way the light hits the snow in the Rockies.
But even with all that research, they left out the most famous part of the real town: The Square.
The real Jackson Town Square has four massive arches made of thousands of naturally shed elk antlers. It’s the ultimate "tourist" shot. The game and show both skipped it. Maybe it looked too "staged" for a post-apocalyptic world? Or maybe they didn't want to explain why a bunch of survivors would spend weeks stacking antlers for an aesthetic.
Why Jackson Still Matters
Jackson represents more than just a level in a video game. It’s the "Why" of the whole series.
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For Joel, Jackson was the chance to be a father again without the crushing weight of the QZ. For Ellie, it was the first time she had a bedroom with a door that locked from the inside. It’s the only place where characters aren't just surviving—they’re living. They have movie nights. They have school. They have teenage drama and bad breakups.
It makes the violence that happens later feel so much worse. When you see a town that actually works, the threat of it being destroyed by a group like the WLF or a random horde feels personal.
How to "Visit" Jackson Today
If you’re a die-hard fan wanting to see the "real" Jackson Wyoming from The Last of Us, you have two options:
- The Real Trip: Fly to Jackson, WY. See the Tetons. Visit the National Elk Refuge. Just be prepared for the prices. It is not an "abandoned" wasteland; it’s a high-end resort town.
- The Film Trip: Head to Canmore, Alberta. This is where you’ll find the Engine Bridge and the streets that actually look like the show. It’s significantly cheaper and, honestly, feels more like the game's atmosphere.
The reality of Jackson is that it’s a fantasy. Whether it’s the real-world version where only the ultra-rich can afford to live, or the fictional version where everyone works together to survive the fungus, it remains a place that feels just out of reach for most of us.
Actionable Next Steps
- Check the Credits: If you're watching Season 2, look for filming locations in British Columbia. The production moved there to better simulate the Seattle environment, though they still utilized Alberta for the core Jackson sets.
- Photo Compare: Search for "Canmore Engine Bridge" vs "The Last of Us Bridge." The resemblance is uncanny because they barely changed the structure for the show.
- Map the Patrols: If you’re playing Part II again, look at the map on the wall in the lookout tower. It’s a 1:1 match for the topography of the Teton County area south of the National Park.