Set at a resort in the Catskill Mountains, the movie “Dirty Dancing” was actually filmed in Lake Lure, North Carolina.
A Dirty Dancing scene from inside the green cabin, which is still rented out to guests Credit: Dirty Dancing - Great American Films Limited Partnership / Vestron Pictures The exterior of the hotel itself looks almost exactly the same as it does in the movie, although the lake in the grounds has since dried up.
It’s often claimed that this famous scene was filmed at Lake Lure in North Carolina, but it wasn’t. Yes, Lake Lure, southeast of Asheville, is the film’s other location but it hasn’t fared so well as Mountain Lake in terms of what’s left to see.
In the film, the green was made to look like a practice green and Baby interrupted her parents while they were working on their swings to ask her father for money to pay for Johnny’s dance partner’s abortion. It’s not an actual filing location, but the 1927 Lake Lure Inn & Spa is still of interest to Dirty Dancing fans.
Lake Lure in Rutherford County, North Carolina A handful of exterior scenes and most of the interior scenes were filmed in Lake Lure, North Carolina. While the lift in the lake was filmed at Mountain Lodge, most of the footage around that scene, including the dance on the log, were filmed at Lake Lure.
1927 Lake Lure Inn & SpaCheck in to the 1927 Lake Lure Inn & Spa, where Patrick Swayze, portraying bad-boy dance instructor Johnny Castle, and Jennifer Grey, the beloved Frances “Baby” Houseman, stayed during filming. Settle into Johnny's Cabin or Baby's Bungalow, both spacious Dirty Dancing-themed cabins.
Mountain Lake Lodge, known as Kellerman's Mountain House in the classic movie, is located in the center of a 2,600-acre nature preserve and bird sanctuary in Virginia.
Bald Mountain Golf CourseThe golf scenes where filmed on the 16th hole of Bald Mountain Golf Course at Rumbling Bald on Lake Lure. If you play golf, you will be playing right on the scene location.
Bookings can be made as far as a year in advance and rates begin at $199 a night and go from there with certain minimum stay requirements depending upon the type of lodging. There are several packages to choose from, many including meal plans and vouchers for activities. And Yes, it's possible to stay in Baby's cabin.
That's because, Kellerman's is, of course, the resort setting for Dirty Dancing, the iconic and beloved 1987 film starring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze. But '80s superfans, rejoice: You can indeed stay at the very place where Frances “Baby” Houseman journeyed with her family—and had the time of her life.
The movie was filmed on the east coast and you can actually visit this Dirty Dancing filming location for free. Once it's safe to start traveling again, you should add this to your bucket list. The Mountain Lake Lodge in Pembroke, Virginia is one of the most iconic destinations in the entire Dirty Dancing movie.
But in 2008, the lake used in the 1987 movie — known as Mountain Lake and located at Mountain Lake Lodge in Pembroke, Virginia — completely dried up, leaving behind rotting fish and perplexed scientists, the Roanoke Times reported.
All of the scenes were filmed in two locations in North Carolina and Virginia – and many of the places remain intact today. Thousands of Dirty Dancing fans make the pilgrimage every year to the Mountain Lake Lodge hotel, which was the real-life location for Kellerman’s Resort where Baby and her family stayed.
Guests can book into Johnny’s Cabin at 1927 Lake Lure Inn & Spa Credit: Lake Lure Inn & Spa. It’s not an actual filing location, but the 1927 Lake Lure Inn & Spa is still of interest to Dirty Dancing fans. While filming the movie, Patrick and Swayze and Jennifer Gray stayed at the inn.
DIRTY Dancing is now 33 years old, but the romantic movie hasn't lost any of its shine since it premiered in August 1987. Every year, diehard fans make the pilgrimage to North Carolina and Virginia to discover the locations where some of the films best-loved scenes were shot. 14.
While the lift in the lake was filmed at Mountain Lodge, most of the footage around that scene, including the dance on the log, were filmed at Lake Lure.
In the film, it was called “Kellerman Resort” and was supposed to be located in New York’s Catskill Mountains. Most of the exterior scenes were filmed at the hotel for two weeks in 1986, and quite a few of the interior scenes were too.
The 16th hole at Bald Mountain Golf Course is where Baby asked her father for money to pay for Johnny’s dance partner’s abortion Credit: Alamy. Golf courses aren’t usually known for their rom com connections, but the 16th hole at Bald Mountain. Golf Course was used for one memorable scene from the movie.
North Carolina. Besides Pembroke, Virginia, the other primary filming location for ‘Dirty Dancing’ was the town of Lake Lure in Rutherford County, North Carolina. A boys camp doubled up as the staff cabins in the movie, whereas a local gymnasium served as the banquet hall for Johnny and Baby’s dance routine.
In ‘Dirty Dancing’, Baby and her family consisting of her father Jake, mother Marjorie and sister Lisa are guests at the swanky Kellerman’s Resort in the Catskill Mountains located in southeastern New York. The resort itself is based on a real life location in the Catskills as well. The Catskills are ubiquitous in popular culture, being a fashionable winter skiing destination as well as the site for the filming of numerous films and TV shows, and the inspiration for Hudson River School art movement in the 19th century.
The main cast of ‘Dirty Dancing’ besides Swayze and Grey includes Cynthia Rhodes as Penny Johnson, Jerry Orbach as Jake Houseman, Jane Brucker as Lisa Houseman, Kelly Bishop as Marjorie Houseman, Jack Weston as Max Kellerman and Lonny Price as Neil Kellerman.
However, while the setting of the movie is the Catskills in New York, filming was primarily done in a variety of locations across two states – Virginia and North Carolina.
Peerspace makes it easy to book sensational production venues by the hour. Enjoy the largest location library and hassle-free bookings.
Most writers take seriously the adage to “write what you know” to make the story more compelling.
As we know, there is a lot of “smoke and mirrors” involved in filmmaking — not everything appears as it actually is. Film producers can’t always film in the locations where the story is set, so they must find filming locations that approximate the original intent of the story.
Grossinger’s Catskill Resort and Hotel near Liberty, NY in the Catskill Mountains, was the largest Borscht Belt resort of the era. Open from 1919 to 1986, it was a kosher establishment open only during the summer that catered primarily to Jewish clients from New York City.
Peerspace makes it easy to book sensational production venues by the hour. Enjoy the largest location library and hassle-free bookings.
The movie was filmed in North Carolina and Virginia because the filming season is longer in the southern U.S. A few scenes were filmed in a lake, and the lake water is much warmer in Lake Lure, North Carolina than in upstate New York.
Now that we’ve answered the question about where was “Dirty Dancing” filmed you have all the info you need to create your own experience that approximates the film.
Baby asks her father for help while he is playing golf with her mother.
Mountain Lake Lodge was the site for much of the on-location filming of Dirty Dancing. The Stone Lodge stood in for ‘Kellerman’s Resort’, a fictional mountain retreat in the Catskill Mountain of upstate New York. Like Kellerman’s the real Mountain Lake Lodge also offers many indoor and outdoor activities for guests.
Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.
Dirty Dancing film location: the remains of the dance hall: Firefly Cove, Lake Lure, North Carolina| Photograph: Getty Images / Davis Turner / Stringer.
Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach, Kelly Bishop, Jack Weston, Wayne Knight. Looking back, I was a bit sniffy about Dirty Dancing in the first edition of The Worldwide Guide To Movie Locations but it’s stood the test of time both as a musical romance and as a reminder of that period when the Fifties began to morph into the Sixties.
The main location is the hotel itself, which is the Mountain Lake Lodge , Pembroke, off I-460 west of Roanoke, Virginia.
Lake Lure is a picturesque area which had been used as a location during the silent movie era. In 1992, Chimney Rock Park itself became a location for Michael Mann ’s The Last Of The Mohicans.
The Houseman’s destination is the Catskills area of New York State, home to hotels owned by and catering to Jews – becoming dubbed the ‘Borscht Belt’. More formally the Catskill Mountains, the area is in the southeastern part of New York State , about100 miles northwest of New York City or 40 miles southwest of Albany.
Set at a resort in the Catskill Mountains, the movie “Dirty Dancing” was actually filmed in Lake Lure, North Carolina . Filming started on September 5, 1986, and since many of the resorts in the Catskills had been shut down by then, the production team chose Lake Lure, along with The Mountain Lake Hotel near Roanoke, Virginia, for their setting. The old Chimney Rock boys camp, now a residential community called Firefly Cove, served as Kellerman’s Resort in Lake Lure. All of the interior dancing scenes, Baby carrying the watermelon and practicing on the stairs, Johnny’s cabin and the unforgettable “lift” scene in the lake were filmed there.
A tour of the actual rooms Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze stayed in at Lake Lure Inn & Spa, Rumbling Bald Resort golf course, where Baby asks her dad for money, and Esmeralda Inn, where interior dance scenes were filmed, are also options over the weekend.
The old Chimney Rock boys camp, now a residential community called Firefly Cove, served as Kellerman’s Resort in Lake Lure. All of the interior dancing scenes, Baby carrying the watermelon and practicing on the stairs, Johnny’s cabin and the unforgettable “lift” scene in the lake were filmed there. In 2010, Lake Lure decided to celebrate ...