Where Was Longmire Filmed? Every Major Location Explained

The many dark mysteries and darker crimes that played out over six seasons of "Longmire" called for some suitably dramatic backdrops, and the series certainly found them. Based on the book series by Craig Johnson, the neo-Western cop show is set in the fictional county of Absaroka, Wyoming, but it was filmed largely on location in New Mexico.

"Longmire" stars Robert Taylor as the titular Sheriff Walt Longmire, Lou Diamond Phillips as his close friend, Henry Standing Bear, and Katee Sackhoff as homicide detective Victoria "Vic" Moretti. The series ran for three seasons on A&E and an additional three seasons on Netflix, finally wrapping up in 2017. "Longmire" has since left Netflix's library, but it's currently available to stream in full on Paramount+.

If you're interested in walking the same streets as Walt, or simply curious about where exactly "Longmire" was filmed, here's a guide to the major filming locations — and why none of them are in Wyoming.

New Mexico offers generous film tax credit incentives, so it has played host to a number of TV shows over the years — including hits like "Breaking Bad." The state's mix of rolling rangelands and mountain peaks makes it a decent visual double for Wyoming as well, a role that it also played in the Prime Video sci-fi series "Outer Range."

The more urban settings in "Longmire" primarily used locations in Santa Fe and Las Vegas. (The latter is a small city in New Mexico, not to be confused with the more famous Las Vegas in Nevada.) Exteriors for one of the show's biggest locations, Absaroka County Sheriff's Department, were filmed at Las Vegas Plaza, which plays the role of the main town square in the show. The building still maintains the Sheriff's Department sign on the front door, making it a popular tourist attraction and photo op for fans of the show.

The show's interiors were mostly filmed on sound stages at Garson Studios, Santa Fe, a facility that was also used by the Coen Brothers for their films "True Grit" and "No Country For Old Men." But while Garson Studios was home base for the production, a great deal of the show was shot on location in the areas surrounding Santa Fe and Las Vegas. Back in 2014, production designer Tom Walsh told Jackalope Magazine that the show required some tricky logistics because so much time was spent "working out of trucks" and "sending your crews to distant locations."

One such distant location? The sheriff's cabin.

Located in Valles Caldera National Preserve (formerly known as Baca Ranch) and backed by the Jemez Mountains, Sheriff Walt Longmire's cabin has a lot of real-life history behind it. According to the National Park Service, the cabin was constructed in 1918, with some remodeling done in the 1980s, and it's also known as the "Little House." It was built as housing for the ranch manager and was in regular working use until Baca Ranch was sold to the federal government in July 2000.

Thanks to that sale, anyone who's willing to make the trek (and pay a small entrance fee to explore the national preserve) can visit Walt's cabin and enjoy the spectacular views. Entering the cabin or standing on the porch is not permitted, but according to local blog Four Corners of the Southwest, visitors will sometimes leave cans of Rainier beer on the porch for Walt. Well, at least they're not throwing pizza on the roof.

As mentioned above, one of the main reasons it made sense for "Longmire" to film in New Mexico was the state's film tax credits, which offer a rebate of up to 40% with bonuses. Wyoming did have its own incentive program when the show was being filmed, but it maxed out at 15%. The program was allowed to sunset in 2018 and efforts to reintroduce a film tax credit since have so far been unsuccessful.

This is a compounding issue. Because so few movies or TV shows are filmed in Wyoming, the state simply doesn't have the kind of established film industry infrastructure — including sound stages, trained crew, and equipment rental facilities — that New Mexico does. With a population of fewer than 600,000 people, Wyoming is one of the most sparsely-populated states in the country. It's also known for weather conditions that would have been a nightmare for a show that shot so much on location. (It's the second most windy state in the U.S., behind only Alaska.)

With all of those challenges, filming in Wyoming was pretty much a no-go for "Longmire." But fans of the franchise still hold an annual Longmire Days celebration in Buffalo, Wyoming, which was the inspiration for the show's fictional city of Durant.