Bronson Canyon, or Bronson Caves, is a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles that has become known as a filming location for many films and television series, especially Westerns and science fiction, from the early days of motion pictures to the present. Location and history Bronson Canyon is located in the southwest section of Griffith Park near the north end of Canyon Drive, which is an extension of Bronson Avenue. In 1903, the Union Rock Company founded a quarry, originally named Brush Canyon, for excavation of crushed rock used in the construction of city streets–carried out of the quarry by electric train on the Brush Canyon Line. The quarry ceased operation in the late 1920s, leaving the caves behind. The caves became known as the Bronson Caves after the nearby avenue and a hill of that name, giving the area its more popular name of Bronson Canyon. The same street may have indirectly provided the stage name for actor Charles Bronson, as the former Charles Buchinsky is believed to have chosen that name in 1954 after seeing it on a street sign in Hollywood. The craggy quarry remains pockmarked by what appear to be cave openings create an ideal backdrop for filming scenes meant to take place in a lonely southwestern wilderness. Scenes of the main cave entrance are normally filmed in a manner that shows the entrance at an angle because the cave is actually a very short tunnel through the hill, with the rear opening easily visible in a direct shot. The most well-known appearance of the tunnel entrance is likely its use as the entrance to the Batcave in the 1966–68 Batman television series. Media filmed or set in the canyon Films Lightning Bryce (1919) Riders of the Purple Sage (1925) The Lightning Warrior (1931) The Hurricane Express (1932) I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) White Zombie (1932) Sagebrush Trail (1933) The Three Musketeers (1933) The Vampire Bat (1933) Mystery Mountain (1934) The Phantom Empire (1935) Flash Gordon (1936) Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island (1936) Zorro Rides Again (1937) Dick Tracy Returns (1938) Hawk of the Wilderness (1938) The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939) Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) Call of the Canyon (1942) Pirates of Monterey (1947) Silver River (1948) Atom Man vs. Superman (1949) Flame of Araby (1951) Unknown World (1951) Carson City (1952) Robot Monster (1953) Captain John Smith and