Where was Anna Pigeon filmed? The set had no walls — and the occasional grizzly wandering through
Anna Pigeon filming locations, explained — the real mountains standing in for the show's national park, why the production skipped the soundstage entirely, and what the cast ran into on location.
Every TV drama claims it was "shot on location." Anna Pigeon would like a word, because this production's location had apex predators.
Not Montana. Better lawyers than me can explain why.
The show is set in Montana's Glacier National Park, but it was filmed entirely in the Kananaskis mountains of Alberta, Canada, right next door to Banff. No soundstage, no backlot, no walls — the crew built Anna's ranger cabins along an actual creek and shot everything practical, weather and wildlife included.
Star Tracy Spiridakos, who grew up camping in these exact woods, had precisely one note about her rustic new workplace: "I can deal without heat, just give me the plumbing." (The plumbing did not materialize. Showbiz!)
Day one: a grizzly. With children.
On the very first day of filming, actual park rangers informed the cast that a mother grizzly and her two cubs were hanging around set, which is the kind of production memo you frame. Everyone was told to keep bear spray within reach.
Most shows hire a wildlife consultant. This one got wildlife, unsolicited, on day one.
As Spiridakos recalled the rangers' advice to HELLO!: "You're in her world so just tread lightly."
The bear was not the only co-star with fur, either:
- a trained cougar worked scenes with the cast, because subtlety is dead
- Spiridakos bonded hard with her on-screen horse, Joker, reportedly a highlight of the shoot
- the weather did whatever Alberta weather wants, which is everything, hourly
The result is a show where the scenery isn't wallpaper — it's the whole point, and occasionally it growls.
