# Where is this location in California? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956 "2017-06-27T01:44:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/41 "2017-07-01T00:13:04Z")
> [@Ornery\_Bob](#): > > If you search for Mendocino Blowhole on YouTube, you’ll find it. There’s a few smallish ones like that in Mendo, but I can’t remember any like that with that kind of rock and trees… are you sure? Got a specific video in mind? [Some of them show the Little River Blowhole](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzUtgHM3OkI) but the topography and plants there look different from the photo… ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/42 "2017-07-01T06:45:01Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Anyone else on the train. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/43 "2017-07-01T14:18:36Z")
Youtube videos of the “Mendocino blowhole” appear to be of the Little River Blowhole. Here’s some [more video footage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zefd8nCSaU&feature=youtu.be&t=54) of the Little River Blowhole, and I’m confident that it’s not the same as what’s pictured in the OP. Here’s the map coordinates of the Little River Blowhole: > [@](#): > > 39.267766717016606,-123.78779232251992 Using Google Maps/Earth, one can actually drag the orange Street View tool over the hole to get a panoramic view of it and it doesn’t match. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/44 "2017-07-01T15:28:57Z")
Here’s [another scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-I1hJl0ujI) from _Karate Kid Part III_ which shows a bit more of the coastal geography. The headland that Daniel-san and Mr Miyagi are training on matches the rear headland in the [second picture](https://postimg.org/image/uiejwsee7/) that the OP provided. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/45 "2017-07-01T18:24:57Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Here’s [another scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-I1hJl0ujI) from _Karate Kid Part III_ which shows a bit more of the coastal geography. The headland that Daniel-san and Mr Miyagi are training on matches the rear headland in the [second picture](https://postimg.org/image/uiejwsee7/) that the OP provided. The rock formation below and in front of that orange thing in the 2nd picture has an “interesting” shape. 🙂 Looks more like Mendocino than Monterey area. Mendocino is more rocky, and looks a lot like the Maine coast, so you’ll see it in a lot of movies that are supposed to take place there (like _Cujo_). But the town itself has/had an older CA feel to it, and it was used for a lot of the scenes in _East of Eden_ (with James Dean), which was supposed to take place around the Monterey/Salinas area. Also, some of the best CA bud comes from Mendocino area (or so I am told). ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/46 "2017-07-01T18:31:43Z")
Found it! The feature shown in the Karate Kid 3 clip is the **Devil’s Basin** , right next to Highway 1 on the Mendocino coast, about 3 miles north of Elk, CA (so about 7 miles south of the Little River Blowhole, and 10 miles south of the town of Mendocino). If one launches [Google Maps Street View at (39.1708552,-123.7447207), looking South](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@39.1708552,-123.7447207,3a,75y,202.09h,83.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shFjJlEHLxSfUTWt8bECYzw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en), one sees the two distinctive jagged rocks on the south edge of the blowhole, with the single jagged rock on the next headland, as shown in [The SunDial’s second image](https://postimg.org/image/uiejwsee7/) and the [video clip posted by **Walken After Midnight**](https://youtu.be/H-I1hJl0ujI). Exploring the area in Street View, all of the visible features match other parts of the video clip (which refers to the blowhole as the “Devil’s Cauldron”). I’ve been up and down the Mendocino Coast a few times, and thought that the film clip looked like the area around Elk. A bit of targeted Googling found [a 1989 online diary from Elk](http://www.blabberon.com/column%201989-1.html), whose January 12th entry includes: > [@](#): > > Last Sunday found the beginning of activity three miles North of town on the Kristofferson Ranch. Police, various cars and a huge crane were parked along side Highway One at a spot known locally as the Devil’s Basin. A couple of sequences for the up coming Karate Kid Three movie will be filmed at the Devil’s Basin, also out on the headland and down on Greenwood Beach. A temporary road is being installed alongside Devil’s Basin in order for the crane to be positioned to lower the equipment and actors down into the basin. There will be several weeks of preparation, dependent upon the weather, and then an influx of a hundred or so people and a couple of helicopters for the actual shoot. > > \ > > I have kayaked into Devil’s Basin several times through a tunnel that enters directly from the West. There is another tunnel that faces Northwest but it is too narrow to kayak in. The area is an interesting natural phenomena and could be quite spectacular in the movie. It will be fun to see how they use it. Further Googling of “Devil’s Basin” gave the correct coordinates. It is indeed a stunning stretch of coastline. Google Earth shows the top edge being at 79m/260ft above sea level, so that also matches the height of the Basin. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/47 "2017-07-01T18:38:19Z")
Yep, that’s definitely it. Nice detective work! ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/48 "2017-07-01T19:00:28Z")
Nice!!! ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/49 "2017-07-01T19:28:10Z")
Great work! Outside of the period diary entry you found, I think you’re the first person on the whole of the internet to match the Devil’s Basin to the _Karate Kid_ movie. The feature seems to be little-known or documented in the internet age. Mr Miyagi chose wisely when deciding on where to hide his bonsai tree! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/50 "2017-07-01T19:46:02Z")
Yay! Great job! I looked up Devil’s Basin on the [California Coastal Records website](http://www.californiacoastline.org/cgi-bin/image.cgi?image=11766&mode=sequential&flags=0&year=2002) – it notes the location was used in KK3, and also says the ranch across the way is(was?) owned by “actor Chris Christoferson”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/51 "2017-07-01T20:55:00Z")
If you’re out in CA, and you get a chance to head up to Mendocino, I’d definitely recommend it. It’s a 3 hour drive north of SF, if you go up 101, and you cut through some incredibly beautiful redwood forests. Good wine tasting in the Russian River Valley (a top notch Pinot Noir producing region), and Mendocino itself is a tiny place right on the ocean. IIRC, _The Summer of '42_ was filmed there, as well, not to mention the opening scene for the show _Murder, She Wrote_. A very relaxing place, with some nice restaurants and lots of hiking trails and other outdoorsy things to do. The scenic route up Hwy 1 is quite nice, but also a bit longer. That will take you through Elk and then past Devil’s Basin. ---
**Author:** ![TheSundial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@TheSundial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSundial)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/52 "2017-07-02T10:01:03Z")
Thanks, Antonius Block I added it to the IMDB filming locations. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/53 "2017-07-02T11:36:51Z")
[This pdf describes the geology well.](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiFgKSqv-rUAhVL_IMKHTK7AdwQFghXMAY&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhumboldt-dspace.calstate.edu%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F2148%2F1091%2FMuseum%2520gdbk-condensed.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHZQgU3zypksN71f-hN7_mjvlpx2g) “Franciscan Complex” – as Stranger surmised, a mélange of igneous rocks (pillow basalts, gabbros, and more), a complex terrane near ongoing offshore subduction (the “Mendocino triple point,” where three plates meet), the sort of stuff you don’t find much of further south along the coast from here. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/54 "2017-07-02T11:42:54Z")
This is interesting, regarding the [Mendocino triple junction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendocino_Triple_Junction) (Wikipedia): “Due to the relative plate motions, the triple junction has been migrating northwards for the past 25–30 million years, and assuming rigid plates, the geometry requires that a void, called slab window, develop southeast of the MTJ. At this point, removal of the subducting Gorda lithosphere from beneath North America causes asthenospheric upwelling.[3] This instigates different tectonic processes, which include surficial uplift, crustal deformation, intense seismic activity, high heat flow, and even the extrusion of volcanic rocks. This activity is centred on the current triple junction position, but evidence for its migration is found in the geology all along the California coast, starting as far south as Los Angeles.” ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/55 "2017-09-07T15:32:30Z")
Bumping the thread to report that I stopped at Devil’s Basin on a roadtrip last week to snap a quick [photo](https://photos.app.goo.gl/l1lHS65fOczBYD4G3). There isn’t any signage pointing it out and just a small spot to pull over–if you didn’t know it was there you’d drive right by. I suppose it’s a good thing that they don’t publicize the location because it’s a pretty hazardous spot–right on the edge of the road with almost no shoulder and a \*really \*steep drop off down into the basin. Still, it was cool to check out the place that spurred the discussion here in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/56 "2017-09-07T15:44:13Z")
Cool! Next time the wife and i visit her mother in San Francisco, we’re going to try and take a few days to go north. I’ll try to remember to stop and check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956/57 "2017-09-07T17:15:35Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Bumping the thread to report that I stopped at Devil’s Basin on a roadtrip last week to snap a quick [photo](https://photos.app.goo.gl/l1lHS65fOczBYD4G3). There isn’t any signage pointing it out and just a small spot to pull over–if you didn’t know it was there you’d drive right by. > > I suppose it’s a good thing that they don’t publicize the location because it’s a pretty hazardous spot–right on the edge of the road with almost no shoulder and a \*really \*steep drop off down into the basin. Still, it was cool to check out the place that spurred the discussion here in this thread. From the [Street View](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@39.170433,-123.7443654,3a,75y,210.94h,48.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1srA2E1Xuq9nMfcKQ9ILAYhg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en) it looks like the edge of the road tends to crumble right over the edge. :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-location-in-california/789956.md?page=2)