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The Ultimate Los Angeles Map Guide to The Terminator

By Adrian Glick Kudler
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By Adrian Glick Kudler
12 comments / new

Thirty years ago this month, director James Cameron introduced the Terminator in The Terminator, setting the world on a path that would eventually make Arnold Schwarzenegger the governor of the most populous state in the US and make Michael Biehn into a vaguely recognizable name. The story begins in the skull-littered Los Angeles of 2029 (looking, 25 years before Cameron's Avatar, like it was made by an ambitious eighth grader) as sentient killer machines are wiping out every last trace of humanity, but most of the action takes place in high-1984 Los Angeles, where a time-traveling Terminator cyborg and a time-traveling human freedom fighter battle for the life of inept waitress Sarah Connor, the woman who will give birth to the man who will save humanity (isn't that always the way). From the stripmall gun shops of the Valley to the car-chase-friendly Downtown tunnels, here is your Los Angeles map guide to one of the most essential LA action movies, The Terminator:

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Griffith Observatory

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Like most visitors to Los Angeles, the T-800's first stop in 1984 LA is Griffith Observatory, where he takes in the views butt-naked and beats up some punks for their clothes.

2800 E Observatory Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
(213) 473-0800
(213) 473-0800

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Reese's alley

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Because he is not a majestic cyborg but a lowly human, Kyle Reese arrives in 1984 Los Angeles in an alley Downtown.

212 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014

Big Jeff's

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Sarah Connor works at the Big Jeff's, whose mascot Big Buns is way creepier than the Big Boy it's based on.

815 Fremont Avenue, South Pasadena, CA 91030

Alamo Sport Shop

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The Terminator stocks up on weaponry at this gun shop and then blows away the proprietor.

14318 Victory Boulevard, Van Nuys, CA 91401

Phone booth

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The Terminator returns to the area by the gun shop to pillage the phone booth phonebook for Sarah Connorses.

14329 Victory Boulevard, Van Nuys, CA 91401

Wrong Sarah Connor's house

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The first wrong Sarah Connor lives in an adorable Craftsman house in Van Nuys before she is shot several times by the T-800.

14239 Gilmore Street, Van Nuys, CA 91401

Flashback construction site

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Some construction equipment gives Reese a haunting flashback to the robot wars of his pre-time-travel life.

123 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

TechNoir

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Sarah Connor hides out in this super-fun-looking disco in Downtown before meeting The Terminator here for the first time.

718 South Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014

Sarah Connor's apartment

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The Terminator finally finds the right Sarah Connors's apartment and ... poor Ginger.

Lafayette Park Place Home Association, 435 South La Fayette Park Place, Los Angeles, CA 90057

Department of Water parking garage

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830 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Police car crash

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After escaping the TechNoir, Sarah and Reese lead The Terminator on a car chase throughout the Historic Core; it ends with The Terminator crashing a police car into a wall on lower Grand.

West 4th Street & South Grand View Street, Los Angeles, CA 90057

Tiki Motel

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Sarah and John make bombs and get it on as they hide out at the Tiki.

7301 Santa Fe Avenue, Huntington Park, CA 90255

Bomb-throwing car chase

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The Terminator tracks Sarah to the motel and she leads him on *another* car chase; this time, Reese throws homemade bombs at him as he motorcycles through the pretty Second Street Tunnel.

South Figueroa Street & West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Motorcycle crash

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The spectacular conclusion to part one of that bomb-throwing chase, right before The Terminator is hit by a Mack truck.

West 3rd Street & South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Truck explosion

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The truck gets all the way to Monterey Park before it goes up in flames and burns away The Terminator's human flesh.

Keller Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Kerns of California

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Stripped down to his robot skeleton, The Terminator turns Sarah into a cog, stalking her through the intricate machinery at this Kerns of California factory, until she finally crushes him.

13010 East Temple Avenue, City of Industry, CA 91746

Gas station

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Pregnant Sarah ponders what to tell her kid as she escapes into the Mexican desert, with a stop at this gas station.

37202 90th Street East, Littlerock, CA 93543

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Griffith Observatory

2800 E Observatory Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Like most visitors to Los Angeles, the T-800's first stop in 1984 LA is Griffith Observatory, where he takes in the views butt-naked and beats up some punks for their clothes.

2800 E Observatory Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
(213) 473-0800
(213) 473-0800

Reese's alley

212 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014

Because he is not a majestic cyborg but a lowly human, Kyle Reese arrives in 1984 Los Angeles in an alley Downtown.

212 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014

Big Jeff's

815 Fremont Avenue, South Pasadena, CA 91030

Sarah Connor works at the Big Jeff's, whose mascot Big Buns is way creepier than the Big Boy it's based on.

815 Fremont Avenue, South Pasadena, CA 91030

Alamo Sport Shop

14318 Victory Boulevard, Van Nuys, CA 91401

The Terminator stocks up on weaponry at this gun shop and then blows away the proprietor.

14318 Victory Boulevard, Van Nuys, CA 91401

Phone booth

14329 Victory Boulevard, Van Nuys, CA 91401

The Terminator returns to the area by the gun shop to pillage the phone booth phonebook for Sarah Connorses.

14329 Victory Boulevard, Van Nuys, CA 91401

Wrong Sarah Connor's house

14239 Gilmore Street, Van Nuys, CA 91401

The first wrong Sarah Connor lives in an adorable Craftsman house in Van Nuys before she is shot several times by the T-800.

14239 Gilmore Street, Van Nuys, CA 91401

Flashback construction site

123 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Some construction equipment gives Reese a haunting flashback to the robot wars of his pre-time-travel life.

123 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

TechNoir

718 South Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014

Sarah Connor hides out in this super-fun-looking disco in Downtown before meeting The Terminator here for the first time.

718 South Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014

Sarah Connor's apartment

Lafayette Park Place Home Association, 435 South La Fayette Park Place, Los Angeles, CA 90057

The Terminator finally finds the right Sarah Connors's apartment and ... poor Ginger.

Lafayette Park Place Home Association, 435 South La Fayette Park Place, Los Angeles, CA 90057

Department of Water parking garage

830 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

830 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Police car crash

West 4th Street & South Grand View Street, Los Angeles, CA 90057

After escaping the TechNoir, Sarah and Reese lead The Terminator on a car chase throughout the Historic Core; it ends with The Terminator crashing a police car into a wall on lower Grand.

West 4th Street & South Grand View Street, Los Angeles, CA 90057

Tiki Motel

7301 Santa Fe Avenue, Huntington Park, CA 90255

Sarah and John make bombs and get it on as they hide out at the Tiki.

7301 Santa Fe Avenue, Huntington Park, CA 90255

Bomb-throwing car chase

South Figueroa Street & West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

The Terminator tracks Sarah to the motel and she leads him on *another* car chase; this time, Reese throws homemade bombs at him as he motorcycles through the pretty Second Street Tunnel.

South Figueroa Street & West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Motorcycle crash

West 3rd Street & South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012

The spectacular conclusion to part one of that bomb-throwing chase, right before The Terminator is hit by a Mack truck.

West 3rd Street & South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Truck explosion

Keller Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

The truck gets all the way to Monterey Park before it goes up in flames and burns away The Terminator's human flesh.

Keller Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Kerns of California

13010 East Temple Avenue, City of Industry, CA 91746

Stripped down to his robot skeleton, The Terminator turns Sarah into a cog, stalking her through the intricate machinery at this Kerns of California factory, until she finally crushes him.

13010 East Temple Avenue, City of Industry, CA 91746

Gas station

37202 90th Street East, Littlerock, CA 93543

Pregnant Sarah ponders what to tell her kid as she escapes into the Mexican desert, with a stop at this gas station.

37202 90th Street East, Littlerock, CA 93543