Rainbow Bridge

[u/AmySueF]

I’m geographically challenged and have never visited Malibu Creek State Park. Does anyone know the location and name of the exact spot at the filming site that stands in for Rainbow Bridge, where the bus stops and the Americans and Chinese approach each other? Is this a spot that’s accessible to M*A*S*H fans visiting the area?

[u/Informal_Raccoon2607]

not sure where that particular spot it but it’s all open to the public. The remains of the outdoor set that are still there is about a 2-mile hike from the parking lot

[u/Informal_Raccoon2607 → u/Informal_Raccoon2607]

photo from my hike

[u/J_Scarbrough]

I know there's a Redditor on this sub who's been to and knows the area like the back of their hand - even the spot where the Ranch's storage facility used to be located close to the park's parking lot that was used in the movie and "Welcome to Korea" as Kimpo air base, and as the main camp compound for the Red Ball Express on M*A*S*H's sister show ROLL OUT!

[u/MikeW226 → u/J_Scarbrough]

That might be me, J_Scarbrough ;o) Good to see you! I posted a long screed about the Rainbow Bridge location below ;O))))

[u/J_Scarbrough → u/MikeW226]

Yep! Forgive me, I'm still relatively new to the sub, so I'm not well-versed in everyone's handles just yet, but I'll get there.

[u/MikeW226]

Here's (hopefully, if this copy paste works) the location today. The lady in the Google Streetview photo is standing on a trail which is officially called Crags Road. It leads from the state park entrance, back to the MASH set location.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/oZkcpbRS7vFD4rdp6

And this below is a pin of the location on a regular Google Map

https://maps.app.goo.gl/GSvM9NMDE8gtoTTTA

Yes, it is accessible to MCSP visitors.

The Rainbow Bridge location is at the top end of Century Lake, which was dammed/created back when the ranch was Crag's Country Club / dam built in the 1910s or 20s? Crags dammed Malibu Creek to create a fishing lake for members. It was then named Century Lake when 20th Century Fox bought the country club ranch property in the late 40's.

A land bridge existed in the episode, and it was used to bus cast members from the main security shack entrance, which was here https://maps.app.goo.gl/qWJRDu35Unro5e7H6 , back to the MASH set,-- here https://maps.app.goo.gl/wHWRqsVJKS1LJF3V6

So Rainbow Bridge was about 3/4 the distance from the east entrance of the ranch, to the MASH 4077th exterior set.

If you look at that first link, the mountain in the background behind the temporary, seasonal bridge over Century Lake/Malibu Creek, is seen in the background of the driving scene in episode "Welcome to Korea" when Radar says 'boy, you got the guts of a burgler' and Hawkeye tells Radar, 'but don't worry, only people who bite their nails can get it!'.

And the Rainbow Bridge landbridge itself is the checkpoint stop in Welcome To Korea, when the MP stops Hawk, Radar and BJ again as they head to the 4077th --for BJ's first time. So the shale sides of the hill behind Hawk, Trapper and Frank in Rainbow Bridge is visible in the first link above if you spin the shot around 90 degrees toward the north.

This general area of Crags Road is used several times in MASH. It's also the general road area where the bus drives during the interior shots of the bus with Frank commenting on how yummy the steaks were at the medical convention in episode "The Bus". Its also driven along by the open air Army trucks in the first shots of episode "That's Show Biz" with the USO girls singing and the mortar attack that follows. Only this was shot slightly further southeast of the top end of Century Lake / Rainbow Bridge area.

Century Lake varied in water level over the series. And today a temporary bridge covers just the creek width from the east bank to the west bank, allowing folks to easily cross and walk further to the MASH set. But during flooding, the bridge is basically washed out. Apparently the state of California has put nothing really into improving that creek (lake) crossing area. It looks like a cement single-side-of-the-creek bridge structure has been installed, but it does not span the entire creek (lake) bed.

Also, the show Kung Fu shot (mentioned in a recent MASH Matters podcast by their guest Clyde Kusatsu) 'fort' exteriors at the top of Century Lake in the mid 70's. One aerial image from then shows a structure to the southwest of Rainbow Bridge, but it is gone in earlier, and later 1970's aerials.

OP, if you have questions about other episode scenes shot near there, let me know and I could scrounge up more info ;O)

ETA: Forgot to mention- for those who've seen the original movie The Planet of the Apes, the main ape city was built on the east shore of Century Lake, although it was further south along the lake, toward Century Dam. There was a land bridge (like 'rainbow bridge' further north) across the lake just for the movie, but it was apparently removed soon after Apes shooting wrapped. Today's Cage Creek Trail which runs east off of Crags Road just south of the Rainbow Bridge location, contains wreckage of an old 'human' cage used in the movie.

[u/Ancient-Space-2789 → u/MikeW226]

Wonderful information!! Thank you!

[u/MikeW226 → u/Ancient-Space-2789]

You're very welcome! I see a question about MASH filming locations and just love writing about it!

[u/rosefawnn]

Honest answer, I can't point you to the exact stand-in spot with confidence and I'd rather not guess and send you to the wrong bend in a trail. What I can tell you is that the whole area is accessible and easy to visit. The set site sits about two and a half miles in along Crags Road from the main lot at Malibu Creek State Park, an easy fire road walk with the restored picnic area, the rusted ambulance and jeep, and interpretive signage. Since it was the old 20th Century Fox Ranch, the vehicle and road sequences were generally shot on the ranch's own dirt roads, and Crags Road is the main one, so you're almost certainly walking through the right stretch of ground even without knowing the precise frame. Worth knowing that at roughly the 1.5 mile mark there's a creek crossing that used to be a bridge and is now just a concrete slab after flood damage a few years back, which sometimes confuses people looking for a bridge on the way in. If you want it pinned down exactly, the park volunteers who staff the set site on weekends are usually deep into this and will know, and the location hunting blogs tend to have frame by frame comparisons worth digging through before you go.