Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard about Netflix’s new show My Life With The Walter Boys. If you haven’t, drop whatever you’re doing and go watch it ASAP! Who doesn’t love a story about a girl falling in love with two brothers…seems to be pretty popular, TBH. While we can argue all day about which Walter boy Jackie should choose, all I want to talk about is where the show was filmed, because despite it being set in Colorado it wasn’t filmed there.
Now, you might’ve heard of Calgary before from the 1988 Winter Olympics or as the birthplace of superstar Tate McRae and the late Cory Monteith, but I’ll bet money that most of y’all’s recent search history includes the question: “Where is Calgary?” So allow me to gush and give you a little crash course on where I was born and raised.
Calgary is a Canadian city home to 1.3 million. It’s located in the province of Alberta about 3 hours from the Montana border. Close to the Rockies, Calgary accommodates over 4 million tourists who flock to admire the natural beauty of the mountains found in Banff National Park. While my personal favorite part of my hometown is the mountain skyline, Calgary also offers “the greatest outdoor show on earth” AKA The Calgary Stampede, Canada’s National Music Centre, and Dinosaur Provincial Park.
Now why would My Life With The Walter Boys film in Calgary, and not Colorado? The short answer is, Calgary offers landscapes such as the breathtaking Rockies, a bustling city, roaring foothills, and rolling bad lands all within a 3-hour radius. An even shorter answer…money. It’s cheap to film in Canada which is why Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto are earning the nickname “North Hollywood.” So whether you’re trying to plan a My Life With The Walter Boys-themed vacation or are wondering if a random place in Canada is just as beautiful (if not more) than Colorado, I’ve pinpointed the locations from some of the series’ most iconic moments.
- Fancy Hotel — Fairmont Paliser
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Right at the beginning of the series, we see Jackie hosting a lavish school event in an extravagant hotel ballroom. While New York has many of these, this scene was actually filmed at the Fairmont Palliser in downtown Calgary.
- Walter Ranch — CL Ranch
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The rustic yet chic Ranch that the Walter family calls home is known as the CL Ranch IRL. It’s located in Alberta’s Foothills about thirty minutes outside of Calgary. Not much was changed for filming other than a quick paint job to turn the house from gray to yellow…good call if you ask me.
- Silver Falls High School — W.G Murdoch High School
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The high school featured in the show is known to many locals as W.G. Murdoch High School. Unfortunately, I cannot claim this to be my alma mater, but I did compete in a track meet there once. Fun fact: this high school is pretty popular because it was also a filming location for Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
- Lark Cafe — Vacant Building
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Netflix Now I was disappointed to find out that the Lark Cafe wasn’t actually real because I was ready to try out this coffee shop over winter break. Maybe with the popularity of the show, someone will actually open up a real Lark Cafe…at least one can hope.
- Cole and Jackie’s Lookout Date — Horseshoe Canyon Area
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Remember in episode 2 when Cole takes Jackie to the super pretty lookout by the water where it looked like they were going to kiss but never did? Well, this place is known as Horseshoe Canyon in Banff National Park. This is a spot I’ve been to and I can confirm it’s even prettier in person.
- Board Game Cafe — Texas Gate Bar & Grill
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The board game cafe where Jackie, Alex, and Kiley play Catan in episode 6 is actually a southern-inspired restaurant called Texas Gate Bar & Grill located in Cochrane, about thirty minutes outside of Calgary. While I have personally never been here, it’s now on my and my bestie’s winter break bucket list..maybe we’ll meet our own real-life Walter Boys.
- BFF Dinner — Azuridge Estates
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Remember when Hayley tells her bestie Tara she and Will are going through with the wedding over lunch? That picturesque restaurant is actually part of a hotel estate called Azuridge that has the best of Alberta’s Foothills and soaring mountain ranges. I have visited multiple times and the vibes are immaculate, especially in the summer when you can walk around the grounds and pretend you’re deliberating over whether to choose Cole or Alex.
- Fun Fair — Heritage Park
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When I was watching episode 9, I remember screaming because Heritage Park used to be my favorite summer activity as a little girl. Known as Canada’s Living History Museum, Heritage Park features Western Canada’s history from 1860 to 1950. The park is home to restored and maintained original buildings, artifacts, and even amusement rides from that time.
While I’m thrilled TV shows and movies like My Life With The Walter Boys, The Revenant, Inception, Interstellar, Legends of the Fall, The Last of Us, and Fargo are showing off all my hometown has to offer, it’s disheartening, especially as an aspiring actor, to have a lack of Canadian Talent featured in these project – but that’s a rant for another day. I hope you enjoy the series as much as I did, and if you wanna take a little trip to Calgary HMU and we can enjoy the mountains and discuss #teamalex vs #teamcole.