Hitchcock & Garces Highway

Alfred Hitchcock reportedly once said, “I've always wanted to do a scene in the middle of nowhere—where there's absolutely nothing.” He found it in the Central Valley—and used it for one of his most iconic scenes. Today, the lonely stretch of Garces Highway in the town of Wasco still resembles the frightening scene from 1959’s North by Northwest, when Cary Grant’s character is chased from overhead by a crop duster.

Today, the intersection of Corcoran Road and Garces, where many fan photos are taken, does not feel as threatening. Rather, it leads to the Kern National Wildlife Refuge, a birder’s paradise. To extend the Hitchcockian magic, take Highway 99 in nearby Delano and drive south into Bakersfield: Hitchcock shot some of Janet Leigh’s driving scenes from Psycho along this stretch of road.