Where was The Abandons season 1 filmed? All filming locations revealed

The Abandons season 1 is a new Western drama that has arrived on Netflix on December 4, 2025. This seven-episode series has a star-studded cast and has been compared to Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone and 1883. 

The series takes place in the 1850s Washington Territory, which borders Oregon. Irish matriarch Fiona Nolan (Lena Headey) fights European aristocrats for her land in the film. Constance Van Ness (Gillian Anderson) leads this rival group. Calgary, Alberta, was the main filming location for The Abandons season 1.

The series began principal photography in spring 2024 after a year of union strikes. Southern Alberta's vast plains and historic feel were used to recreate the 1850s frontier town.

Looking at the Filming locations of The Abandons season 1

The Abandons season 1 was mostly filmed in Alberta, Canada, with the city of Calgary's surrounding areas as the main location for the production.

Southern Alberta

Southern Alberta is a great place to shoot Western dramas for its history and landscape. The area has a lot of rough, open plains and long dirt roads. This makes it look a lot like the frontier setting that the series needs. This abundance of suitable, untouched scenery allows film crews to shoot on real sets without needing excessive digital modification or set dressing. 

The main production center: Calgary, Alberta

Calgary, Alberta, the province's biggest city, was where most of the production took place. The first season of The Abandons started filming in May 2024 and ended in October of the same year. The wide-open plains and fields just outside the city were turned into a recreation of a mid-1800s frontier town. For the five-month-long main photography schedule, the production used Calgary.

Additional key shooting locations

Besides Calgary, the production went to some beautiful places in southern Alberta to get a variety of looks that would make the audience think they were in Washington Territory.

Stoney Nakoda: 

This area west of Calgary was important for the series' filming. The production held casting calls here specifically looking for Indigenous extras. This suggests that scenes with local communities or beautiful, untouched nature were probably filmed in this area.

Kananaskis Country: 

The series also included shooting at locations in the beautiful Kananaskis Country, which is known for its rough landscape and amazing views of the mountains. The Western's epic visual scope comes from the stunning, wide-open views that can be seen in this part of the Canadian Rockies.

Wider use of southern Alberta: The production used a lot of different places in southern Alberta to show off the province's many different types of scenery. Production sources also talked about Crossfield and Cochrane. This makes the area seem even more like the American frontier.

The fictional setting: Washington Territory

Even though it was filmed in Canada, The Abandons season 1 takes place in the US Washington Territory in 1854. The story of the show is about land in Oregon, which was next to the Washington Territory at the time. The Washington Territory was an organized territory from 1853 to 1889. At its biggest, this area included all of Idaho, as well as parts of Montana and Wyoming. Alberta's beautiful, wild nature gives a good sense of the history and geography of this lawless area that is becoming a frontier.

The first season of The Abandons is about the problems between different groups of outlaws, focusing on two families. Fiona Nolan, an Irish woman who is infertile, leads the first family. She thinks that adopting four orphans will fulfill her higher purpose. This shows the theme that family is not only about who you are related to.

The Abandons is the name of the family who fights against European nobles who say that Fiona's new home in Oregon belongs to them. Constance Van Ness leads the second family. She might lose a lot of money on an investment and needs more land to make sure her family's future. Viewers see how far both widowed family heads will go to protect their kids and the jobs they have worked so hard to make happen.

The Abandons season 1 is available to stream on Netflix.