I mentioned before that Kanab is nicknamed “Little Hollywood” and a lot of westerns were filmed in and around Kanab.  Tom and I had a little extra time in Kanab one day and so we visited the Little Hollywood Movie Museum.

The Little Hollywood Movie Museum is located on the edge of Kanab, just west of downtown.  Of course, downtown Kanab isn’t very big, so we walked through it to the museum.  We weren’t expecting much and, because of that, we weren’t disappointed.

There is no charge for the museum, although they do accept donations.  In order to enter the museum you have to go through the store in front.  We were expecting a store full of movie memorabilia and maybe some DVDs.  Wrong.  There were western hats, magnets, cowboy boots, and lots of t-shirts but no DVDs.  After some searching we did find a couple of books about making movies in Kanab.  So we weren’t tempted to buy anything.

After passing through the store, we entered the backyard area full of buildings used in different western movies filmed around Kanab.  The museum and sets are owned by Tom Forsythe, but the museum is a registered nonprofit organization.  Tom and I explored the movie sets in the backyard and read the short explanations of the sets and their movies.  It took about 30 minutes to see everything.  Most of the buildings are just facades.

The Little Hollywood Movie Museum hosts the Western Legends Round-up every year in Kanab.  Western Legends has a Wagon Train Trek, a BBQ contest, and several concerts.  The museum shows classic western movies and tv shows that were filmed around Kanab.  There is also a panel of “stars” who reminisce about their days in the spotlight.  This year the festival is a 60th anniversary ode to the show Gunsmoke.  The only star that I recognized is Michael Learned.

The Western Legends Round-up will be August 20 through 25.  Tom and I will probably try to go to the parade and BBQ competition.  If we make it, you can be sure I will tell you all about it.

The Little Hollywood Movie Museum isn’t a reason to go to Kanab.  But, if you are in the area for a few days, it is worth a visit.