The search for the “Labyrinth Park”: I found it!
After extensive research I finally found it.
I found the park where the opening scene of Labyrinth was filmed and now I’m going to tell you where it is… if you don’t want to know, stop reading right now! I do not want to be held responsible for ruining anyone’s childhood. 🙂
Alright then… if you’ve read my blog before you may have followed my search for the park in my previous posts.
Many, including myself have spent countless hours on Google maps trying to find the park by looking over every single pond in every single park in London, England and Upper Nyack, New York.
The imdb.com website also sites one of Labyrinth’s filming locations as Hampstead Heath in London but my field research there proved that it was not the park in the movie.
I continued searching the internet for months and visiting possible locations all over London until I finally found it… in a small town about an hour and a half outside London.
The opening scene of Labyrinth was shot in West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire, England, HP14 3AJ.
(No wonder nobody’s been able to find it using Google maps.)
West Wycombe park is on a private property but belongs to the National Trust so visiting the park is open to everyone during the summer months.
To make absolutely sure I had found the right park I decided to visit and see for myself…
This is what I found…
For reference here is a still from the movie…
I was amazed at how much it still looks like the scene from the movie!
Even 26 years later there have only been minor changes made to it. The small bridge has been lightly repaired, the larger bridge in the background now has decorative urns on it but other than that the changes could only be seen in the plant life.
I could not resist the urge to run over the bridge and re-enact the scene from the movie. I ran over the bridge and recited Sarah’s lines word for word, there was even a swan walking around which i used as a substitute for Merlin the dog. I listened for imaginary thunder, looked around for a chiming clock tower and then ran back over the bridge away from possible rain and towards my babysitting duties.
Having done all this in the exact same place as Jennifer Connelly did it 26 years ago is beyond surreal… I wasn’t just re-enacting the scene… I was re-enacting something that actually happened in that exact spot.
Me impersonating Sarah.
After having spent a few hours at the park I still didn’t want to leave. It felt as if I was in a fairy tale world and not a local tourist attraction. It wasn’t until it started to rain for real that I gave into my friend’s now insistent demands of leaving as we were getting soaked to the bone and even the swans on the lake were seeking shelter.
Now, I just hope you enjoy this little piece of information as much as I enjoyed uncovering the mystery and If you get a chance, do pay the park a visit!
It’s quite an experience.
Tourist information for West Wycombe Park.
If you’d like more info on the filming locations of the opening scenes of Labyrinth check the following blog. The founder has finally located the last two missing locations and has gathered all of them in one place, here: http://labyrinthlocations.blogspot.com/
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!
~ TheTreviOwl
TheTreviOwl 
Thank you very much!!! What you accomplished is a great gift for many of us.
Labyrinth was a landmark in the conception of my aesthetics when I was just a teenager. I am a grown up guy now, but over the years I have kept a very special fondness for fantastic art and literature and even architecture. The park is still a beloved landmark in my inner world.
I will visit the park in the near future and, Who knows, I could even propose to my future wife there, if she wants to go there.
Now, I still have to find her ha ha.
August 5, 2011 at 3:30 pm
How did you find it??!
August 5, 2011 at 3:47 pm
Thank you Fernando.
The park means a whole lot to me too so I’m very happy to know that I was able to bring something good to the lives of my fellow Labyrinth fans.
A proposal at the park sounds magical! I hope you find the perfect girl to share it with. 🙂
How I found it is quite a long story but it came together when I started looking into popular filming locations all around the UK and narrowed it down from there.
August 7, 2011 at 5:11 pm
Thank you so much for sharing this information! I’ve been trying to find the park myself and having zero luck, so you’ve put my mind at ease. I’ll be heading to England in the near future, so it makes me happy that I can add this to my list of places to visit. Thanks so much!
August 9, 2011 at 7:57 am
Happy to share! Thank you for your nice comment. 🙂
August 20, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Thank you so much for finding the park!! I’ve often wondered where the park was as I grew up in Nyack (and went to Upper Nyack Elementary School) and knew it wasn’t anywhere near there! When I was a little girl and saw Labyrinth for the first time (I was 8 when it came out) I saw the part that was filmed in Upper Nyack and ran to grab my parents. I had to play that part over and over before they believed me! I kept telling them “I walk past there everyday on my way to and from school!” The finally realized I was right but it was quite a battle, lol. I still love that move and the opening is still my FAVORITE part 🙂
August 18, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Thank you for sharing your story! How amazing that you got to grow up in Nyack and see those streets every day… I really hope to visit them myself someday since the opening is my favorite part as well! 🙂
August 20, 2011 at 5:15 pm
I had a very similar experience, Rowan — I too grew up in Upper Nyack and attended Upper Nyack Elementary School (in the 1970’s). I also recognized Broadway immediately when I saw it in the movie, and replayed it to convince my family. As I recall, she ran right past Hartell’s (the grocery store where we used to stop to buy candy on the way home from school). Hartell’s was on one corner of the intersection of Broadway and Castle Heights Avenue, and the Village Hall is on the other. You can do a search on maps.google.com for 326 N Broadway, Nyack, NY (Hartell’s address) and look at the satellite view. I had always assumed that the park at the beginning of the movie was also filmed on location in Nyack – interesting to learn that it was not! I had assumed it was somewhere around the Summit school.
September 9, 2011 at 9:02 pm
Here’s a link to the actual location in Nyack: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Hartell%27s+Grocery+Inc,+Nyack,+NY&hl=en&ll=41.10082,-73.917287&spn=0.001025,0.002411&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=35.273162,79.013672&vpsrc=6&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=41.100852,-73.917132&panoid=mHrTjNLmptbiUfJQ7vO1lg&cbp=12,351.58,,0,2.8
“Street View” is available for the location, so you can see for yourself.
September 9, 2011 at 9:07 pm
Thank you for sharing your story and the links Daniel! It must have been amazing to see those streets every day.
September 15, 2011 at 8:55 pm
WOW, finally it realy is the mysterious park! It’s beatiful and I didn’t expect it to be still looking so alike the scenes in the movie.
Thanks for sharing your accomplishment!
I found some other locations. The houses I was looking for are NOT in Nyack.
I hope you don’t mind if I use your picture for my blog. I will post pictures of all locations. Credits for finding it goes to you of course.
Great job!
September 15, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Thank you for the kind words Junior.
I do not mind at all, the more people it reaches the better! And thank you for offering to give me credit.
Well done on finding the other houses!
What is the link to your blog by the way?
September 15, 2011 at 9:09 pm
I just created a new blog. Here is the link: http://labyrinthlocations.blogspot.com/
It was a fun task for me to search for these locations and your findings and generosity was inspiring. I think we did it!
Thank you so much!
“Should you need us…” 🙂
September 17, 2011 at 5:30 pm
I’ve added your blog to my links section and to the above post.
Thank you again for the kind words Junior! And yes, with your help all the locations have finally been found. I’ve always been curious about the house Sarah runs by into the backyard, so I thank you very much as well!
“Yes, should you need us. For any reason at all…” 🙂
September 19, 2011 at 12:27 pm
That is too awesome! I have been in love with Labyrinth for approximately 23 years now (would have been longer but I was born the year the movie was released). I have never been to the UK. Always wanted to take a trip there and now I know where I’m going. Whoot! Thank you soooooooooooooooooo much for finding the place!
December 6, 2011 at 6:15 pm
Thank you so much for the comment Jennifer! I was also born in the year Labyrinth was released! 😀
I’m glad to hear you’re going to visit the park, it’s a surreal experience and I think a must for those of us who are so in love with the movie. I hope you feel like coming back here and sharing your experience after you’ve had a chance to visit!
December 14, 2011 at 10:35 pm
Yay!!! And I spent weeks over years wandering around bloody Hamstead Heath!! I will never listen to imdb and all those other stupid websites again. Youd found the missing piece of the Labyrinth jigsaw puzzle and for that we owe you a debt of gratitude. I am going there a.s.a.p thanks again, you don’t know how much this means to me!
June 13, 2012 at 5:20 am
Thank you for the lovely comment Jamie! I love hearing from people like you who love the movie and want to visit the park!
I too spent hours wandering aimlessly around Hampstead Heath!
I hope you’ll come back and share the story of your visit once you’ve gotten the chance to go there! 😀
June 13, 2012 at 1:42 pm
Oh my gosh, I’m so happy I live in England, when I get a little older I’ll visit here! This is in my things to do before I die for sure!!!
August 17, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Hi Molly! Thank you so much for commenting! I hope you have a great time at the park once you get a chance to visit and please drop by again if you feel like sharing your experience, I’d love to hear about it! 🙂
August 17, 2012 at 9:41 pm
I love you forever!
October 2, 2012 at 11:25 pm
Thank you for the kind words Nicola. 🙂
October 27, 2012 at 3:25 am
What can I say? Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Well done for finding one of the most sought after locations in film history. I, like many others here have also been looking for the park since I first saw the film. I saw it when it first came out in December 1986 when I was 10 and have loved it ever since. I have a small collection of Labyrinth memorabilia including posters, badges, the DVD, soundtrack, stills, etc so needless to say I’m a huge fan!! It’s weird that it’s been so difficult to locate considering how many people were involved and how many location pages there are on the internet. You deserve all the credit for tracking it down. Damn you must’ve been so excited when you first walked onto the green and realized that was the place haha! Well done again and I have you to thank, and only you for giving us the info. I’m probably a bit late to go there now as it’s probably closed for the winter. However, 2013 cannot come fast enough!!
Best wishes,
Paul
October 22, 2012 at 7:28 pm
By the way, is the clocktower that chimes at the end of the scene visible from the park or was that somewhere else?
October 26, 2012 at 9:33 pm
Wow, thank you so much for the comment Paul. Your kind words honestly mean a lot to me! And you’re very welcome. I was indeed very excited to find the park and was also excited and only too happy to share the location with other fans as I know how much this movie means to so many of us. I would love it if you came back here and shared your story once you’ve had a chance to go there. I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time!
To answer your final question, no, the clock tower is not visible from the park. What Sarah is looking at is really a large group of trees. I did try and find the tower put its not on the grounds and as far as I could tell not even in West Wycombe so it’s still an unknown, I do keep it in the back of my mind every time I go to new places in hopes that one day I will find it. 🙂
October 27, 2012 at 3:22 am
Wow, You don’t know how long I have been looking for this park, And I thought it was in USA, then Hampstead Heath, But Finally You have found it!!! I shall go there in the Summer when it is open. Thankyou thankyou thankyou.
Are you on Twitter?
November 1, 2012 at 11:47 am
Thank you for the nice comment! I hope you have a wonderful time at the park next summer! I’m hoping to go back next summer as well since I wasn’t able to go this year. Do stop by again once you’ve been there and tell us about your experience, I’d love to hear about it!
And no I’m not on Twitter, maybe I should check it out! 🙂
November 3, 2012 at 12:21 am
Jennifer is rumored to have removed this movie from her resyme,for some reason i do not now.She does talk about it briefly in the actors studio,but than again she’s paid to be there.
But i have noticed that she never really like much of the movies from her early days.She didn’t like the rocketeer either,nor mullholland falls.
November 17, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Have you seen this interview with her? http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/jennifer-connelly-5712/1400342/
In this one and a few other recent ones she sounds quite fond of Labyrinth. I’m sure she’s just like most people, we all go through a phase where we don’t like seeing old pictures of ourselves but later learn to appreciate them. 🙂
November 24, 2012 at 4:46 am
You Are My Frickin’ Hero!!! I’ve wanted to find this park forever!!!
November 23, 2012 at 6:58 pm
Thank you for the nice comment Carla! 😀
November 24, 2012 at 4:47 am
Thank you for finding the location! Years ago, I lived in upstate New York for a while. I dragged a friend to Upper Nyack, bringing my laptop and the Labyrinth DVD for reference, and we tried to find the park without any success. I had always heard the opening locations were filmed in Upper Nyack–no mention of places in England, other than the studio shots. Now I’ll know where to go when I make it back to England and New York. 🙂
November 27, 2012 at 12:49 am
Thank you so much for sharing your story and I’d love to hear more from you once you’ve visited the park! I love hearing from people who love the park and the movie as much as I do. 🙂
March 20, 2013 at 3:41 am
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You have made my day, thank you! I’m obsessed with this movie and must re-enact the opening scene… I know it sounds crazy, but I HAVE to…
February 2, 2014 at 3:38 am
Hi Jenn! Thank you for your comment! I know exactly how you feel about re-enacting the opening scene, I felt the same way and it felt like I accomplished something great when I did it, talk about sounding crazy. 😉 I hope you come back and share your story once you pay the park a visit!
February 15, 2014 at 9:22 pm
My dear, thank you so much for sharing this information with us! Whats a lovely place it should be! I hope that someday I can have the same great experience!
February 26, 2015 at 9:39 am
Thank you for the comment Marilia, I hope you get to experience this too as it was truly wonderful! 🙂
April 20, 2015 at 2:23 am
Thank you so much for sharing! I too am a lifelong fan of the movie and it still holds as the only movie I can recite start to finish. I was 8 when it came out. My 5 yr old is watching it right now (my 8 yr old watched it twice this weekend. Doing my part to pass down the magic) and it was during the opening scene just now that I thought, “where is that Park, I wonder” and because of the wonders of the Internet and tenacious people such as yourself I had my answer instantly. Thanks again.
May 18, 2015 at 2:18 pm
Hi Mandy!
Thank you for charing this story! It always makes me happy to know when people find the park through my blog, I too had a burning need to know and could only imagine others did too. It’s so wonderful that your children are now enjoying a movie that meant so much to us when we were younger.
All the best!
January 16, 2016 at 7:15 pm
That’s so cool you finally found it. I had always thought it was in the US too. I used to act out the opening scene in my local cemetery. Lol. I found a park today online, in Indiana that I swore was the opening scene. It’s called, The Sunken Gardens in Huntington, Indiana. You should look it up. I think you’ll agree with me. RIP David Bowie, ‘King Jareth’.
August 29, 2016 at 5:58 pm
Thank you for the comment. I did look up the Sunken Gardens and agree it’s very beautiful. It’s however in a different style than the traditional English garden of the movie. I hope you get a chance to visit one day, reenacting the scene at the real Park is an experience I recommend to all Labyrinth fans!
September 24, 2017 at 2:43 pm
Thanks. I would have thought it was in America. On my own doorstep give or take forty miles
January 27, 2017 at 5:13 pm
It sounds like you live in Upper Nyack, NY? it’s on my bucketlist to visit the locations the movie was shot over there.
Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment.
September 24, 2017 at 2:39 pm
This movie wasn’t just about magic, it WAS magic. I can still watch it over and over again even though I’m nearing 40 now. While I was aware of the location of the park, it’s amazing to me that you got to go there and re-live that scene. Very happy for you and maybe a tiny bit jealous lol. Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on the 4 part manga sequel that was made? Or the talk of a potential film made in the same universe (since the reboot idea got canned thankfully)?
September 13, 2017 at 7:58 pm
Hi Caitlin, thank you so much for the comment. I agree with you, the movie is magic.
I’m ambivalent about the Manga. I haven’t read it and wasn’t very interested in it when the announcement was made, I’m not really sure why, perhaps because Jim Henson wasn’t involved.
Regarding more movies in the same universe, that would be interesting as long as the original is honoured and respected.
Hopefully you get a chance to visit the park as it really is quite an experience!
Thanks again for visiting!
September 24, 2017 at 2:37 pm
This park is literally in my hometown and I had no idea!! I spend half my childhood there! Incredible work, thank you!
October 30, 2020 at 5:21 pm
Thank you very much for the kind words and for sharing your story! It’s so cool you got to spend so much time there, I find the place just magical.
November 1, 2020 at 6:25 am
I can honestly say that this has really made my day.
This is one of the most magical things that I have seen on the Internet for some time, I am itching to visit that bridge, and see if that obelisk is still there.
This film is a very special calming medicine, it is bittersweet in its ability to transport us all back to a completely magical time. I wore out the cassette tape with the music on it, and ‘As the World Falls down’ still turns me into a gibbering wreck.
It is incredible how the filmmakers seamlessly blended so many disparate locations into to one Girl running a short distance home in the Rain!!
Many thanks.
Overwhelmed.
November 19, 2021 at 3:07 am
Thank you so much for your comment Howard.
I’m so happy the information has brought you joy as that’s all I ever wanted.
I hope you get a chance to visit the park as being there is like getting a small glimpse of the magical world you just described. The movie certainly is a wonderful piece of art and to this day evokes wonderful feelings in so many people around the world. Something so special should definitely be celebrated! 😊
Thank you again.
January 9, 2022 at 11:30 am
Thank you for this! I may be going over to the UK next year and if so, I may sneak away for a day to see this place. I have a Bowie tour day planned for all his London landmarks. It’s always nice to see other people with the same niche interests!
June 12, 2022 at 4:03 pm
I hope you get the chance to visit, it’s just magical! A Bowie tour sounds awesome too! And I agree, it’s so much fun to connect with those equally affected by Labyrinth. Thank you so much for your comment.
June 21, 2022 at 5:23 am
This is a post after my own heart! Out of curiosity I was trying to see if I could confirm if the clock tower Sarah looks at was in West Wycombe park and I stumbled across your post in my search. Based on your other comments the location of the clock tower doesn’t appear to be there, which is unfortunate! I wonder if it’s in another UK park (Or maybe that was a quick scene they shot in the US?).
July 2, 2022 at 11:00 pm
You’re correct, the clock tower is nowhere in the park nor in the town of West Wycombe, I made sure to look thoroughly.
If I were to throw out a blind guess it’s my feeling the clock tower is somewhere in the Upper Nyack location in NY, USA but I base that only on the theory of the tower architecture matching the houses in the movie better than the houses in West Wycombe.
This doesn’t stop me from looking at any and all clocktwoers I pass in England hoping to find it. 😂
Would love to do a location scout in Upper Nyack one day and find out for sure.
July 4, 2022 at 5:06 am