The story in The Shining takes place at the isolated Overlook Hotel, a fictional luxury resort high in the Colorado Rocky Mountains in the United States.

Main setting

  • The film explicitly places the Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies, where Jack Torrance works as the winter caretaker with his family.
  • Within the story, the hotel is cut off by heavy snowstorms, turning it into a secluded, haunted environment over the winter months.

Real-world inspiration and filming

  • Stephen King was inspired to write The Shining after staying at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, which he has described as an influence on the Overlook’s concept and atmosphere.
  • For the movie, exteriors of the Overlook were based on Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood, Oregon, while interiors were built as sets in England, meaning the on-screen hotel is a blend of several real locations even though the story itself is set in Colorado.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.