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The boardwalk expands the length of the town and runs parallel to the solitary road.

The boardwalks are partially covered by wooden canopies that slope gently overhead, offering

shelter from the sun. They're elevated from the ground and can be accessed by a series

of wooden steps connecting them to the main road. This is the fictional town of Sweetwater.

It's a movie set modeled after the many boom-downs of the old American West that rose and fell

with the gold rush of the mid-1800s. The 1848 discovery of gold in Northern California

prompted more than 300,000 prospectors to venture west. They traveled on horse-strong wagons

across vast, rarry trails. Or they sailed around the dangerous waters of Cape Horn at the

southernmost tip of South America. At first glance, the Sweetwater movie set feels like a real town

of the old west. Or at least the kind that's been immortalized by classic western films.

It's so lifelike that when you close your eyes, you can almost hear the sound of horses hooves

and the fierce cry of a bird overhead. It's currently off-season for this otherwise busy town.

The movie set is now welcoming tour groups to explore some of the studios and sound stages.

Each is massed by a rustic building, all of which were built from scratch.

You're joining one of several tour groups today, standing near the entrance to town.

You take in the scenery. There are a number of false storefronts lining the boardwalks.

One of these is a two-story building whose wooden columns support a wrap-around terrace

...