Movie fans: See the set of ‘Shawshank,’ meet the cast in Ohio during 30th anniversary event

To some, going from Michigan to Ohio might feel like breaking into prison. But for any Michigan movie fan brave enough to skip over the border, the city of Mansfield — just over a two-hour drive from Detroit — is a destination spot for fans of “Shawshank Redemption.” The best part: To get there, there is no tunneling or sewage pipe climbing required. You can see it all from the comfort of your car. 

For the 30th anniversary of the film, released in 1994 and shot in Mansfield, the town is celebrating its release with a weekend-long special event along the Shawshank Trail, a series of 15 locations winding through the small towns where the movie was filmed. 

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Visitors are encouraged to take themselves on the self-guided tour across Ohio, which will be celebrating the anniversary through the weekend of Aug. 9, while enjoying a number of special events, such as screenings of the film, autograph sessions with the cast, bus tours and photo opportunities. In attendance for the special weekend will be the director, Frank Darabont, and actors like Bob Gunton, Alfonso Freeman, William Sadler and more cast members. 

The trail begins at the Ohio State Reformatory, which served as the setting of the fictional Shawshank State Prison. It continues through Mansfield past the pawn shop Red looks into, stopping at Brooks’ bench on its way to the grocery store where Brooks and Red both work while on parole. All destinations are marked with Shawshank Trail signage. 

The trail continues through Ohio, along the roads traveled by the film’s characters. After a few recognizable stops in Malabar Farm State Park in Lucas, Ohio, the trail winds up to Ashland, Ohio, where tourists can see the setting of the Maine State Bank and walk through the massive depression-era safe at Crosby Advisory Group. 

The final stop on the driving tour is in Sandusky, Ohio — along the route home for travelers from Michigan — at the Shawshank Woodshop. Visitors can see props used on screen by Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in the same place Freeman uttered, “Every last man at Shawshank felt free.”

That is where the driving tour ends, but as fans of “Shawshank” will know, that’s not where the character’s stories end. For the most ambitious tourists, the final stop of the tour is in Frederiksted, St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. St. Croix is where Darabont shot the final scene, with Red and Andy in Mexico. 

The celebration of the 30th anniversary of the award-winning film IMDB ranks the best movie of all time begins on Friday, Aug. 9, and goes until Sunday. For more information, visit the Shawshank Trail site here.

For Michiganders hesitant to cross into Ohio, Jackson Historic Prison in Jackson offers more than 200 years of Michigan prison history, and more information can be found here.