MANSFIELD, Ohio — "Welcome to Shawshank.”
Get ready to explore movie magic as a bus tour of The Shawshank Redemption filming locations in Ohio launches this June.
The journey features a three-hour driving tour to all of the movie’s sites in the Mansfield area. The experience culminates with a guided walking tour inside the Shawshank prison itself at the Ohio State Reformatory. Guests should plan on spending at least four-and-a-half hours for the entire tour.
These Shawshank bus tours begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 4, and are expected to run most Saturdays through the summer. Private bookings are also available other days of the week by emailing Ashleigh Ramey at ashleigh@mrps.org.
Tickets, which are listed at $99 each, can be booked here. Dates beyond June will be added soon. Children younger than 13 are not permitted on the bus tour.
A self-guided driving tour known as “The Shawshank Trail” has also been listed online for years.
“The Trail was made for people who love the movie just as much as you do,” according to their site. “It’s as if you stepped right into the movie with each of the 15 filming sites you visit.”
Some of the filming sites listed by “The Shawshank Trail” include:
- Bissman Building, which represented the Brewer Hotel and Portland Daily Bugle
- Mansfield Antiques Gallery, which represented the pawn shop window
- Central Park in downtown Mansfield, the location of Brooks’ Bench
- KV Mart, which represented the Food-Way Grocery Store
The Ohio State Reformatory -- also known by many as the Mansfield Reformatory -- also operates Blood Prison, which is an annual haunted attraction each Halloween season
The former prison is also believed to be haunted, which is why it's frequently featured on various ghost hunting television shows -- including Destination Fear, Portals to Hell, Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters.
