Where is Where the Crawdads Sing set and where was it filmed?

The movie, Where the Crawdads Sing was a huge hit when it was released this summer and now the film has been released on Netflix, it is being appreciated by more fans than ever. 

Where the Crawdads Sing was originally a book by Delia Owens. Although fictional, there were some shocking real-life events that inspired the Where the Crawdads Sings' author to write the best-selling novel. The film has now become one of the best book-to-movie adaptations ever. 

Starring Normal People's Daisy Edgar Jones, the film was a huge success at the box office and has been met with continued success since being launched on Netflix in the US. 

Many are wondering where the beautiful movie was filmed in real life, and where the movie is actually set. Here is everything you need to know...

Where is Where the Crawdads Sing set?

The 2018 book by Delia Owens is set in North Carolina, specifically in the marshes of North Carolina. Although Barkley Cove is a fictional coastal town that does not exist in reality, there are a number of marshes and coastal towns in the state that were likely used to influence the feel of the location.

Keeping true to the original source material, the film is set in the same location and references are made to the fictional Barkley Cove and the fact that this is taking place in North Carolina. In fact, the song written for Where the Crawdads Sing was a haunting ballad by Taylor Swift titled Carolina.

Where is Where the Crawdads Sing filmed?

The film crew shot this film at a variety of locations, but instead of North Carolina, most of this film was shot in Louisiana, specifically around Houma and New Orleans. This change was likely made so that the 1950s setting of this novel could be maintained, as the set designers chose filming locations with old-fashioned decor that could easily pass for 1950s coastal North Carolina.

According to Country and Town House, the fictional Barkley Cove was actually Lafayette Street in Houma, Louisiana. Similarly, the courtroom used for the trial of Chase Andrew's murder was Louisiana’s Historic St. Bernard Parish Courthouse – also known as the Beauregard Courthouse. The old courthouse is now a post office and a library, but it reverted back to its original roots for the filming of the movie.

The marshes where Kya lived were filmed in Lake Pontchartrain. Specifically in the neighboring towns of Mandeville and Madisonville and the wetlands in Fontainebleau and Fairview-Riverside State Parks.

Other locations featured in the film that can't be visited are the Feather Stump Forest and Jumpin's Bait & Gas. This is because these locations were filmed on private properties across rural Louisiana.