Where was Little House on the Prairie filmed? The prairie isn't in Kansas

The entire eight-episode first season was filmed in Manitoba, Canada — and getting it made was almost as rough as the pioneer life it depicts.

Why Manitoba

Showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine told CBC that the province's tall grasses and sweeping, untouched landscapes sold her on the location — exactly the look the books describe and modern Kansas can't easily provide. Principal photography ran from June 10 to early October 2025 under the working title Independence, delayed at the start by Manitoba's stubborn late winter.

Then the weather really got involved: the shoot endured floods, tornado warnings, lightning, extreme winds, and a plague of ticks. Sonnenshine took it in stride:

"We're going through it, just like the Ingalls," she told CBC.

The main filming locations

• Cooks Creek — a small community about 18 miles northeast of Winnipeg, where the production built the Ingalls homestead and the town of Independence. The centerpiece log cabin weighed 96,000 pounds and was built without nails, per The New York Times.
• Winnipeg — Manitoba's capital hosted the studio and interior work, plus scenes shot at Fort Gibraltar in the historic St. Boniface neighborhood.
• FortWhyte Alive — a nature reserve on the city's outskirts that supplied wide, unbroken grassland for the big prairie vistas.

Crosby Fitzgerald, who plays Ma, told Decider the region needed no dressing up, calling it "beautiful, friendly Manitoba" and confirming every day looked as good as the finished show.

How that compares to the original series

The 1974–1983 NBC version starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert never went to Kansas or Minnesota either — it filmed largely in California, most famously at Big Sky Ranch in Simi Valley. Gilbert herself connected the two eras: the original Laura visited the Manitoba set during production and got a hug from her successor, Alice Halsey.

What about season 2?

Already underway. Netflix renewed the show in March 2026, before the first season even premiered, and season 2 is in production in Manitoba now — even though the story is moving on to Walnut Grove, Minnesota.