DeeTour the set of the iconic film, High School Musical with this mini travel guide. In this guide we share everything you need to know before you go.
Calling all fans of High School Musical to Salt Lake City for a tour of East High! As soon as I learned that High School Musical was filmed in Utah AND that you could visit the set it immediately went on my bucket list.
After all, how many places can you sing your favorite High School Musical songs right where they were filmed?! The days leading up to our visit we had the movies playing none stop and I can’t tell you how excited I was. I actually turned Mike into a fan. We spent one late afternoon exploring East High with the free self guided tour provided by the school and it was so much fun!
In this post we are sharing everything you can see and all about our experience.
ABOUT EAST HIGH
East High also known as Salt Lake High School East is a public high school in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded in 1913 and serves grades 9 through 12 in general and special education. It enrolls about 2,000 students with their mascot actually being the Leopard’s not the Wildcats.
East High was the set for the all three High School Musical movies as well as the tv series, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. When you visit East High you can pick up a detailed map guiding you to the movies iconic scenes, such as, Sharpay’s Locker, the cafeteria, the gym, and much more.
GETTING TO EAST HIGH
East High is located in Salt Lake City, Utah in the East Central District. It’s central location make it an easy stop while visiting Salt Lake City. There is parking in front of the school however spots are limited. There is side street parking in the area so that is an option if there is no spot at the school.
WHEN TO GO
East High offers self guided tours Monday through Friday from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on school days.
We recommend going as late as possible unless you want to see all the students that attend East High. We got to the school around 5 p.m. and there was still a handful of students there and I’m not going to lie, it was a little weird. But don’t let that stop you, we weren’t the only people there that didn’t actually go to East High.
We also heard from multiple people that fans come to see the school everyday so it’s completely normal for them to see random people visiting and taking pictures. We even had a couple students offer to take our pictures because it’s so common to have visitors for the movies.
WHAT TO BRING
The only thing you really need when visiting East High is a camera.
ABOUT THE TOUR
East High is a three story building splitting this tour into 3 floors.
MAIN FLOOR & ENTRANCE
Once you get inside East High there will be detailed maps left outside the office to your right. Right away you’ll get a view from above of the “Commons Area” where “Stick to the Status Quo” and varies other scenes where filmed. Even the tables that were used in the movie are there!
Also on this floor is the hallway for “What Time is it?”, the Media Center, Sharpay and Kelsie’s lockers, Ms. Darbus’s room ( however we couldn’t find it ), the auditorium, and the gym. We couldn’t go into the auditorium or the gym because of student events going on.
TOP FLOOR
Going up to the next floor is where Gabriella’s locker, Troy’s locker, the science room as well as varies hallway scenes were filmed. The science teacher told us we were lucky because normally you can’t go into the science room unless a teacher is present. Which makes sense because there’s A LOT of equipment in there.
The rooftop garden featured in the movie doesn’t actually exist. It was a set built for the movie.
BOTTOM FLOOR
Going down to the next floor is where the Auto Shop, the Year Book Room, and the Boys Locker room are located. The lights were off down here and there was some construction going on so we didn’t venture too far on this level.
Overall, visiting East High was a great experience. Once you push past the reality that it’s an actual school and you may see young kids around it’s pretty fun. I would totally go back again.
Let us know in the comments if you’ve ever visited East High!
Hey Mary! Nope, no reservations needed! Just show up after school, grab a map, and start exploring. We talked to a couple different staff members who were very friendly and helpful answering any questions we had.
Do you know if you can tour in the summer or on the last day of school if they have an early release?
Last I heard you can tour the school in the summer however I am not sure about early release on the last day of school. I would reach out them via email to see for certain. You can find their contact information on the school website east.slcschools.org
I’ve been to Salt Lake City last year but I didn’t have time to go to the school and I’m going again in August. I was planning only to take a pic outside the school but now after reading this OMG I’m sooooo excited. I can’t barely wait 😭
Thank you so much for sharing that. You made my day, seriouslyI’m so glad this post has got you pumped for your visit to East High! It really is such a fun experience for fans of High School Musical!! Enjoy and don’t forget to take lots of pictures!
Hi! I sent this to you on IG, but am not sure how often you’re on there: I just finished walking around East High School in Salt Lake City and am so grateful for your blog post! I had already gone through your post a few times, but then they were out of maps when I went so I was so glad you posted both sides of the one you had! Haha!
I’ll be doing a post about it myself and would love to give you credit—I’ll plan on tagging you on IG and linking back to this page. Let me know if there’s any other information you’d like me to share (or not share)—I want to make sure you get credit for saving me a lot of time wandering around the school. Lol.
Hi Jen! I’m so so glad this post helped you on your visit to East High!! Stepping onto such an iconic set as High School Musical was definitely a highlight of our trip and something I’d recommend to any fan! And I’d love to be featured on your blog. You can add any info that suites you and send me the link when your done! I’d love to read it!
I am active on instagram but I don’t believe I’ve received any messages from you. If you can, try sending it again. Our tag is @deandrandmike. You can also find it by clicking the instagram icon on our blog.
Not sure if this came through, but I have a blog (www.travelbooksandmovies.com) that’s all about book- and movie-related travel. 😆. Jen Price
It’s such a fun stop when visiting Utah and it’s only 15 minutes from the Salt Lake City International Airport!
Do you know if you can still do this visit? I can’t see anything on the school website about visiting anymore.
And if so, can you visit in school holidays in July or only when school is open?
We need to travel during UK school summer holidays and would love to visit as my daughter is a huge fan.Hi Kelly, I’ve read that East High no longer allows self guided tours of the campus. Visitors are now only allowed to stop by after school hours and grab a photo outside the building.
Hi!
I’m planning to go in June , I’d like make sure that the school is open so I can go inside and visit. Thank you in advance 😉Hi Jade, I believe the self guided tours inside the high school are no longer available. But you are still able to stop by after school hours and grab a picture of the building from the outside!
I was in Salt Lake City last weekend and there was a sign on the door about the tours being available between 3-5pm. It is worth calling to confirm.
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