'The Rings of Power' Producer Reveals Show's 'Majestic and Untouched' New Zealand Filming Locations

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New Zealand's stunning landscapes are downright otherworldly in The Rings of Power.

The fantasy series (premiering Sept. 1 on Prime Video) takes viewers back to J.R.R. Tolkien's fantastical world of Middle Earth — way back, in fact.

"Our story takes place in the Second Age, thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings," executive producer Callum Greene tells PEOPLE. And that finding or creating settings — and entire civilizations — that fans have never seen before on screen.

Greene challenged his team of location scouts to find the most "absolutely majestic, untouched" places across the North and South Islands to bring this new era to life. "New Zealand is a spectacular place Everywhere you turn, there's breathtaking beauty. We were spoiled for choice," he adds.

Despite plentiful CGI, about 30 percent of the show was shot on location, mostly while the country was closed to visitors amid the pandemic, which allowed the showrunners to keep things under wraps. "The minute someone sees somebody with elf ears, the game's up," says Greene.

There were several extreme filming spots — including mountaintops a tiny crew reached by helicopter and jagged coastlines filmed by drones—but many sites are accessible to visitors, making them bucket-list-worthy destinations for adventurous travelers and Tolkien superfans

Coromandel Peninsula

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Located just across the Hauraki Gulf from Auckland, where production was based, the Coromandel Peninsula provided dramatic cliffs, beaches and inlets that feature in several scenes.

Greene avoids spoilers about exactly how and when many of the locations come up in the show, but notes, "Galadriel rides with a friend of hers across the beach."

The real location elf Galadriel (played by Morfydd Clark here and Kate Blanchett in the previous movies) and Elendil (Lloyd Owens), above, galloped is Anawhata Beach. This spot and another filming location, Bob's Beach on the eastern shore, were so spectacular "we left them very untouched," says Greene.

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Te Whanganui-A-Hei (also known as Cathedral Cove), above, is a marine reserve also on the peninsula that's a popular spot with snorkelers and scuba divers.

Waiheke Island, located in the Hauraki Gulf, was a favorite off-duty hangout for the cast and crew. "Everyone escaped here over New Year's," says Greene of this beach-lined spot a short ferry ride from Auckland. He names Mudbrick Vineyard as a must-visit on the isle.

Denize Bluffs

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This North Island area's role on the show is top secret, but it should look familiar to fans of Peter Jackson's films. The towering limestone cliffs and lush green forests also appeared in the first The Hobbit movie in 2012, where it appeared as Trollshaw Forest.

The local tour company Hairy Feet Waitomo leads groups of fans to exact filming locations in the Mangaotaki Valley. Visitors can have their photo taken in the exact spot where Bilbao Baggins receives the sword "Sting" from Gandalf.

Mount Kidd

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This peak was easily the most extreme location filming took place. Upon arrival in New Zealand Greene asked the location scouts if there was anywhere they'd always wanted to shoot, but never had. "They looked at each other and kind of smiled and said, Mount Kidd," ehe recalls. "I said, okay and five months later, we were filming on the top of Mount Kidd at about 11,000 feet."

The site proved treacherous as severe weather was extremely common and only a few cast and crew could be shuttled up to the mountain via helicopter at a time.

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But the scenery was worth it, says Greene. "Two actors started crying when they got to the top—they were so overwhelmed" by the beauty, says Greene of filming with stars including Nazanin Boniadi (Bronwyn), here at an altitude of11,000 feet.

For those looking to see the stunning vista for themselves, Southern Lakes Helicopters flies guests into the remote Fiordland. The company's Magic Mountain flight even lands atop Mount Kidd.