The first episode to be partially filmed at Vasquez was "
Shore Leave" (in which it depicted the
Shore Leave Planet along with
Africa, USA), spending two and half days on location, on Monday
24 October 1966, Tuesday
25 October 1966 and Wednesday
26 October 1966. In the next month, another two
Star Trek episodes were shot there, "
Arena", spending two days at Vasquez, on Wednesday
9 November 1966 and Thursday
10 November 1966, and "
The Alternative Factor". The latter also spent two days filming on location, on Tuesday
22 November 1966 and Wednesday
23 November 1966.
Star Trek returned to Vasquez for the second season, to film "
Friday's Child", which also spent two days on location, on Wednesday
24 May 1967 and Thursday
25 May 1967.
Vasquez was seen again almost twenty years later in
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, when some of the
Vulcanscenes were filmed there. Three years later, in
August 1989, the
Next Generation episode "
Who Watches The Watchers" was also located at Vasquez.
Star Trek: Voyager also filmed scenes at Vasquez, including the barren moon surface for "
Initiations" in
July 1995 and the desert for "
Gravity" in
September 1998.
Director
J.J. Abrams shot the
Vulcan scenes of
2009's
Star Trek at Vasquez Rocks as an homage to its use in previous
Trek productions.
[1]
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Vasquez_Rocks
I don't think AT or Man Trap suffered from being on a sound stage. In fact, I really like how Man Trap looks. On the other hand, I think By Any Other Name suffers terribly from being on a stage. I think it has to do with the amount of screen time set outdoors.
Alternative Factor was shot at Vasquez? What a terrible waste of money and an outdoor location.
