Traveling to Twilight: Our Day Trip to Forks, WA

So, neither Jan nor I have read the Twilight book series by Stephenie Meyer, but that doesn’t mean we’re unaware of vampire/werewolf culture. We hear things. Jan has been involved in one-sided conversations with his kids about glitter, and I may have actually seen a few clips from the movies. However, I was slightly surprised when Jan mentioned that we were close to Forks, Washington and that we should take a road trip up there. To check things out.

I did a little research before our trip to see if there actually was anything to check out regarding the movie. Sometimes these things are set in a location, but most of the filming takes place in front of a green screen. I could understand this particularly for Forks, Washington since it’s on the west side of the Olympic National Forest/Olympic National Park and not near anything resembling a Starbucks. Actors need their coffee, I’m told.

Turns out, it’s practically a cottage industry for the town. Jan had been there prior to the movies and was impressed at how the town had grown from a bump in the road to a larger bump. Seriously though, there are several shooting locations, vampire-themed merch, and a Forever Twilight Festival that occurs in September. Mercifully, we would miss the crowds.

As you drive into Forks you’re greeted by the Chamber of Commerce welcome sign which is conveniently located next to both the Chamber of Commerce building and the Forks Timber Museum. We stepped into the museum vestibule, but decided against paying the entry fee — smelled wonderfully of cedar in there, though.

Parked in front of both building are the trucks that Bella drove — apparently there were different makes/models from the book and the movie, so they included both. Snazzy.

The Chamber of Commerce greeters have totally bought into the movie hype, and are overflowing with helpfulness about where to find sites, where to eat, and what to do. Acknowledging that not everyone is a fan, they even have a “Guy’s List” of things to do in the area that are not Twilight-related. (Hey, women like fishing, too!)

We quickly absorbed the good info, and then headed into town for a tourist-priced breakfast at a recommended diner. Let’s just say we were wise to bring our own coffee.

We headed towards La Push to experience the more scenic side of the movies. We crossed the “treaty line” and headed towards Second Beach to see the sights. As with many beaches in the area, a hike was in order — about .7 miles. It’s not a hard hike, but fans with accessibility issues won’t be able to get past the ups, downs, and mountain of logs.

Once you make your way past the vertical hike through the forest and horizontal hike across the beach debris, the beach is its own reward. I don’t know what scenes were shot here, but if it wasn’t an epic sword fight on top of the wood pile with an incoming tide then I’ll be sorely disappointed. Although, I think there could be room for some romance.

I know we didn’t see everything in Forks, but personally I think this was just enough Twilight for the two of us. Without knowing more, we’re fans.