Twilight in Forks and LaPush
The kids, hubby & I took a quick trip to NW Washington. The main purpose of the trip was for me to run a half marathon in a National Park. However, I added a tad more fun to the weekend since we were in the neighborhood.
The rest of my family doesn’t know much about Twilight, but I’m a fan – especially of the books, so we took a quick tour through settings highlighted in the series in Forks and LaPush.
Forks, Washington
The city itself was a tad larger than I was expecting. I don’t know much about it, but it appeared to be a cute town.
VISITOR CENTER
The Visitor Center had a bunch of information about Twilight and goodies to purchase. I am Team Jacob, so I absolutely took a selfie with the cardboard cutout.
There was a map where visitors placed a pin indicating where they were from. I was shocked to see so many people from all over the US. Forks is a couple hours from any major city. I’m curious to know if they thought it was worth the trip.
Mick Dodge
Maybe you’re not a Twilight fan, but a fan of National Geographic’s Mick Dodge. You can read about him too.
Rain
Forks receives an impressive amount of rain – which is why everything is so beautifully green.
HOUSES IN TOWN
I don’t know why this amuses me so much, but it does. The town of Forks picked out houses based on the author’s description and dubbed them the Swan House (left) and the Cullen House (right). They aren’t the houses Stephenie Meyer hand picked. Did I drive by to see them anyway? Yes. Yes, I did.
The Swan House is a bit overgrown out front and happened to be for sale when I was in town.
The Cullen House is a cute B&B named the Miller Tree Inn.
The Swan House and Cullen House used in the first film are closer to my home in Oregon and I’ve checked them out, too. The Swan houses are somewhat similar. The Cullen houses are completely different.
There are a number of other places in Forks to see based on the series like the Forks High School and Forks Outfitters – however these aren’t the locations used in filming.
LaPush, Washington
About a 20 minute drive from Forks is La Push. If you are a Twilight fan you know this is Native American and Werewolf territory.
I have never been to the northern coast of Washington. We went to First Beach and it was beautiful. We all had a great time – climbing rocks, sand in our toes, and jumping waves.
In the Twilight movie, the LaPush beach scenes were filmed at Ecola State Park in Oregon.
Other Stops on our Trip
Olympic National Park
Our first stop was the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. We watched an evening ranger talk, I ran a half marathon along the trails, and we continued on our way.
Cruisin’ the 101
Since we don’t ever visit this part of Washington, we decided to head home via highway 101. It meant it would take slightly longer to get home. We did it anyway.
First stop, Ruby Beach. Stunning!
Next, dinner in South Bend at The Oyster Shack. The weather was getting chilly, but the food was good.
It was pretty uneventful the rest of the way down Washington state.
Eventually we made it to the 4 mile long Astoria Bridge at the mouth of the Columbia River and crossed back home to Oregon.
That was the extent of our quickie trip up north. I’m glad we did it. We all need a bit of spontaneous adventure now and again.
Check out Twilight locations in the Pacific Northwest:
Swan House in St. Helens, Oregon
Thinking About Heading to Forks or LaPush?
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