Update: Get yourself to Oregon for a taste of Twilight
by Elizabeth Jardina, Sunset researcher
So you want to go to Forks, Washington.
A certain segment of the population knows exactly what I'm talking about. Teenage girls (and a good number of 20- and 30-something women) are overrepresented here.
Forks: a modest logging town on Washington's Olympic Peninsula whose impressive rainfall totals make it among the wettest spots in the U.S. All this — plus, the weather is gloomy even when it's not raining, and it sits on a stretch of two-lane highway marred by clear-cut forests.
Seriously, every teenage girl you know wants to go there.
Who is responsible for this entry in the catalog of improbable vacation destinations?
Thank Stephenie Meyer, a mother of three from Phoenix who, Googling around for the rainiest spot in the U.S., picked Forks sight unseen as the setting for her frothy teen vampire romance Twilight. The novel has sold eleventy billion copies, and spawned three sequels; a cadre of intense fans, many female and young; a movie version, out Nov. 21; and a burst of tourism in Forks.
Forks, which one Sunset editor described thusly: "People stop there for gas and keep moving."
Fans of the Twilight books are going anyway. Tourism-related tax revenue in the town is up nearly 50 percent this year, and the town is hopeful that more vampire-seeking tourists will make the stop to see quotidian landmarks like Forks High School, the hospital, the grocery store, and the police station.
But a trip to the Olympic Peninsula shouldn't just be about vampire-chasing in Forks. Less than a hour away, Olympic National Park is home to some of the most stunning scenery in the West: Temperate, moss-gilded forests. Cool, misty lakes. Windswept beaches. (Yes, First Beach on the Quileute Reservation, which is the site of one of Twilight's most pivotal scenes, is a real place. As are Second and Third Beaches.)
The coast near Forks/Mike Gurling, Forks Visitor Center
Getting there: The basics
When to go: For the best weather (warmest temperatures and least rain), go May through late September or early October. Of course, if you're looking for a rain-soaked, freezing-cold, vampire-inspired adventure, any time is a pretty good one. The town of Forks celebrates Stephenie Meyer Day on the same day as Twilight protagonist Bella Swan's birthday, Sept. 13. Expect special Twilight-themed events; last year, they included a bonfire on First Beach and a Wolf Dance by members of the Quileute Nation. (In attendance, notably, were 150 fans from the erstwhile fan site TwilightMoms.com.)
How to get there: Fly into Seattle. (From San Francisco or Los Angeles, check Virgin America for low rates.) Although you can cross Puget Sound on a ferry, Sunset editors recommend renting a car in the city and driving south, through Tacoma and Olympia, and then heading north on U.S./State 101 toward Forks.
Where to stay: While there are a number of accommodation options in the town, travel editor Amy Wolf recommends staying at the Lake Quinault Lodge, about an hour south of Forks, for its stunning lakeside setting and easy access to the forest.
Local info for Forks
The Forks Chamber of Commerce website has lists of local lodging and businesses, as well as a Twilight-themed page that shows the real locations of many of the scenes in the novels. A local favorite is Forks Community Hospital, which has a space reserved for Dr. Cullen (the vampire dad and physician from the novels). The chamber also runs the monthly Forks Tours ($22) that sell out almost as quickly as they're scheduled. Check out their online store, where you can buy your very own Forks High Spartans jersey ($20) or your vampire-themed bumper sticker ($5).
If you go to Forks, be sure to stop at the Forks Visitor Center, where manager Mike Gurling — a former Olympic National Park ranger — will give you a specially made Twilight map, which includes some non-public stops like the "Swan House" (actually a private residence) and the "Cullen House" (actually a bed and breakfast), as well as a trivia quiz to test your knowledge of the four books. (He also took the amazing photos on this blog.)
Forks Forum, the local newspaper, published on Wednesdays with a circulation of 5,000, has an active website. (Recent headline: First Twilight-focused shop opens in Forks). It also has a page specifically for Twilight fans.
Not to miss: The towering rain forest
The Hall of Mosses in the Hoh Rain Forest/Mike Gurling, Forks Visitor Center
The Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park is 34 miles south of Forks, about a 45 minute drive. But its otherworldliness makes it a must-visit experience. Gigantic, centuries-old Sitka spruces are covered in moss, lichen, and other epiphytes — plants that eschew the soil and root above the ground on other plants. Although it is a true rain forest, it's no steamy jungle. The temperature, even in summer, rarely hits 80 degrees; it rains 12 to 14 feet per year here.
For Twilight fans, a hike in one of these rain forests — you can also visit the Quinault, Queets, or Bogachiel Valleys — is the perfect place to imagine your super-fast vampire beau streaking through the forest, carrying you around. Or, the perfect place to envision werewolves, if that's more your speed. (You're more likely to see, if you're lucky, a Roosevelt elk, the species of majestic quadruped on whose behalf Teddy Roosevelt first protected this land in 1909; it became a national park in 1938.)
Admission to Olympic National Park is $15 per car, and the pass lasts seven days.
Not to miss: The wild beaches
Driftwood at Second Beach/Mike Gurling, Forks Visitor Center
Twilight fans head straight to La Push, the very small town on the Quileute Reservation where adorable werewolf Jacob Black hails from. First Beach, where Bella learns about the supernatural secrets that lurk on the reservation and in Forks, is a popular spot for tourists. For a truly wild beach experience, also check out Olympic National Park's Rialto Beach, where you can walk 1.5 miles to Hole-in-the-Wall, a natural sea arch.
A special request for Twilight fans: Have you visited the area? Please leave comments and let us know what you did that was fun (or not). Did it live up to your vision of it in the novels?
Special thanks to Mike Gurling at the Forks Chamber of Commerce for allowing us to use these gorgeous photos!
Update: More on Twilight from Nov. 17
