I visited Forks, WA
This blog post is way over due! Sorry!
March 5, 2021
When we arrived after 5 long hours of driving and I saw this sign. I knew it was all worth it, my heart jumped.
In this blog post I will walk you through what we did in Forks, where we ate and stayed, telling you everything you need to know for your trip. FYI, the real Forks, WA was not used for the Twilight films. You will not find any film locations here. Im not sure if the sign in the movie was real or movie magic added.
This trip was magical. The weather was a bit crazy with the random rain and snow but the Pacific Northwest showed up for sure.
Food:
In Forks: For this trip we decided to cook less so we had more time to explore and relax. We got pizza from a local place in Forks and drove it back to our cabin. We also didn’t want to deal with and C0v*d changes and/or wait times so we decided this was the easiest option. Also I try pizza at least once in every town I visit. Its tradition now! ;) We were here for three nights, yes we ate pizza every night along with some snacks we brought.
Port Angles: We ate some yummy Mexican food at Little Devils Lunchbox in Port Angles. It was the perfect lunch after a long hike. Decently sized place with some decor. It’s a good place for lunch, with a warming vibe, not for the aesthetic.
Safeway: In Port Angles, you will find the chain grocery store for all your needs. Its not bad to stock up for your trip on the way in if you take the route through Seattle.
We stayed in the cutest cabin just outside of Forks.
It had a beautiful river right behind it and a spa on the back deck. It was the perfect stay for us. It also had a cozy fireplace inside. I was in a cozy heaven.
If you want to see the inside the cabin and a video of my trip. Click here: My weekend in Forks, WA
Things to do
The town of Forks is a small town. Probably smaller then you would think. You could drive the whole town in about 15 minutes. I believe it only had two stop lights. Besides the “welcome to Forks” sign, the town is a little underwhelming, but I don’t know what I expected. Other than the sign and the look alike trucks at the welcome center there isn’t too much to see. To any Twi-hard though this is enough. There is also a museum that has some movie props but it was closed during our trip.
Welcome center: Home of the look-a-like Bella truck. Make sure you stop at the welcome center before your adventure. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. They have some memorabilia that’s fun to see. The reason you have to stop here is, they have a paper map for you. It tells you exactly where everything is, some history and what’s open/closed. I found out one of the local flower shop owners is the lucky owner of the arch from the prom scene in the movie. It’s on a private residence so you can not see it without her permission.
The treaty line: make sure you take the drive down to the treaty line. Its a fun sign that separate the real Quileute tribe Indian land from the public land. During our stay La Push beach and all of the Quileute land was closed and had been closed since everything unfolded in 2020. To protect their tribe from what 2020 brought us, the lands had been closed. You can still visit the sign and that little corner respectfully though, but that’s it.
Rialto Beach: After visiting the treaty line, take a trip down to Rialto Beach. La Push beach was closed because its on the reservation so the Welcome Center told us to try this beach for the Twilight vibes instead. Half of Rialto Beach is on the Indian reservation and the other half is open to the public. Rialto Beach is a black pebble beach. There is no sand just a ton of rocks in all shapes and colors. It was the coolest thing Ive ever seen. Imagin walking on a ton of tiny pebbles. Add in some rain, that’s pebble beach.
Shopping: Don’t expect to do much shopping here. We went two stores searching for a small souvenir. Couldn’t find anything and called it a day on shopping. You can visit the store that inspired the location of where Bella worked in the books. That brings me to my next…
Visiting the places that inspired Stephanie Myers to pick Forks, WA as her book location: As I have said above, nothing was filmed in Forks WA for the Twilight saga movies. Twilight was filmed mostly in Oregon and the other four movies were sound stages and Canada.
In Forks, with the map from the Welcome center, you can drive around and look at the specific landmarks that Stephanie pictured her characters living, going to school, working, etc.
Port Angles: After one of our hikes, we drove the 45mins out of Forks to Port Angles one day. It was a cute little city. Its bigger then Forks but still not much to do but explore the downtown. We stopped at the Safeway and got a few more food items and some hot drinks. It was pouring rain the whole time we were there. We were hoping it would let up like it did on our hike but we never saw dry skies. We got lunch at the cutest place called Little Devils Lunchbox.
Weather:
The weather in the PNW always gets a bad name for being wet and cold. It doesn’t rain all the time and it makes you really appreciate the sunny days. Without all the rain we get, nothing would be as green, remember that the next time.
The weather in the Olympic Peninsula now is a different story. It went from bright and sunny, to cloudy, to pouring rain, back to sunny, then full on snowing. I kid you not, the weather up there is PNW weather and then some. Even the type of rain they get up there is much different then what we get down here in Portland. If you have been to both places you will understand. They get the most rain in the PNW.
What to pack: Spring/Fall/Winter With that being said make sure you bring layers, warm clothing items and waterproof things as much as possible. If your visiting in the summer then just some lightweight rain gear.
All of the hiking we did on our trip in the Olympic National Park will be in a different blog post, Coming Soon!
