With the release of the Twilight DVD, many Twilight fans are planning road trips to visit the sites of their favorite scenes from the movie. But don’t make the mistake of going to Forks if you want to see the actual locations used in the movie. Listed below are the sites that were used in the Twilight movie.
Forks
According to Twilight: The Complete illustrated Movie Companion, the Director of Twilight, Catherine Hardwicke, wanted to stay true to the book and shoot in Forks, but ultimately the city of Forks “lacked the housing and infrastructure necessary for a film crew on a tight budget.” Substituting for Forks were the cities of Portland, Vernonia and St. Helens.
Forks High School
Even though the sign in the Twilight movie says Forks High School, they actually filmed most of the high school scenes at Kalama High School, located at 548 China Garden Road in Kalama, Washington. The scenes shot here include the school parking lot, the volleyball scenes, the Arizona hospital room and the batting cages.
Most of the interior school scenes, including the biology class, were shot at Madison High School, located at 2735 NE 82nd Avenue in Portland, Oregon.
The office and hallway scenes were filmed at St. Helens High School, which is at 2375 Gable Road in St Helens, Oregon.
When Bella’s science class goes on a field trip, the greenhouse scenes were shot at Clackamas Community College, located at 19600 Molalla Avenue in Oregon City, Oregon.
Charlie’s House
Fans report that Charlie’s house is a private residence located at 184 South 6th Street in St. Helens, Oregon. Both interior and exterior scenes were shot here. The movie producers had originally chosen a weather-beaten old house in Carver, Oregon to fit Charlie’s bachelor status. But that house ended up having structural problems so they couldn’t film there. The house in St. Helens was discovered by Director Catherine Harwicke on a location scout. Where as the first house would have made viewers believe that Charlie’s life was unraveling, the second house showed us that Charlie was able to maintain a normal life after the divorce.
Bella’s Bedroom
There were three locations for Bella’s bedroom. The first is in Charlie’s house in St. Helen’s, Oregon. The second is an exact match of the room built near the baseball field. They used this set whenever they couldn’t film the baseball scenes due to weather issues. The third Bella’s room was built in an Elks Lodge in Pasadena because Catherine Hardwicke wanted to reshoot the kissing scene to make it even better.
Cullen’s House
The Cullen House is actually the real home of the Nike Director of footwear design, John Hoke. The home in Portland is newly built and was featured on the cover of a magazine called Portland Spaces. Photos of the house are also available at DesignTavern.com. The garage was filmed in a private home in an undisclosed town.
Carver’s Cafe
The site that was used in Twilight showing Bella and Charlie eating in a cafe is Carver’s Cafe in Oregon. The cafe is also shown in the scene when Bella is in her truck fleeing from James. The cafe is located at 16471 S.E. Highway 224, in Clackamas, Oregon. Be sure to request “Bella’s table” when visiting.
LaPush Beach
According to Twilight: Director’s Notebook, film director Catherine Hardwicke scouted First Beach at LaPush in hopes of shooting there. Hardwicke said LaPush was “drop-dead gorgeous,” but “ultimately it cost too much to film there…” Instead they filmed the LaPush scenes at Indian Beach at Ecola State Park, Hwy 101 in Cannon Beach, Oregon. The scenes filmed here include the van in the parking lot and Jacob and Bella walking on the beach.
The Blue Heron Paper Company
The Blue Heron Paper Company is the site used when the nomad vampires attack and kill a security guard at a factory. The factory is located at 419 Main Street, in Oregon City, Oregon.
Petite Jolie (Dress Shop)
The dress store where Bella, Jessica and Angela are trying on prom dresses is actually a hair salon called Angel Hair Salon. It is located at 251 S 1st St, in St. Helens, Oregon. If you walk by the salon you will see Catherine Hardwicke’s director chair in the window. The owner, Brittney Bradford, was an extra and can be seen in two scenes in the movie.
The Bloated Toad (Restaurant)
In the book, Twilight, the restaurant where Edward and Bella go in Port Angeles is called La Bella Italia. In the movie, the restaurant is called “The Bloated Toad.” The building is actually home of Boldr Consulting. The Bloated Toad restaurant sign was created just for the movie. The building is located at 330 South 1st Street, in St. Helens, Oregon.
The Thunderbird & Whale Bookstore
The bookstore in Port Angeles where Bella buys a book about Quileute legends is really an attorney’s office. It is located at 260 South 2nd Street in St. Helens, Oregon.
Alley and Parking Lot
The scene when Bella is being followed and harassed in a dark alley was filmed at 260 South 2nd Street in St. Helens, Oregon. The murals on the back of the 1st Street buildings were actually added by the movie company.
Waylon’s Attack
The scene in Twilight where Charlie’s friend, Waylon, is attacked while working on his boat was shot at Kadow’s Caterpillar Island Marina, located at 10612 NW Lower River Road in Vancouver, Washington.
Police Station
The Forks Police Station is actually the Wauna Federal Credit Union in Vernonia, Oregon. The location is 1010 Bridge Street. The Police Station is only seen at night when Bella and Edward stop to find out what the commotion is about after Waylon is killed.
“Say it out loud”
Parts of the scene where Edward insists that Bella say the word “vampire” out loud is in Oxbow Park, located at 3010 SE Oxbow Parkway in Gresham, Oregon.
Tree to Tree Sequence
Some of the tree top scenes and the deer chase scene were shot in Silver Falls Park. The park is located at 20024 Silver Falls Hwy SE in Sublimity, Oregon. Most of the shots done here were done by stunt doubles. The close up shots of Bella and Edward in the trees were shot at Cape Horn, near Washougal, Washington.
Baseball Game
In Twilight: Director’s Notebook Catherine Hardwicke says they filmed the baseball scene across the river from the Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
Arizona
When Bella returns to Arizona, the aerial shots in the movie are of Phoenix, Arizona. The shot of Bella’s mom’s house was taken in Valencia, California. Movie producers painted the house, added palm tress and cacti to make it look like Arizona.
Mimi’s School of Dance
In the movie Twilight, the final battle between James and the Cullens takes place at Mimi’s School of Dance. The exterior of the dance school is an empty brick building in Portland. The interior shots were filmed on a sound stage set built in Portland.
Prom
The prom scenes were filmed at The View Point Inn, located at 40301 East Larch Mountain Road, in Corbett, Oregon. The outside shots of the walkway, gazebo, the fountain overlooking the Columbia Gorge and the shots of Victoria watching from above were all shot at this location. The short scene where Jacob tries to convince Bella to stay away from Edward was shot outside a house in Pasedena, California.
Meadow Scene
After most of the other scenes had been shot for Twilight, the movie producers went back to shoot the meadow scene at the Griffith Park Golf Course in Los Angeles, California. Surprisingly there is a forest in the middle of the golf course. Lush grass, flowers, ferns and moss were brought in to make it match the scenes shot in Oregon.
Most of the locations used to shoot Twilight are private businesses or residences. Please do not trespass on their property. You can usually get really good photos just by staying on public land. If you would like to get some great inside information while visiting these sites I recommend going to Carver’s Cafe, The View Point Inn or the Angel Hair Salon.
Sources:
Twilight: Director’s Notebook by Catherine Hardwicke
Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion by Mark Cotta Vaz
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
http://experiencetwilight.com/
