Vampire Visitors flock to Forks
With the release of New Moon, the second film in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga, tourism to Forks, Washington has escalated as legions of fans have become "vampire visitors."
Although New Moon was filmed in Vancouver and Italy, fans continue to flock to film locations in Washington and Oregon where the saga's first movie, Twilight, was filmed and where events in the book take place.
Meyer chose Forks, an old logging town located in Washington's Olympic Peninsula as the setting for her books when she discovered it's the rainiest place in the continental US. Forks averages 10 to 12 feet of rain per year -- the perfect place for vampires who shun the sun to live and and attend school in the daytime.
Since Twilight was released in November, 2008, Forks has been transformed by the thousands of vampire fans who have descended upon the town.
As Diane Bair and Pamela Wright say in their Miami Herald article You're entering Forks, an area we call... the 'Twilight' zone,
"'Twi-hard' fans have embraced Forks in a big way, and they're happy to fork over their tourist dollars to capture some of the magic."
If you'd like to join the 67,000 people who have already visited Forks this year, or if you'd like to see the New Moon filming locations in Vancouver, here are a few suggestions:
Pre-Trip Reading
You've read the four books in the Twilight series at least once, right? Okay. Next you might want to pick up a copy of George Beahm's Twilight Tours: The Illustrated Guide to the REAL Forks, which tells you all about the many film and book locations you can visit both on your own, or with an organized tour.
You might also enjoy reading Twilight fans descend on Forks, the US vampire town," and "Twilight and other vampire locations," both online at London's Sunday Times.
To tour the New Moon filming locations in Vancouver, you can take a tour with On Location Tours Vancouver. These private tours take a maximum of five people, and give you the details of the making of the movies while visiting the set location houses of the three main movie characters, a visit to the woods where the break-up scene was filmed, the high school, film studios and more.
Guided tours in Forks are given by Twilight Fan Trips, which offers a vampire baseball adventure, and Dazzled by Twilight, which offers a tour that follows the footsteps of Bella, Edward, and Jacob through the towns of Forks and La Push Washington.
Evergreen Escapes offers a full-day (14 hour) Twilight Rainforest Tour led by a naturalist. It includes hotel pick-up, a ferry ride from Seattle,morning tea with scones, lunch, a tour of Forks, the beaches of the Quileute Reserve, and dinner with wine served at Bella Italia in Port Angeles, where Edward and Bella had their first date.
On Your Own
If you'd prefer to do it on your own, contact the Forks Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center at (360) 374-2531; they've got downloadable travel itineraries on their website. Also, Beahm's book, mentioned above, would be very helpful if you're going it on your own.
If you enjoyed this article you might also enjoy my post Twilight Tours.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons. Top right - Hoh Rain Forest; Bottom left - Olympic National Park/Urban.
The author received no compensation, discounts or products in exchange for writing this post.
Thanks for your comment! I love the forest scene, too... It definitely seems like a magical place.
Posted by: Melody | January 15, 2010 at 09:09 PM
Wow that is great, from the movie the Forks seen to a magical place. I love the forest scene. I wish I could travel to Fork with my kids we are all twi-hard'fan. Thanks for this lovely information.
Posted by: Port Douglas hotels | January 14, 2010 at 05:33 AM