Where Was ‘Twilight’ Shot?

of Where Was ‘Twilight’ Shot? Rishabh Borde
February 14, 2020

Love it or hate it, there is no denying the popularity or impact of the ‘Twilight‘ movies. It started with the release of the original ‘Twilight’ film in 2008, adapted from author Stephanie Meyer’s novel of the same name. Despite being panned by reviewers all over and drawing the ire of many on the internet, the movie was an unabashed commercial success, raking in more than ten times its production budget at the box office, spawning a multi billion dollar franchise, and single-handedly bringing back vampires to the forefront of fantasy once again, albeit in a very different manner compared to the film vampires of old.

The plot of ‘Twilight’ follows Bella Swan, your everyday average high school student who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to the suffocatingly small town of Forks, Washington to live with her father. Though she feels like a bit of a misfit in her new school, she immediately grabs the attention of the freakishly handsome Edward Cullen. As Bella grows closer and closer to Edward and the two become romantically involved, she quickly realizes that there is much more to Edward than she initially thought. The Cullen family is hiding a deep dark secret, something that will change Bella’s life forever.

If you were wondering what are ‘Twilight’ filming locations, read on to find out everything we know.

Where Was Twilight Filmed?

The story line of ‘Twilight’ takes place in a fictionalized version of the town of Forks in Washington. In the movie, Forks is shown to be a rather small town with dodgy weather and impressive forestry. The real Forks is rather similar, with a population of fewer than four thousand people and an economy fuelled by the local timber industry. The ‘Twilight’ films have also significantly raised the city’s profile with an influx of Twilight related tourism.

However, the real shock here is that ‘Twilight’ wasn’t actually filmed in Forks at all. In fact, the first film in the vampire romance saga is largely filmed both on set and on location in and around Portland in Oregon, Washington, and California.

Check out this picture taken during the filming of the prom scene in ‘Twilight’:

Silver Falls State Park, Silverton, Oregon

Let’s start right at the beginning of the movie – the prologue. A deer is shown trying to frantically escape an unseen hunter, fast and deadly. This particular scene was filmed at the Silver Falls State Park near Silverton, Oregon. This is also the location of the filming of some later scenes in the film; specifically, those involving Edward carrying Bella to the dizzying heights of the treetops.

Silver Falls State Park is the largest state park in the state of Oregon and is famous for its 8.7 mile Canyon Trail, also known as the Trail of Ten Falls for its scenic route featuring ten different waterfalls. The most prominent of these waterfalls is the nearly 180 foot South Falls.

Check out this picture taken near the filming location:

Vernonia, Oregon

The town of Forks, Washington in ‘Twilight’ is represented by the small logging town of Vernonia in Columbia County, Oregon. Various local establishments were also used for filming many of the locations we see in the movie. For example, the Forks Police Station where Bella’s father Charlie works is actually the building of a local bank called Wauna Federal Credit Union in Vernonia.

Much like Forks, Vernonia is also known for its timber producing industry and features a relatively small population of around two thousand. As such, the small town is the ideal stand in for Forks.

Saint Helens, Oregon

The river port town of Saint Helens, Oregon serves as the filming location for many of the scenes in the movie. Charlie and Bella’s house is located on South 6th Street, while the bookstore Bella visits during her research on vampires is actually a private office building located on South 2nd Street.

Other locations where ‘Twilight’ filmed in Saint Helens include 1st Street, where the scene involving Edward saving Bella from some wannabe criminals was shot, as well as the date scene in the Bloated Toad restaurant where Edward reveals some of his abilities to Bella.

Kalama, Washington

While the town of Forks missed out to Vernonia as one of the primary filming locations, the state of Washington did serve as a filming location for Forks High School, which was actually the Kalama Middle/High School in the small town of Kalama in Washington. Initially created for the construction of the Northern Pacific railroad, the town was given in 1871 based on the Native Indian word “calama”, which translates to “pretty maiden”.

Check out these pictures of some of the other ‘Twilight’ filming locations in Washington:

Santa Clarita, California

The brief Arizona scenes in ‘Twilight’ were not actually shot in Arizona. In fact, they were actually filmed in Santa Clarita, California, about thirty miles northwest of the city of Los Angeles.

Various Locations Across Oregon

Besides the towns of Vernonia and Saint Helens, many scenes featured in ‘Twilight’ were also filmed in various locations across the state of Oregon. This includes Damascus, which is the location of the Carver cafe where Bella has breakfast; Oregon City, where the field trip scene with Bella and her classmates was filmed, and Northwest Quimby Street in Portland, which is the location of the Cullen house.

Check out these pictures of actress Kristen Stewart while filming in Portland for the film:

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