Where Was Twilight Filmed? The Real Forks and Cullen House

Where was Twilight filmed? Not in Forks. The first film was shot mostly around Portland, Oregon and across the Columbia River in Washington. The Cullen house is a private home in Portland called the Hoke House, and Bella’s house is in St. Helens, Oregon. From New Moon on, the saga moved north to British Columbia.

Forks, Washington is a real town, and fans have visited it for years. But the crew never filmed a frame there. A shoot on the beach at La Push was planned for 24 April 2008, then cancelled because it was too far from Portland.

This guide counts down the 10 places behind the Twilight saga, from the Italian square that played Volterra to the glass house that became the Cullens’ home. Then it covers whether Forks is real, where the sequels were filmed, and how to visit.

#	Real place	What it played	Film	Can you visit?
10	Piazza Grande, Montepulciano	Volterra, Italy	New Moon	Yes, it’s a town square
9	Long Beach, near Tofino	The La Push beach	New Moon	Yes, a national park reserve
8	Squamish, BC	The Cullens’ wedding	Breaking Dawn	No. It’s private land
7	Indian Beach, Ecola State Park	The La Push beach	Twilight	Yes, a state park
6	The Shire, Columbia River Gorge	The baseball field	Twilight	No. Private estate
5	Cape Horn and the Bridge of the Gods	The treetops and the drive into Forks	Twilight	Yes
4	View Point Inn, Corbett	The prom	Twilight	From outside
3	Kalama High and McDaniel High	Forks High School	Twilight	From outside. They’re schools
2	St. Helens, Oregon	Bella’s house and Port Angeles	Twilight	Yes. You can rent the house
1	The Hoke House, Portland	The Cullen house	Twilight	From the street only

The 10 Twilight Filming Locations

The countdown starts in a Tuscan hill town and ends at a glass house on the edge of Portland’s Forest Park.

10) Piazza Grande, Montepulciano, Italy: The Volturi’s Volterra

New Moon’s race through a crowd of red cloaks was shot in a different Tuscan town from the one in the book.

In the book, Bella races to Volterra to stop Edward from stepping into the sunlight. Director Chris Weitz filmed it in Montepulciano instead, in the Piazza Grande under the clock tower of the Palazzo Comunale. The crew built a 7-metre fountain of wood and papier-mâché in the middle of the square for the scene.

It’s the only part of New Moon shot in Europe. The rest was made around Vancouver. Montepulciano is a hill town southeast of Siena, known for its Vino Nobile wine, and the square looks much as it does on screen.

9) Long Beach, Near Tofino: New Moon’s La Push

When the saga moved to Canada, La Push moved to the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The real La Push is on the Washington coast, about 15 miles from Forks. New Moon used Long Beach in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve instead, near Tofino, where the rainforest runs almost down to the sand. The Globe and Mail called Tofino the perfect setting for Twilight’s vampires.

It’s the only saga location you can drive to from Victoria without a ferry, though it’s a long drive, about 4 to 5 hours, the last stretch on the twisting Highway 4 west of Port Alberni.

8) Squamish, BC: The Breaking Dawn Wedding

Bella and Edward’s wedding was shot in the forest outside Squamish.

Breaking Dawn was shot as two films back to back, from November 2010 to April 2011. Most of the interiors were built in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. But for the wedding, director Bill Condon brought the cast north to Squamish, about an hour from Vancouver.

You can’t visit the wedding site. Squamish is still worth the drive from Vancouver on the Sea to Sky Highway, and its forests and mountains give you the look of the later films.

7) Indian Beach, Ecola State Park: The First La Push

The first film’s La Push beach is on the Oregon coast, a few miles north of Cannon Beach.

The Peninsula Daily News reported in April 2008 that the crew had planned to film this scene at First Beach in La Push itself, on 24 April 2008. The shoot was cancelled because it was too far from the production base in Portland. “Although none of the film will be shot on the North Olympic Peninsula, some real bits of local items will be visible,” the paper wrote.

So the crew used Indian Beach in Ecola State Park instead. It’s about two hours from Portland and has the same cold surf, sea stacks and driftwood. The Oregon Film Trail put up a sign here in 2019.

6) The Shire, Columbia River Gorge: The Baseball Scene

The vampire baseball game was shot on a private estate in Washington, facing Multnomah Falls.

The baseball scene was shot at The Shire, an estate on the Washington side of the Columbia River run by the University of Oregon’s John Yeon Center. It sits directly across the river from Multnomah Falls. You’ll see Silver Falls State Park named as the field online, but the weight of the evidence points here.

The crew needed cloud, because in the story vampires sparkle in the sun and every sunny shot would have meant expensive effects. Insider reported that the scene was planned for about four days and took about a week and a half. Multnomah Falls sits just across the water, and KATU says it’s the waterfall you see behind the game.

5) Cape Horn and the Bridge of the Gods: The Treetops and the Drive

Edward’s climb to the top of the trees, with the Columbia River below, was shot at Cape Horn, Washington.

The treetop scene, where Edward runs up a tree with Bella on his back, was shot at Cape Horn on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge, high above the water. The Cape Horn Overlook on Highway 14 gives you nearly the same view.

The opening drive, as Charlie takes Bella into Forks, crosses the Bridge of the Gods between Cascade Locks, Oregon and Stevenson, Washington. Silver Falls State Park, east of Salem, gave the film its opening deer hunt.

4) View Point Inn, Corbett: The Prom

Bella and Edward’s last dance under the gazebo lights was shot at a 1924 inn above the Gorge.

The prom and the closing dance in the gazebo were filmed at the View Point Inn, a 1924 lodge on the edge of the Gorge near Corbett. It’s been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985. In July 2011, a fire gutted its second floor.

The owners bought it in 2016 and have talked about reopening it as a retreat. We couldn’t confirm that it’s open, so check before you go and treat it as a look from the road.

3) Kalama High and McDaniel High: Forks High School

Forks High is two schools, one in Washington and one in Portland.

Kalama High School, about 35 miles north of Portland, played the outside of Forks High. That’s the parking lot where Edward stops a sliding van with one hand. The crew put up a replica of the real Forks High’s “Home of the Spartans” sign.

The inside is a different school. The cafeteria where Bella first sees the Cullens and the biology lab where she sits next to Edward are Madison High in Portland. Portland’s school board renamed it Leodis V. McDaniel High School in 2021.

2) The Swan House and Olde Towne St. Helens: Bella’s House and Port Angeles

Bella’s house is a real house in a real Oregon town, and you can stay in it.

The Swan house is in St. Helens, Oregon, about 30 minutes north of Portland. The old page had it in Washington. It went on sale in 2018 for $349,900, and the new owners turned it into the Twilight Swan House rental in 2019. Bookings open up to a year ahead and go fast.

The rest of Olde Towne St. Helens played Port Angeles. The dress shop where Bella’s friends shop for the prom is a hair salon on S 1st St. The bookstore where she buys the Quileute legends is on S 2nd St, and the alley where Edward rescues her is nearby. The Bloated Toad, where they have dinner, was shot on S 1st St too.

1) The Hoke House, Portland: The Cullen House

The Cullens’ glass house is a private home on the edge of Portland’s Forest Park.

In the book, the Cullens live in an old white house in the woods. Director Catherine Hardwicke went the other way, choosing a modern house of glass, wood and steel in the hills above Northwest Portland. It was built in 2007 for John Hoke, a Nike footwear executive, and designed by the Portland firm Skylab Architecture.

The house played the Cullen home inside and out, from the glass walls to the room with the piano. It’s still a private home, so look from the street and don’t go up the drive. When the saga moved to Canada, New Moon used a different house in West Vancouver, at 118 Stevens Dr, and reused one shot of the Hoke House.

Is Forks, Washington Real?

Yes. Forks is a real logging town of about 3,300 people on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, and it’s where Stephenie Meyer set the story. But none of the films were shot there. The Forks you see on screen is mostly Vernonia, Oregon, where the police station is a credit union, plus Kalama and St. Helens.

The town has made the most of it anyway. NPR reported that visits to the Forks visitor centre rose by about 50,000 the year after the first film. Food, shops and hotels made up 32% of Forks’ economy in 2023, double the 16% of two decades earlier. A replica of Bella’s red truck sits outside the visitor centre, and the hospital has a parking spot for “Dr. Cullen”.

Every September, Forks holds the Forever Twilight in Forks festival around Bella’s birthday on 13 September. In 2026 it ran 10 to 13 September. The real La Push and First Beach are about 15 miles west of town, on the Quileute reservation.

Where Were the Twilight Sequels Filmed?

In British Columbia, with trips to Italy, Brazil and Louisiana. After the first film, the saga moved its base to Vancouver.

New Moon (2009). Shot from March to May 2009 around Vancouver, with Montepulciano in Italy as Volterra. David Thompson Secondary in Vancouver played Forks High, and a house at 118 Stevens Dr in West Vancouver became the new Cullen house. Bella’s cliff dive was set at Parthenon Park in West Vancouver, with the splashdown shot in a Burnaby pool.

Eclipse (2010). Shot from August to October 2009 at Vancouver Film Studios and around the city. The newborn army rises out of Sasamat Lake in Belcarra Regional Park, and the tent scene in the snow was shot on Mount Seymour. Nothing was filmed in Portland.

Breaking Dawn, Parts 1 and 2 (2011 and 2012). Shot back to back from November 2010 to April 2011. The honeymoon starts in Rio’s Lapa district and moves to Paraty, Brazil, for Isle Esme. Most interiors were built in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The wedding was shot near Squamish, and some scenes were filmed near Pemberton, BC.

Budgets rose with every film. By The Numbers’ count, they grew from $37 million for Twilight to about $136 million for Breaking Dawn: Part 2, while worldwide box office climbed from about $404 million to $830 million, with one dip at Breaking Dawn: Part 1.

More Twilight Locations

Place	Scene	Film
Vernonia, Oregon	The town of Forks. The police station is the Wauna credit union	Twilight
Carver Cafe, Damascus, Oregon	The Forks diner where Charlie and Bella eat. Put up for sale in October 2026, still open	Twilight
Silver Falls State Park, Oregon	The opening deer hunt	Twilight
Yale Union building (now the Center for Native Arts and Cultures), Portland	Bella’s ballet studio and the fight with James	Twilight
Blue Heron mill, Oregon City	The night watchman attacked by the nomads	Twilight
Clackamas Community College, Oregon City	The biology field trip to the greenhouses	Twilight
Saugus and Valencia, California	Bella’s Phoenix home (Saugus) and the hotel she hides in (Valencia)	Twilight
Sasamat Lake and Mount Seymour, BC	The newborns and the tent	Eclipse
Paraty, Brazil	Isle Esme, the honeymoon island	Breaking Dawn: Part 1

How to Visit the Twilight Locations

You can see eight of the 10, though three are only from the road or street. The Oregon and Washington spots make an easy loop from Portland.

From Portland.

1. Drive about 30 minutes north on US-30 to St. Helens for the Swan house and Olde Towne. The Carver Cafe is about 30 minutes from Portland, and Vernonia is about an hour.
2. Take I-84 east into the Gorge for the View Point Inn, Multnomah Falls and the Bridge of the Gods. Cross to Washington for the Cape Horn Overlook. In 2026, driving to the Multnomah Falls lot needed a timed permit from 22 May to 7 September. Check the 2027 rules before you go.
3. Kalama High is north on I-5. There’s no bridge from St. Helens to Kalama, so cross at Longview.
4. Indian Beach is about two hours west, just north of Cannon Beach.

From Victoria.

1. For Forks and La Push, take the MV Coho from the Inner Harbour to Port Angeles (about 90 minutes), then drive about an hour west on US-101. You’ll need a passport or other border-ready ID.
2. For the Vancouver sites, take BC Ferries from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen (1 hour 35 minutes). Squamish is about an hour north of Vancouver.
3. For New Moon’s beach, drive about 4 to 5 hours to Long Beach near Tofino. You’ll need a Parks Canada pass.

Be respectful. The Hoke House, the Squamish wedding site and The Shire are private. Kalama and McDaniel are working schools. Look, take a photo and move on.

FAQs About Where Twilight Was Filmed

The Final Cut on Where Twilight Was Filmed

So where was Twilight filmed? Mostly around Portland, Oregon and across the river in Washington, not in Forks. The Hoke House became the Cullen house, St. Helens gave Bella a home and Port Angeles, and the Columbia River Gorge gave the Cullens a place to play baseball. The sequels moved north to British Columbia.

You can rent Bella’s house, stand on the beach at Ecola and drive the Bridge of the Gods. Then you can take the ferry to the real Forks. Which would you do first?

For more Halloween viewing, see where Practical Magic was filmed, where The Shining was filmed, where The Vampire Diaries was filmed, or browse all our film locations.