Updated with Stephanie Meyer Day Photos September 13th 2008!!
Forks, Washington is located in the North Pacific Rain Forest. A place blessed with 9 to 12 feet of rain a year.
They say that you can tell the weather by sticking your hand out the window. If it comes back wet, it's raining. If it comes back dry, it will rain soon.
I've collected pictures of our area for anyone interested in Forks, WA, with a obvious nod toward any Twilight fans out there. I hope you will enjoy.
About Visiting Forks -- Remember, firstly, that this IS a rain forest. Which, besides being more wet that most people are used to, it can also be colder. Bring a coat. Even in summer.
Also you might want to bring along a can of bug spray. My personal favorite is Deep Wood's OFF. Because when the rain stops, the bugs do come out. It's not much of a problem, unless you're in a wooded area. But wander under the trees on a clear day without wind, and you'll find all kinds of bitey critters in the shade.
During the summer, we do have less rain. Though if you're looking for the best chance of sunshine, try mid-July thru mid-August. You may still see a bit of sunshine before and after, but those weeks are your best bets for clear skies.
If you decide to camp -- which I truly do suggest -- just make sure that you have a very water-proof tent. Because if you do get caught in the rain, it's more than most tents are ready for, and it is unpleasant to have rain INSIDE your tent.
Lastly, if you're planning to visit us for Bella's birthday, you need to book a hotel room about six months in advance. A year might be better. Because it's turned out to be the time many Twilighters have decided to drop in.
But first, a few local links you might find interesting:
| The Forks
Forum, the city of Forks' only local newspaper. Download their Twilight Guide By the way, you can get a subscription to our paper for only $22 a year sent to your home anywhere in the USA. For more info, email mamie@forksforum.com |
The Forks City of Commerce
Page! With, of course, the new, flash format, "Twilight Points of Interest" |
|
And our official
Forks' web cam!
Of ... uh, a street. In Forks. Hm. Well, hey at least now you can check online to see if it's one of those rare days when the sun does shine here in the North Pacific Rain Forest. |
And,
of course, The La Push, Quileute Tribe If you should note, while around the town, more than one spelling for Quileute, don't fret. There are about three "correct" spellings. But they prefer this one. |
| Fork's Outfitters Website |
| And LOOK! I've created a PDF with a Forks' city map with areas of interest, and some basic information about visiting and/or moving to Forks. |
Now the pictures (click for larger view)
The Forks'
welcome sign at twilight. -
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First Beach in La Push. Not as lovely a beach, in my opinion, as Rialto, but more famous, to be sure. And make sure you take a good look at the log in the first picture.  -
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Rialto
Beach.
If you come to Forks for the Twilight tour, I will suggest
one
spot that's not on the map. Rialto Beach. It may
not have
been in the books, but it is well worth a stop. And is the
main
beach that our locals go to.
If you have a chance to stay a while, consider sitting among the beach logs and maybe starting a little campfire. I've stayed out there far past dark on more than one occasion. Though make sure you check your tide tables first. The water can come in unexpectedly, if you don't. And it can be dangerous. Tide Table books can be bought almost anywhere in Fork's proper. Thriftyway's Ace almost always has them. The island you see in the second picture, I believe belongs to the La Push, Quileute tribe.  -
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- -   If you can't make
it to Forks,
and want a little piece of the area, I'll be glad to throw a handful of
Rialto rocks your way. If you live in the US, email me and
I'll
get you whatever I can send for about $5 -- keeping a buck out for
postage and packaging costs. This is a link to a jpg of the first set of rocks I sent out. I should note that I did spray these with varnish -- let me know if you'd like yours without.
I also try to send other things -- I'll let you know what I have on hand when you email me. But I try to send a Forks' paper, a tiny piece of driftwood, maybe some moss (see the stringing stuff below) or whatever seems intriguing at the time. :) |
Mora, a very nice campground just before Rialto driving out toward La Push. This gives you an idea of what the greener parts of Forks, WA can look like. The first image is of the road from Rialto to Mora. Second is inside the Mora campground. Third shows you an example of how large trees can get. Forth is just a cool image of some trees near one camp site. If you're coming to Forks for the trees, you might consider camping. Just PLEASE make sure your tent is waterproof, you have a good coat, and a can of bug spray.  -
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Kalaloch Beach isn't
in Forks, but it is one of most gorgeous beaches in North West
Washington. It's one of the few that actually has sand
instead of those nifty little black pebbles. And it's just
to lovely not to post a picture or two of.
The last two images are of a stream that runs down off the mountains and across the beach at Kalaloch to the ocean.  .-
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| Misc. Forks Area Photos 1. Bearded Moss (least ways, that's what Jatina tells me it's called), a strange, spiderwebby, streamer-looking moss that you can sometimes find hanging from trees in the area. This is near my home. You'll notice that the branches around it also look "furry". That's just another kind of moss. Many of our trees are furry.  Mushrooms growing about the "mythical place" where Cullen's played baseball. Very large, about 6 to 10 inches across. If you should find any like this -- DON'T EAT THEM!!! Extremely pretty and extraordinarily poisonous.  |
Forks' official BELLA truck.
Now sitting
at the Forks' Visitor Center, which is where all visitors looking for
Twilight info should stop.  -
- - |
| Stephanie Meyer Day 2008 Photos within the first hour of the events. I was only there for a half hour. And when I drove by later (around 2pm) to get groceries, the population there at the park had tripled. Which is fairly impressive, since you could spot Twilighters all over the town in their decorated cars or various Twilight T-shirts. Many of the local businesses had Bella Birthday signs welcoming the visitors to town. And while I was at the park festivities, there was a Twilight themed band playing, our town Mayor gave a quick speech about the day, and everyone joined in to sign the first "Happy Birthday to You" song to Bella of the day -- all in that half hour. Later, though I had already gone home, there was to be a huge birthday cake cut and our sherrif was going to hand out peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches. There was also supposed to be several tours of the old, brick building at the High School too. Later tonight, the La Push Indian reservation is supposed to host a big dance and a bonfire out at First Beach for story-telling. I think my town may have done themselves proud this round. The only thing I felt sad about is when I was driving out to Rialto, as it's the same road that goes out to La Push, I ... suspect that several Twilight groups may have piled into cars behind me, hoping that's where I was going when I left. I think when I turned off to go to Rialto Beach, they all probably went "yikes!!!" Though, have no fear, folks. Follow that road and it goes no where else but La Push. Note about Rialto Beach. Today was hot and sunny in Forks. Not a cloud in the sky and barely a breeze. However, our little sneaky beach Rialto is a micro-climate. That means Rialto was completely overcast, with heavy fog -- I could not see the ocean from the beach -- and steady breezes off the water. So though it was hot in Forks -- around 80f -- it was closer to 50f at Rialto.  ---  A fellow with a camera going, "oops, sorry" as he stepped into my line of sight. And Bella's truck comes to visit the festivities. People sat and climbed all over it.  ---  Just shots of people under trees chatting and wandering about before the real crowds came in.  ---  People start to gather to sing the first "Happy Birthday" of the day. |
| More to come. I have a ton of photos that I'll be getting off of my regular camera as soon as I fill up the roll -- mostly of trees and trails in the area. And I intend to get the High School after the first snow this coming winter. And the Outfitters, once the Tourist season ends. Email me if you have any other suggestions. |
Hope you enjoyed the page!
- Resa 2008
