Take a Twin Peaks Road Trip for the Show's 25th Anniversary
This spring—May 23, specifically—is the 25th anniversary of the peak of Twin Peaks hysteria, when Agent Cooper opened his hotel room door at the Great Northern in the final minute of season one’s finale and was greeted not with the warm milk he’d ordered from room service, but with three bullets to the abdomen. Who shot him? Was he dead? Would we ever know who killed Laura Palmer?
Fans had to wait four long months for any answers in the second season, and in 2015 we still have to wait a year for the promised new episodes on Showtime. But Portlanders need only drive three and a half hours to immerse themselves in a place where evil lurks in the woods and the owls are not what they seem: the series’ many shooting locations around the Washington towns of Preston, Fall City, Snoqualmie, and North Bend.
The hardy could make a day trip of it, but fans have the option of overnighting at the Roadhouse, the Great Northern, or one of the motels featured in the series and the prequel film Fire Walk With Me—or in the buildings used for their exteriors, at least. The Salish Lodge, perched above the opening credits’ Snoqualmie Falls, even offers a Great Northern Escape package full of Peaks perks. The details are off—the “damn fine coffee” comes in a flared glass mug, the cherry pie is in its own little crock instead of a wedge slice, the music playing in the room upon arrival was definitely not composed by Angelo Badalamenti, and room service is not delivered by an incredibly old, very slow waiter who lets you know that the gum you like is going to come back in style—but the luxe rooms, wood-burning fireplaces, gracious staff, and hot waterfall and deep soaking tub in the spa all make up for it.
Be sure to view the slide show above for photos of some of the shooting locations today.
For more info and detailed directions, look up one of the show’s many megafan websites, such as intwinpeaks.com.