Forks Washington on the Olympic Peninsula

If you haven't seen this video yet, you're missing out! It's based on a house remix of South Korean pianist/composer Yiruma's River Flows in You, but what got our attention (of course . . .) is the professionally filmed footage of Forks and the West End. Wow! Director Mark Feuerstake clearly knows how to capture that eery forest feeling. We suspect that he--like most of the German visitors we see here in Forks--knows from personal experience what real forests are like. Nicely done!

Here’s early notice–Stephenie Meyer Day 2010 is slated for September 11-12, 2010, in Forks, WA!!

While this year’s event is still in the organizational stages, based on the overwhelming response at past events, we want to make sure everyone has ample opportunity to be here on Bella’s Birthday this year to celebrate with us.  Now is the time to make lodging reservations in Forks or LaPush for this weekend–the entire area was booked solid last year.  Many fans arrived before the weekend and/or stayed a day or two afterward, to have more time to fully enjoy everything our area has to offer.  Whether you've been to every single Stephenie Meyer Day so far or just want to check out something new, everyone is welcome and the event is always a blast.  See you there!

A large section (20 blocks) of the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display in Forks from March 1-6, 2010.  The display is located at the Forks High School Auxiliary Gym, 261 South Spartan Avenue.  The goal of the AIDS Quilt project is to provide a creative means for remembrance and healing, to effectively illustrate the enormity of the AIDS pandemic, to increase awareness of HIV and AIDS throughout the general public, to assist others in providing education on the prevention of HIV infection, and to raise funds for community-based AIDS Service Organizations (ASO's).  Volunteers are needed to help with the quilt display--please contact the Forks Chamber of Commerce today at 360-374-2531 (or toll-free at 1-800-443-6757) or by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to get further information about how you can participate.

This little trail has something for everyone!

• Wide, level and only about 0.3 mile long
• Located in Klahowya Campground--right off US Highway 101 at about milepost 212--convenient place for a quick break
• Borders scenic Sol Duc River--winds through old homestead site
• Crosses historic Snider-Jackson trail
• Interesting and informative interpretive signs along the way

→Our photo gallery slideshow takes you on a quick tour around this fun loop trail.

 

It's encouraging to see that the West End now has a paved 6-mile section of the Olympic Discovery Trail in place. Although it's still "closed for construction," this first-class section of trail extends through the forest from the Camp David Jr. Road end of the Spruce Railroad Trail, on Lake Crescent, to the top of Fairholm Hill. The Olympic Discovery Trail itself will eventually go the entire 100-mile distance from Port Townsend, through Sequim, Port Angeles, Joyce, Forks and LaPush, to the Pacific Ocean.

What a perfect way to start off the New Year!  This article from the Peninsula Daily News runs down some of the ice-hot local tourism statistics for 2009.  Among other things, the numbers show that over 70,000 people stopped in at our Forks Chamber of  Commerce Visitor Information Center last year.  That's about a 400% increase from the record we set in 2008!  Wow! Let's keep it going--now is an ideal time to plan a trip to Forks--there's more to see and do than ever before.  We're looking forward to setting new records in 2010.

We're about to get the same weather technology here on the West End of the Olympic Peninsula that just about everybody else takes for granted--Doppler radar! This is a big deal for mariners and outdoorsmen, who rely on accurate weather information for their survival.  Up until now, the Olympic Mountains basically blocked the radar from Seattle, making it difficult to forecast our coastal weather.

Wow! You’d expect to find huge t-shirt factories lining the streets out here in the West End of Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula, given the number of Forks and LaPush t-shirts available online. We’re not really sure who’s making these shirts, but we suspect most aren’t actually from around here.

We appreciate all of the attention–and the more the merrier–but there are locally produced Forks, LaPush and Twilight-related products available, including the Forks Chamber of Commerce’s own line of shirts and stickers. Your purchases help support community-minded Chamber activities, including operating forkswa.com and our web cams, staffing our Visitor Information Center in Forks and funding scholarships for graduates of Forks High School and Quileute Tribal School.

But, just for fun, here’s a small sampling of some of the images available on t-shirts and other products out there: