Mount Si with trees in foreground

Twin Peaks Location – The Zone from Part 11

In Twin Peaks Part 11 on Showtime, Bill Hastings leads FBI Agents Cole, Rosenfield and Preston along with Buckhorn Detective Macklay to the location where he claims to have seen Major Briggs. The address for the location is 2240 Sycamore in Buckhorn, South Dakota. But where was the scene filmed for the series?

WHERE IS THE ZONE FROM PART 11 LOCATED?

The Zone in California
Google Maps

In reality, the Zone scene was filmed next to 16493 Sierra Hwy, Canyon Country, California. The address, which is actually 16515 Sierra Hwy, was occupied by someone in 2007-2008 and was listed for sale in December 2011 by Keller-Davis Real Estate.

You can see where some of the scenes took place in this aerial view of The Zone location:

The Zone
Google Maps

So how did I find it? The easiest answer – by dumb luck … or maybe divine intervention from Major Briggs.

FINDING THE ZONE FROM PART 11

David Lynch and Crew at The Zone on November 30, 2015
Behind the Curtain – Part 11

Most of this scene was captured on November 30, 2015.  There were a few pick up shots with Bill Hastings on December 8. Showtime aired Part 11 on July 23, 2017.

I had attempted to find the Zone location a few times. I found several reference photos on my computer from searches I conducted on July 23, September 3 and October 26, 2017, but I did not find the actual spot.

On February 8, 2018, a tweet from Travis Blue, a fellow long-time Twin Peaks fan and location hunter, prompted me to try again. His tweet was a challenge, and it made me determined to find it! By 7:46 p.m., that evening, I shared happy news on Twitter.

Where Is This Tweet From Travis
Twitter – Travis Blue, February 8, 2018

The scene runs about seven-minutes and 30-seconds, so I first looked for clues to help with my quest – a street sign, geographic marker, architectural detail, a street address.

Clues from Part 11
Part 11

The scene takes place close to a road in an area surrounded by mountains or hills. In the background, I spotted what appeared to be a service garage. The property also had bright red and blue shipping containers, a clue that would prove vital to finding the exact location.

Van Nuys, CA
Google Maps | Van Nuys, California

Rumors were the scene was filmed in Van Nuys, CA. It made sense to me since several scenes were shot in the nearby Japanese Gardens. Over the summer and fall, I looked around Van Nuys but couldn’t find anything that matched. The area was too residential and didn’t have hills.

EXPANDING THE SEARCH AREA FOR THE ZONE

Piru, California
Piru and Buckhorn, California

I also heard from fellow Twin Peaks location hunter Ivan that Piru, California might be the spot. Funny thing is the town is located next to Buckhorn, California! But it’s a different Buckhorn than used in the series (which establishing shots were actually captured in Butte, Montana).

Utility Pole
Utility poles in Piru, California

I found utility poles in Piru that looked similar to ones from the Zone scene, but that was the only detail that sort of matched.

So I expanded my search to include Santa Clarita and Agua Dulce.

Santa Clarita, CA
Google Maps | Santa Clarita, California
Agua Dulce, CA
Google Maps | Agua Dulce, California

I looked for spots I thought might contain shipping containers then took a closer look using street view on Google Maps. Nothing. I mean NOTHING!

THANK YOU MAJOR BRIGGS FOR HELPING ME FIND THE ZONE

At this point, I’d just about given up hope. Zooming in, scrolling left, then right, then zooming out. The process was exhausting, especially after searching through several Southern California towns.

Sierra Highway
Google Maps

For some reason still unclear to me today, I moved my mouse from Agua Dulce, down the Sierra Highway and zoomed in looking for the blue and red containers.

And then there they were. I was speechless. I couldn’t believe I found THE ZONE!

Using street view, I confirmed the surrounding buildings matched the buildings in Part 11. The garage building is actually Cornejo Tire on Arline Street (the road behind The Zone location).

VISITING THE ZONE IN 2020

Steven standing by The Zone
September 20, 2020

When I first published this article in March 2018, I only had Google Street View references. During a visit to Southern California in September 2020, I stopped by the location on September 20. At the time, the area was closed off by a chain-link fence, so I wasn’t able to take screen accurate images.

Google street view of the Zone
Google Maps, April 2024

According to a Google Street View image from April 2024, it looks like the fence was removed in 2023.

The Zone Location
Part 11

The scene opens with two cars pulling into the dirt lot next to The Zone location.

Peter Deming, David Lynch and Miguel Ferrer talking
Behind the Curtain – Part 11

To capture this image, the crew mounted the camera on a tall ladder. Look behind Cinematographer Peter Deming in this Behind the Curtain image with David Lynch and Miguel Ferrer. I dream of taking a ladder to this location to capture exact shot.

The Zone Location
Google Maps

In 2018, the only Street View image I could get of the containers and house was from the street behind The Zone area.

The zone with two containers and an old shack
September 20, 2020

I shot this image through the fence in September 2020.

A blue and a red container
September 20, 2020

Standing there, I couldn’t believe these were the same containers from the episode.

THE HOUSE ON THE ZONE PROPERTY

Albert Rosenfield and Gordon Cole looking through chain-link fence
Part 11

Special Agent Albert Rosenfield and Deputy Director Gordon Cole look at the house next to the shipping containers. Notice Cole’s American Flag pin is turned in the shot.

The Zone Location
Part 11
The Zone Location
Google Maps

This is the view from behind the house as seen from Google Street View.

They used a reversed shot when the Woodsman appears behind the house.

Reversed scene at The Zone

The original scene appears at nine-minute, 47-second mark, while the reversed scene appears around the 14-minute, 18-second mark.

GORDON COLE BEING PULLED INTO THE ZONE

Behind the scenes shot of David Lynch standing on his mark in The Zone
Behind the Curtain – Part 11

The Behind the Curtain footage from Part 11 on the Twin Peaks – From Z to A Collection offers some awesome shots of David Lynch blocking being pulled into The Zone. Look at the blue “T” mark at Lynch’s feet – that’s his mark for the scene.

David Lynch rehearsing while Twin Peaks crew is nearby
Behind the Curtain – Part 11

There is additional shots of Lynch looking up at the sky. Suzanne Tenner, the on-set photographer, is in the foreground. David Lynch’s mark is seen at the far right.

Gordon Cole standing by the house
Part 11

In the scene, Cole walks toward the house. We don’t see the mark as the camera doesn’t pan down to his feet.

The Zone Location
Part 11

As he looks up, the sky starts to swirl. They needed to get a good “lock-off” shot of the sky, meaning a static shot that is devoid of camera movement. This helped the team at BUF insert the swirling sky.

The Zone Location
Google Maps

This is a view of the utility pole in the bottom right corner from Google Street View.

Utility Pole soaring above trees
September 20, 2020

This is the same pole from my visit in 2020. I’d really love to return to The Zone to get a better shot of the sky.

Gordon Cole in Part 11
Gordon Cole in Part 11

Look again at Cole’s American Flag pin as it’s now upside down!

Gordon Cole in Teaser Trailer
Gordon Cole in the Showtime teaser trailer from Dec. 18, 2015

Part of this scene was used used in one of the first teaser trailers Showtime released on December 18, 2015. Of course, we didn’t know about The Zone when this was released. It’s wild to think that they had just filmed this scene roughly two-and-a-half weeks earlier.

Albert Rosenfield will eventually pull Cole out of The Zone.

Aerial view of the Zone
Part 11

I love the staging of this scene captured from the ladder. Most likely, this was another take as the additional crew pictured in the previous images are present. They would have done this wide-angle shot followed by close-up shots of Cole by the home and the reverse of him looking up at the sky.

BILL HASTINGS IN THE CAR

The Zone Location
Part 11

There are additional scenes with Bill Hastings sitting in the backseat of Detective Macklay’s car. They are parked behind another white house on the property. Some of the scenes were shot on Nov. 30 while close-ups of Hastings (including what happens to him) were shot days later on Dec. 8.

The Woodsman in this scene (and the previous one with him behind the other house) were played by Christian Calloway.

The Zone Location
Google Maps

This is the view of the other house as seen from Google Street View.

Diane Evans smoking while leaning against the back of a car
Part 11

Diane watches the scene unfold, including the Woodsman approaching Hastings.

Agent Tammy Preston and Diane Evans wait behind a chain-link fence
Part 11

Throughout all the action, Agent Tammy Preston and Diane wait patiently behind the chain-link fence.

FINDING RUTH DAVENPORT’S BODY

Behind the scenes image of David Lynch and Miguel Ferrer talking
Behind the Curtain – Part 11

From the Behind the Curtain footage from this scene, it looks like Cole and Rosenfield were going to discover Ruth Davenport’s body by a tree in the distance next to a run-down shack.

Behind the scenes image of David Lynch and Miguel Ferrer talking
Behind the Curtain – Part 11

They may have been blocking the scene at the time (Assistant Director Scott Cameron and Cinematographer Peter Deming wait in the distance). Lighting could have been a factor in why the scene was reversed.

Ruth Davenport's body in the grass
Part 11

In the scene, Ruth’s body is found in the grass closer to the highway.

The Zone area in California
September 20, 2020

This is the location in the late afternoon on September 20, 2020. The grass area would have been to the front left of the image. Compare how the sun is setting in this image to the scene. Most likely the captured discovering Ruth’s body in the afternoon.

Albert and Gordon at The Zone
Part 11

Cole and Rosenfield walk slowly toward the body. Now Cole’s American Flag on his lapel is correctly displayed.

The Zone Location
Google Maps

This is the Google Street View image from 2018.

Old wooden shack
September 20, 2020

This is a closer look at the wooden shack in the distance behind the two agents.

Albert taking a photo with a mobile phone
Part 11

Agent Rosenfield uses a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 to take a photo of the coordinates written on Davenport’s arm.

Gordon Cole and Albert Rosenfield in the grass
Part 11

Gordon and Albert standing in the grass looking down at Ruth’s body.

The scene will end with something unfortunate happening to Bill Hastings at the hands of a Woodsman.

Author

  • Steven Miller at Twede's Cafe enjoying cherry pie and coffee

    A "Twin Peaks" fan since October 1993, Steven Miller launched Twin Peaks Blog in February 2018 to document his decades-long fascination with David Lynch and Mark Frost's wonderful and strange show. With his Canon camera in hand, he's visited numerous film locations, attended Twin Peaks events and conducted extensive historical research about this groundbreaking series. Along with fellow Bookhouse Boys, he dreams of creating a complete Twin Peaks Archive of the series and feature film. Steven currently resides in Central Florida.

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4 thoughts on “Twin Peaks Location – The Zone from Part 11

  1. Hi, I think that the shot of the woodsman is reversed because it’s seen through the eyes of Tulpa Diane. Just an hypotesis. Great site

    1. @Daniel Oh wow! Love that idea. Thank you for sharing

  2. Wow, amazing sleuthing! I guess the one other place in Part 11 that holds a candle to the spookiness of the location of the wormhole to The Zone is the ruins where the Mitchum brothers plan to shoot “Dougie”. Any idea where that might be?

    IMDb has “Palm Springs, California, USA (Dougie’s and the Mitchum brothers’ meeting)”, but evidently that’s referring to the Morongo Casino. It’s been too long since I’ve been to Palm Springs or Vegas to be able to tell by the landscape whether the location of the ruins is likely to be in one of those two places, or somewhere else entirely.

    A curiosity, whether that was a small residential development that long ago succumbed to the elements, one that never got completed in the first place, or something stranger.

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