Mount Si with trees in foreground

Twin Peaks Location – Falls in Season 3 Opening Credits

When Twin Peaks returned in 2017 to Showtime, the opening credits were updated with new footage from the Washington state area. One of the first images seen is tree covered mountains bathed in mist. As it turns out, this location is very familiar to fans – it’s part of the historic Snoqualmie Falls.

WHERE ARE THE FALLS IN SEASON 3 OPENING CREDITS LOCATED?

Google Maps
Google Maps.

The area seen in the opening credits is circled in red above. The Salish Lodge (exterior location of The Great Northern Hotel) and Snoqulamie Falls are seen on the far right side of the image.

Google Maps
Google Maps

A closer look at the area which is also circled in red.

Three Trees in Snoqualmie Falls Park
October 14, 2019

I walked down to this spot in Snoqualmie Falls Park in October 2019 to photograph the handful of trees located there.

The building seen in the credits is the top of the second powerhouse.

Generator Building at Snoqualmie Falls
October 15, 2019

Built in 1910 and expanded in 1957, it’s located approximately a quarter-mile downstream from the falls.

Generator Building at Snoqualmie Falls
October 15, 2019

You can take a separate trail down to that building. The trail to the bottom of the falls was closed the day I visited, but I snapped a few autumn-hued images from around the area.

Here is a short video of the top of Snoqualmie Falls before I dive into deconstructing the opening credit scenes. This is probably my favorite waterfall in the entire world. It’s majestic!

THE TREES IN TWIN PEAKS PART 1

Twin Peaks Film Location - Falls in Opening Credits from Season 3
Part 1
Twin Peaks Film Location - Falls in Opening Credits from Season 3
Part 1

The opening credits for Part 1 is slightly different than the remainder of the series. For this episode, a brief glimpse at this location is shown before cutting to the abandoned former Weyerhaeuser Saw Mill.

Twin Peaks Film Location - Falls in Season 3 Opening Credits
September 14, 2019

Here’s a similar look from my visit in September 2019.

Twin Peaks Film Location - Falls in Season 3 Opening Credits
September 14, 2019

That grouping of trees is clearly seen in the opening credits.

Twin Peaks Film Location - Falls in Season 3 Opening Credits
October 14, 2019

I returned to the spot about a month later and photographed the same trees just as the sun was rising behind me. You can see how the valley is blanketed with a beautiful white fog.

Snoqualmie Valley in October 2019
October 15, 2019

Fall is truly a magical time to visit this location!

LAURA’S PICTURE IN TWIN PEAKS PART 1

Twin Peaks - Part 1 Opening Credits
Part 1

The scene continues with the “Twin Peaks” logo appearing over Laura Palmer’s homecoming photo.

Trophy Case at Mt. Si High School
Pilot Episode

This is the same photo that was displayed in the trophy case at Mt. Si High School in the Pilot episode.

Laura Palmer's Homecoming Photo
Pilot Episode

The image was cropped to 16:9 aspect ratio for Season 3. Sadly, the trophy case was removed with the recent modernization of Mt. Si High School.

THE FALLS AND LAURA IN TWIN PEAKS PART 1

Twin Peaks - Part 1 Opening Credits
Part 1

The scene transitions again to a shot looking down at a body of water. This is the top of Snoqualmie Falls.

Opening Credits of Season 3

At the Twin Peaks Collaborators discussion during the Festival of Disruption on October 14, 2017, editor Duwayne Dunham described this scene’s transition to Kristine McKenna:

Kristine McKenna: “I asked David, “What clips should we show for Duwayne?” And he said, “Show the opening titles … those are pure Duwayne. What did you do?”

Duwayne Dunham: “…So when it came to the titles, I’d done the title sequence in the original, and of course we had the waterfall. We had a new waterfall, and I looked at the footage and I said one day to my assistant, ‘I’m going to tell you something right now.’ And we’re only about six months into shooting. I said, “Someday we’re going to come over that waterfall and we’re going to drop into the Red Room.’ … It wound up being pretty much just that at least for the individual episodes. For the first, what became the so-called ‘pilot’,’ it became a little bit longer and we put some of the clips in of David would say, ‘Get Laura’s 8 1/2 by 11 and let’s put it over the sky.’ … 

Dean Hurley: “I love in the opening how you took that portrait and drowned her.”

DD:  “Oh yeah, that was just a stroke of luck and David is someone who absolutely believes in the magic that happens in the moment. That is why he is always in the moment, and I myself have a hard time as I’m always trying to climb out of the moment and see what else is going on … We went inside that trophy cabinet which was footage from the original pilot episode … We went into that trophy case which he had done before and it sort of wasn’t working, it wasn’t the same emotional resonance. And then, like I said, let’s go to the waterfall. And there happened to be a shot, it’s made up of about three shots kind of all dissolved together, and then we did this nine second dissolve. So Laura, we’re pushing in and pushing in, which we created as well. We’re pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, the water starts coming and then the idea is she slowly sunk, and over, then landed on the beach.”

ABOVE THE FALLS IN TWIN PEAKS

Twin Peaks - Part 1 Opening Credits
Part 1
Twin Peaks - Part 1 Opening Credits
Part 1

As Duwayne mentioned, we transition over the top of Snoqualmie Falls in this sequence.

Google Maps
Google Maps

You can see the rock formation at the top of the falls on Google Maps.

Top of Snoqualmie Falls
September 14, 2019

This is the same rock formation seen at the top of the falls on September 14, 2019.

Top of Snoqualmie Falls
October 14, 2019

I took a nearly identical shot a month later (I didn’t even know it would match so closely to the September shot until I was editing the image).

OPENING CREDITS FOR TWIN PEAKS PARTS 2-18

For Parts 2-18, the opening credits use mixed footage from Part 1.

Laura Palmer's Face

Laura’s smiling face transitions to the tree covered mountain where the “Twin Peaks” title appears.

Twin Peaks Season 3 - Opening Credits

Twin Peaks Season 3 - Opening Credits

Twin Peaks Season 3 - Opening Credits

The scene then cuts to the top of the falls.

Twin Peaks Season 3 - Opening Credits

Opening Credits - Waterfall

Top of Snoqualmie Falls
September 14, 2019

Thankfully I had a telephoto lens when I visited the falls so I could capture water cascading over the rocks so clearly.

Top of Snoqualmie Falls
September 14, 2019

It’s like a mini waterfall before the actual 268-foot drop.

TREES FROM TWIN PEAKS PART 14

Footage from the opening credits also appears briefly in Part 14. It looks like additional footage that wasn’t used for the credits.

Twin Peaks Film Location - Trees in Part 14
Part 14.
Snoqualmie Valley Trees in October 2019
October 14, 2019

I caught some of the fog rising up from the valley during my visit in October 2019.

Twin Peaks Film Location - Trees in Part 14
Part 14
Twin Peaks Film Location - Trees in Part 14
Part 14
Twin Peaks Film Location - Trees in Part 14
Part 14
Trees in Snoqualmie Valley
October 15, 2019

After seeing images like this, I completely understand why Agent Cooper wanted to buy property in Twin Peaks. It’s beautiful!

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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