In Twin Peaks Parts 17 and 18, Agent Cooper loses Laura Palmer as he is escorting her home during a nighttime trek in the woods. Through the magic of editing and a few camera tricks, their walk looks longer than it actually is. The scene is shot near the location of two previous scenes from Part 17 in the mecca of Twin Peaks film locations – Olallie State Park.
WHERE DOES AGENT COOPER LOSE LAURA PALMER?
Olallie State Park is located at 51350 S.E. Homestead Valley Road near North Bend, Washington and is part of the Washington State Parks division. This means you’ll need a Discover Pass to explore the area.
Here are the approximate coordinates for this location near the entrance to Weeks Falls Trail: 47°26’10.3″N 121°39’14.2″W. The entire scene was shot just around the trail entrance and near where Agent Cooper watches James Hurley and Laura Palmer and where he later meets Laura before taking her “home.”
The area beyond the entrance is the parking lot at Olallie State Park. If I turned around, I would continue on the trail that eventually ends at Weeks Falls.
Minimizing the need to move the crew, the section where they are walking is short, so parts of the scene are recycled several times to give the appearance it’s a longer walk.
The scene was shot on October 12, 2015, the last day of filming in Washington state before the crew relocated to Southern California.
On October 12, huge white tents were set up in the parking lot which served as base camp for the time spent in Olallie State Park.
Thanks to a tweet on November 16, 2019 from David Patrick Kelly (who played Jerry Horne), we get a look at that white production tent. Based on the outfits, this cast photo was taken during time the crew was in the State Park.
AGENT COOPER LOSES LAURA PALMER IN PARTS 17 and 18
After Cooper tells Laura that he is taking her “home,” the two walk up and onto Weeks Fall Trail. The footage is shown at the end of Part 17 and is aired again toward the beginning of Part 18.
Cooper and Laura proceed through the woods, hand-in-hand. They are actually walking toward the parking lot along the trail.
Cooper is on a mission, determined to take Laura home. I love the shot of his face illuminated in the dark. He passes by an extended fir branch that reaches the trail. It’s still there!
Cooper looks back toward Laura who is slowly following his lead.
More of the branches along the trail. The area to the right in the image above is where Laura was first seen by Cooper and where Cooper watches James and Laura’s conversation.
NAIDO’S SPOT
Naido’s spot, 253-yards due east of Jack Rabbit’s Palace, makes another brief appearance before cutting back to the action.
This location is much further down Weeks Falls Trail so it was added in post production from the time when the crew shot the Naido scenes.
COOPER CONTINUES WALKING WITH LAURA
The same shot as before with Cooper and Laura walking along the trail is shown.
They are passing by the area where Cooper hides behind the tree in Part 17. You can see the tree (center) from the trail.
A scratching sound first heard in Part 1 fills the air as we see Cooper’s hand outstretched in the dark. The shot repeats as they walk by the same spot where Cooper originally outstretches his hand. You can see the fallen tree where Laura climbs over slightly illuminated by lighting.
LAURA PALMER DISAPPEARS
Cooper pauses for a moment and looks back.
The camera pans toward Cooper’s empty hand as he stops and looks back. She’s gone.
A perplexed Cooper stops along the trail and looks around. The parking lot is behind him. I also believe you can see the white production tent faintly in the background behind his right shoulder.
The camera slowly scans the woods. I combined the images to create this panoramic shot.
You can see the singular skinny tree from the panning shot in the image above from September 2019.
Only part of that skinny tree remains as of August 2023. The panning shot is the same spot where all the previous action took place.
In Part 17, the scene ends with Cooper looking around and then another shot of the woods as “The World Spins” by Julee Cruise begins to play.
In Part 18, Cooper’s face takes on a red hue as the scene cuts to the Red Room with Mike, The One Armed Man.
In both shots behind Cooper, you can see the white production tent in the parking lot.
This is the view of the parking lot area as seen from the entrance to Weeks Falls Trail.
The trek in Part 18 is the final time scenes from Olallie State Park would be shown in the series.
