Twin Peaks Location – Lumber Mill Establishing Shot In Part 6

I love a good challenge when it comes to finding Twin Peaks film locations. A few years ago, long time fan Travis Black challenged me to find The Zone from Part 11 of Twin Peaks: The Return. Nearly eight hours later, I had found it (as documented here). This time, I woke on a foggy Monday morning to an email from William, a Twin Peaks fan from Puerto Rico. He asked about the lumber mill establishing shot seen in Part 6 just after Diane Evans is revealed at Max Von’s Bar. I’ve searched for the location before but this time I struck gold!

LUMBER MILL ESTABLISHING SHOT IN TWIN PEAKS – PART 6

It’s a three-second shot that takes place between Diane Evans (Laura Dern) being revealed and the scene with Red and Richard Horne. I’ve always thought this shot was to established Red and Richard’s meeting took place on or near a lumber mill.

For years, I assumed the mill was in Washington state but not in Snoqualmie Valley. The former Snoqualmie Lumber mill ceased operations decades ago. The footage looks like something from an active mill.

So I saved the image William sent to me and turned called up the Google app. A quick image search revealed a match – a March 31, 2014 article about a devastating landslide that took place on March 22 on the outskirts of Oso in Washington’s North Cascade Mountains. The article reported that a rain-saturated hillside along the north fork of the Stillaguamish River gave way, burying her neighborhood. There was a photo by Mike Kane in their slide carousel which appeared to be similar to the establishing shot from Part 6.

Hell god baby damn, no! I found something.

WHERE IS THE LUMBER MILL ESTABLISHING SHOT FROM TWIN PEAKS – PART 6 LOCATED?

The shot was taken at Hampton Lumber Mill located in Darrington, Washington. The address is 47576 Darrington-Sauk River Road and the shot was taken by the sign for the lumber mill.

Here is a Google Street View look of the mill from a similar angle seen in Part 6. The mountain in the distance is known as the North Mountain.

If you are planning a visit to the mill in Darrington, Washington, it’s about an hour and 40-minute drive from North Bend, Washington.

I’m wondering if the three-second footage was pulled from a stock video source, similar to the establishing shot from Diane Evans’ apartment in Part 7. More research is required.

WHAT IS HAMPTON LUMBER MILL?

According to their website, Hampton Lumber Mill was established in 1942 when founder Bud Hampton acquired his first sawmill in Willamina, Oregon to meet the supply needs of his lumber business in Tacoma, Washington. As time went on, his son, John stepped in to continue the family business, adding new manufacturing facilities in communities throughout the Pacific Northwest.

You may recognize something Hampton Lumber planted in forest between Grand Ronde and Willamina, Oregon in 2011. David Hampton, son of the founder, and timberland manager Dennis Creel created a smiley face of evergreen Douglas fir trees. The vibrant yellow comes from larch trees whose needles turn golden and drop in autumn, revealing this happy design in the middle of the forest.

I can’t help but think of Betty Briggs when I see a smiley face.

Thank you to William for the challenge. I hope you have a great visit to Washington.