Where Was Twin Peaks Filmed? Every Major Location Explained

When "Twin Peaks" premiered on primetime TV in 1990, co-creator David Lynch was best known for avant-garde films like "Eraserhead," "The Elephant Man," and "Blue Velvet." But as soon as Laura Palmer's body was found wrapped in plastic next to a log on a small-town beach, the series became his most talked-about work. The quirky program changed the landscape of what people expected from TV shows, elevating the small screen and paving the way for "The X-Files" and "Lost," other series that helped set television on a new course.

Set in the fictitious Pacific Northwest town of Twin Peaks, the campy, melodramatic murder mystery immediately roped in viewers, making a star out of lead actor Kyle MacLachlan as FBI special agent Dale Cooper and splashing the iconic image of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) as homecoming queen everywhere.

Part of the charm of the show (and its enduring legacy) is that the memorable locations — from the diner where Special Agent Cooper had the best cup of coffee of his life and marveled at all the trees to scenes from the Great Northern Hotel and the Roadhouse — were real. In fact, many "Twin Peaks" sites were located in and around Snoqualmie, Washington, not far from Seattle.

While the original "Twin Peaks" lasted only two seasons (followed by the 1992 feature film "Fire Walk With Me" and a resurrected third season in 2017), and the visionary Lynch died in 2025, the legacy of the series — and some of its real-life locations — live on.

The wooden Welcome to Twin Peaks sign is an iconic image from the series' opening credits. Boasting a rustic, hand-painted picture of two snow-capped mountains surrounded by trees, the signage is shown double-staked into the side of the road with a similar backdrop.

While there's no real sign welcoming you to the fictitious town of Twin Peaks, the location where the sign was seen in the show is real and can be found on Reinig Road in Snoqualmie. A replica of the sign is used in the exact location during the long-standing fan-attended Twin Peaks Festival that's held in the area, and in 2017, the city commissioned a sign that was installed to commemorate the show returning for Season 3. However, it was quickly stolen and never reinstalled.

For those wondering why the sign claims "population 51,201" for a town that's portrayed as rather rural and small, it's because the executives at ABC thought a population of the originally suggested 5,120 was too low.

Like the symbolic Welcome to Twin Peaks sign, the image of the White Tail waterfall seen in the show's iconic opening has become almost synonymous with the series. The falls' majestic beauty adds a serene yet dramatic element to the town, flowing adjacent to the rustic Great Northern Hotel, which is owned by Audrey Horne's (Sherilyn Fenn) prominent family. It's also where Special Agent Dale Cooper stays during his investigation into Laura Palmer's death.

In real life, it's the Salish Lodge & Spa that sits perched atop the Snoqualmie Falls in Snoqualmie, and the falls are a huge tourist attraction in Washington state. But while the Salish Lodge & Spa was used for exterior shots on the show, the interior scenes were filmed elsewhere, including inside the Kiana Lodge in Poulsbo, Washington.

To this day, the Salish Lodge & Spa offers a "Great Northern Amenity Package" that includes a keepsake Log Lady pillow, a house-made cherry pie, and a Room 315 keychain in a nod to where Dale Cooper called home during the first two seasons of "Twin Peaks."

In "Twin Peaks," the Double R Diner is a local hangout known for its homemade cherry pie and "damn fine" coffee, as Special Agent Cooper so memorably put it. In reality, it's an actual diner in North Bend, Washington, that has been around since 1941 and leans into its "Twin Peaks" legacy.

Known as the Mar-T Cafe when David Lynch swooped in and made it famous as the Double R, the diner has changed hands since "Twin Peaks" aired in the early '90s. In 2000, the building suffered a catastrophic fire but was rebuilt with a new look. Then, circa 2017, it was restored to its original television charm by the producers of the show for its Season 3 return.

Currently known as Twede's Cafe, the diner offers a "Twin Peaks" experience that includes décor, memorabilia, and merchandise from the show while serving up "Twin Peaks cherry pie" and a "damn fine cup of coffee" to anyone who wants it.

In "Twin Peaks," the local Bang Bang Bar went by the nickname of The Roadhouse, and its scenes often highlighted the seedier — often even sinister — side of the small town.

Here, angelic singer Julee Cruise performed fan-favorite songs from the series, including "Falling" and "The Nightingale." Meanwhile, Jacques Renault (Walter Olkewicz), who features prominently in the prequel movie "Fire Walk With Me," tended bar for patrons such as high-schoolers Donna Hayward (Lara Flynn Boyle), James Hurley (James Marshall), and Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook).

Located next to Snoqualmie in Fall City, Washington, the faux biker bar is a real place that still exists, but as the far more family-friendly Fall City Roadhouse Restaurant & Inn. In business since 1916, the establishment continues to feature its pivotal portrayal in "Twin Peaks" prominently on its website, encouraging fans of the beloved show to book a room and check out the other local "Twin Peaks"-related sites.

Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean) was at your service at the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department during the investigation into Laura Palmer's death, helping Agent Dale Cooper sift through the clues and the town's cast of colorful characters. Other notable individuals in the sheriff's office included ditzy receptionist Lucy Moran (Kimmy Robertson), sensitive deputy Andy Brennan (Harry Goaz), and the insightful Deputy Hawk (Michael Horse). Plus, there was always an impressively stacked donut spread, straight out of "a policeman's dream."

The building representing the sheriff's department was actually a defunct lumber mill office found in Snoqualmie, where the exterior shots were filmed, while interior scenes took place on a California soundstage. These days, if you want to stop into the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department, you'd actually be visiting the DirtFish Rally School, where drivers learn to race cars. The building that was the fictional sheriff's office still stands, and fans can pose in front of a replica Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department Ford Bronco that the company proudly displays.

On the same sprawling land as the fictitious Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department building, which now houses the DirtFish Rally School, lies what's left of the series' Packard Sawmill, a one-time real-life working lumber mill in Snoqualmie.

The fictional version of the mill was a core feature on the show, especially during the pivotal first season. The business was the source of some fierce ownership in-fighting between the inheriting widow Josie Packard (Joan Chen) and the ruthless lineal mill boss Catherine Martell (Piper Laurie) and her much more even-keeled husband, Pete (Jack Nance).

The Packard Sawmill's billowing smokestacks and fast-rotating circular saw blades were prominently featured in the iconic opening credits of "Twin Peaks," footage that consisted of real-world moments captured by David Lynch and his film crew before the actual working mill shut down. While most of the mill is now gone due to a ruinous large-scale fire, a smokestack and some of the manufacturing houses still stand.

Since Laura Palmer and several high-profile "Twin Peaks" characters were still high school students, Twin Peaks High School was sometimes a setting on the series, including the unforgettable scene in the pilot episode in which Laura Palmer's friends learned of her death.

For this, both interior and exterior shots shown as Twin Peaks High School were filmed at the real Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie, with some of the genuine students who attended the school at the time serving as extras who mingled with the likes of Bobby Briggs, Donna Hayward, and James Hurley. Later, some interior spaces of the high school were recreated on a California soundstage.

In 2019, Mount Si High School was demolished and rebuilt, and the new version bears little resemblance to the "Twin Peaks"-era building. Before the demolition, it remained relatively unchanged — including the lockers and red heartbeat-like stripe running down the hallway walls — until the day it was torn down. Now that it's gone, "Twin Peaks" fans have to re-watch the series to reminisce about the trophy case or count how many times Audrey Horne smoked a cigarette on school property.