Day Trip To Snoqualmie That Every 'Twin Peaks' Fan Needs To Take
It is feeling so good to finally catch up on all these travel diaries from my moto treak Northwest last summer. I just published your Seattle travel diary so be sure to check it out. We left Seattle for Portland but had some great adventures in between that I think you will find interesting and want to add to your itinerary too, especially if you are a Twin Peaks fan!
I have loved Twin Peaks since I was in High School. My girlfriends-Kelly, Dawn, and Allison and I would literally watch it 10,000 times at sleep overs. David Lynch is such a genius. And we had to know everything about Laura Palmer’s last days. anyway it was quite the obsession so of course we could not pass up time in Snoqualmie. Snoqualmie and Salish Lodge & Spa is the perfect day trip to get lost in nature and relaxation and lots of cherry pie and damn-fine coffee.
Before you head to the picturesque Salish Lodge & Spa, located on the tip of Snoqualmie Falls, stop in North Bend for a slice of cherry pie and a coffee at Twede’s Café, the setting for the Double R Diner where Agent Dale Cooper drank his damn-fine coffee.
Up the road, Salish Lodge’s exterior will bring up memories of the Great Northern Hotel. But only its exterior was used in filming — it’s much more warm and luxe inside than the moody and surreal lodging on the show. I wish we would have stayed here! The property is exquisite.
Head to the waterfall viewing area, just steps from the lodge, to take in the rush of water that is particularly dramatic after our heavy spring rains. Next, hit the lodge’s spa for the Cherry & Damn Fine Coffee Body Scrub, inspired by the show. Start your treatment with a soak in the heated soaking tubs, which were almost empty even on a bustling afternoon. Then get scrubbed down with a coffee-infused exfoliation and slathered with cherry-scented body butter for skin that’s baby-soft.
Check out the lodge’s gift shop, The Country Store, for lots of cute show-inspired merchandise, including iron owls, art prints, magnets and the lodge’s own cherry pie filling. There’s even a specialty cocktail at The Attic, one of two on-site restaurants, called The Dale Cooper, as well as its own (delicious) version of the requisite cherry pie.
I am such a sucker for all this stuff you guys!!! I waited 15 years to see this place!!!
So after leaving Snoqualmie It was time to head to Portland and we went the long back way through Gifford-Pinchot National Forest. OMG! Actually OMFG. This was Lin's fave part of the whole trek. And the scariest.
But if you love adventure and taking risks-do this!! But also, be aware that some paved roads do have some big sink holes and pot holes - please drive carefully, no matter what your driving/riding! Plus it also gets super shady in some curvy parts really playing with your depth of perception. There is no cell service, no civilization, so seriously-just don't get yourself in a dangerous situation.
Just about everyone in the Pacific Northwest is familiar with Forest Service Road 25, the road that goes around the east side of Mt. St. Helens and provides a way to get to FS99 and Windy Ridge. Where FS25 is a twisty, curvy work of art done in asphalt, FS23 is another matter. FS23 splits away from WA 39 shortly before it turns in FS25 and heads east. In the middle of FS23 is a somewhat twisty section of gravel that lasts for about 5 miles.
This road isn’t a nicely maintained as FS25, and is probably recommended for adventure bikes if you plan to do the whole route. In my opinion, if you take FS90 across (and deal with its own gravel section), you get the best of FS23 if you come in there after the gravel section of FS23.
As for the rest of FS23, it comes down out of the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest via SR 141 through Trout Lake into Bingen and White Salmon where it intersects with Washington SR 14.
Portland, Oregon travel diary is coming up!!
Channel ‘Twin Peaks’ Below: