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| Silver Falls State Park (Sublimity, Oregon)
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Silver Falls State Park, Oregon
This park near the city of Silverton is known today as the most popular park in the state of Oregon, as well as for the occasional reports of Bigfoot activity and its appearances in several movies. Silver Falls State Park is comprised of over 9,000 acres of property and 24 miles of walking trails, which includes its famous 8.7-mile Trail of Ten Falls/Canyon Trail that runs along Silver Creek and includes ten majestic waterfalls. For an added attraction, four of the falls feature an amphitheater-like surrounding that allows hikers to actually walk behind the falls and cool off in its spray.
Campaigns for its park status began in 1900 by a local photographer by the name of June Drake, who used his photography of the falls to make his case. After the National Park Service rejected the area due to the proliferation of unattractive stumps from local logging in 1926, it was finally established as a state park by Oregon in 1933. President Franklin D. Roosevelt aided their efforts when he declared that the area would be turned into a Recreational Development Area in 1935 and efforts began to construct park facilities.
With its relative close proximity to the state capital of Salem and an approximate hour and a half drive from the city of Portland, Silver Falls State Park has quickly grown to be the most popular park in the state, in addition to the largest. An estimated one million visitors descend on the park throughout the year, which is nearly double the amount seen by the state's only national park, Crater Lake (see Crater Lake National Park). It has also grown a reputation for the number of Bigfoot sightings and alleged footprints, as well as the number of movies it has appeared in over the years.
Bigfoot Sightings
The forested land of the Pacific Northwest is not a stranger to sightings of an alleged Bigfoot (or sasquatch) and Silver Falls State Park is no exception. The area has reportedly been rich with stories of the discovery of large footprints in the forested property that makes up the park, as well as the occasional sighting of a large, unknown cryptid.
A family camping in the Howard Creek Horse Camp in the summer during the mid-1970s reported seeing what they initially believed to be a large bear. The family of four was walking down one of the forest roads in the camp when an animal 7-8 feet tall suddenly emerged from the brush some 60-75 feet in front of them, and then quickly walking to the other side after apparently noticing the family. The creature was described as being covered in dark brown fur, heavily built, and walking upright with arms bent. The family quickly walked back to their campground and noticed a tree with deep gouges in the trunk that were considerably higher than a human could reach.
In October of 1995, a local hunter had just spotted an elk in the area when suddenly the animal took off running. Much to the hunter's surprise, another large animal suddenly began running about 50-feet beyond the elk which he described as dark-brownish with possible moss hanging off its fur. After the animal had disappeared, the man encountered three other hunters who had probably caused the two animals to flee. However, they reported seeing nothing unusual and laughed when he suggested that he might have seen a Bigfoot. When he investigated where the animal had been, he found what appeared to be unusually large footprints.
Just Before Dawn (1981)
The scenery and setting of Silver Falls State Park served the major backdrop to the 1981 horror film, Just Before Dawn. The film, by director Jeff Lieberman, is generally considered as an often-overlooked gem by fans of the genre that was lost in a deluge of other slasher-type films that came out around it, such as Friday the 13th. The film concerns five campers that fail to heed the warnings of a local ranger (played by George Kennedy) that danger lurks in the forest and unwittingly cross paths with a dangerous insane family.
The film was shot almost exclusively at Silver Falls State Park and interestingly enough, most critics credit the scenic beauty and claustrophobic atmosphere of the photography as one of the major successes of Just Before Dawn. Reportedly word had trickled out to the local park rangers during the production that a scene was being shot where actress Jamie Rose would be swimming topless (resulting in one of the creepier moments in the film). Not surprisingly, the set that day had a higher number of guests than usual.
The Hunted (2003)
The park also made an appearance in the 2003 thriller/drama, The Hunted, from director William Friedkin (The Exorcist). In the film, a veteran Special Forces officer, played by Tommy Lee Jones, is asked to track down and apprehend his former pupil, played by Benicio del Toro, who has gone rogue and is attacking and killing hunters in the area. In June 2001, the production was filming a fight scene between the two characters at the park that resulted in del Toro accidentally breaking his hand. Though the production was just one week shy of completion, the injury resulted in a six-month delay. The accident would also result in causing an unintended minor panic for residents of the city of Portland when production resumed.
By the time the filming was back up and rolling in January 2002, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 had resulted in Paramount Studios instituting worldwide security precautions on the sets of their film, out of concerns to their stars. Despite being a fairly open set prior to the attacks, the studio clamped down on media access to the production, as well as released no public information about filming locations for The Hunted.
On January 15, 2002, two fighter jets were scrambled in the Portland area when someone contacted authorities after a local pilot had allegedly told them that they might fly a plane into a downtown building. Around the same time, the special effects crew for the film was performing some tests for a bomb scene on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River and intentionally set-off a couple of explosions. Dozens of worried residents jammed the emergency call center switchboards after witnessing the low-flying jets fly over the area, which was immediately followed by the loud explosions. Despite causing panic during this incident, production on The Hunted continued and wrapped without further incident.
Twilight (2008)
Silver Falls State Park was also seen in the 2008 film adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer bestselling novel, Twilight. Scenes from the vampire-thriller were filmed in the Parking Lot F-area, as well as the Howard Creek Horse Camp; both located at the south end of the park. The scenes included the opening sequence of a deer being stalked by a vampire, as well as action scenes with the characters suspended up 100 feet in the trees of the forest, which doubled as the forest near Forks, Washington in the novel (see Forks, Washington under Literary Sites).
Production on Twilight was done during the first week of April 2008 and the crew was forced to deal with the changing weather that included both snow and rain. Due to the fact that the rest of the film was being shot in the greater Portland-area where there was no snow, the editing process turned out to be a little tricky in matching the two different locations. About half of the crew actually camped out in the park itself during the production, while the other half stayed in nearby Sublimity.
The Park Today
Oregon State Senator Fred Girod recently sponsored an effort to once again attempt to designate Silver Falls State Park as a national park, but was met by more opposition than anticipated. Such a designation would have required a stricter clean-air standard in the general area, which could have drastically impacted agricultural and forestry practices such as field and slash burning. There were also concerns that its addition to the federal park system may have resulted in more commercial development around the area to accommodate a surge in tourism. Girod tabled his efforts in February 2008, but holds out hope that his proposal might someday make it through and Silver Falls State Park will become the second national park in the state of Oregon.
As mentioned, Silver Falls State Park is one of the most popular hiking destinations in the state of Oregon, but also offers a wide array of other activities. In addition to the hiking trails, it also features 14-miles of horse trails, and a 4-mile bike path. Other activities include camping, swimming, fishing, and the occasional events hosted by the park. For more information, please visit the site below. |
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| Related Sites |
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department: Silver Falls State Park
The official Web site for the Silver Falls State Park near Silverton, Oregon from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. |
Stephenie Meyer.com
The official Web site of the Twilight Saga author Stephanie Meyer. |
OregonBigfoot.com
A collection of sightings and reports of the mysterious cryptid known as either Bigfoot or Sasquatch completely focused on the state of Oregon. |
The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization
The official Web site of the team dedicated to tracking and researching the cryptid known as Bigfoot or Sasquatch. The site contains a comprehensive sightings database. |
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| Similar Destinations |
| Twilight (2008): Petite Jolie |
| Oregon Caves National Monument |
| Crater Lake National Park |
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| See Also on TheCabinet.com |
| Blog: Tour the Twilight Movie Locations (11/21/08) |
| Blog: The Twilight Movie Location Travel Guide (03/20/09) |
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| Available from Amazon.com |
Bigfoot and I: A Personal Journey into the World of Sasquatch |
Just Before Dawn |
Just Before Dawn 11"x17" Framed Poster |
The Hunted (Widescreen Edition) |
Twilight (Two-Disc Special Edition) |
Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion |
Twilight Collector's Edition (The Twilight Saga) |
The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide (Twilight Saga) |
The Twilight Saga: Slipcased |
Twilight Soundtrack |
Twilight: The Score |
Twilight People Poster Print, 24x36 |
Twilight Movie Poster Advance Group Artwork |
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