We return to the woods today for a look at the film location where Cyril Pons (played by Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost) walks his dog. This scene, like many of the woods scenes in Season 3 on Showtime, was shot along Weeks Falls Trail in Olallie State Park outside of North Bend, Washington.
WHERE IS THE LOCATION WHERE CYRIL PONS WALKS HIS DOG?
Olallie State Park is located at 51350 S.E. Homestead Valley Road which is just down highway 90 from North Bend, Washington. In order to visit the park, you’ll need a Discover Pass. It’s affordable and easy to order online.
This particular spot is found at the following coordinates – 47° 26′ 7.422″ N 121° 39′ 7.698″ W. It’s found just past the location where the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department finds Naido in Part 14.
This is what you would see as you approach the film location. Just look for the fallen tree along the side of the trail.
I visited again on February 21, 2024 before the start of the Real Twin Peaks 2024 event. A bad winter storm in mid-January knocked over several trees along Weeks Falls Trail.
This tree fell across the trail so I had to climb over it to keep going.
It’s difficult to put into words the size of these trees. They are massive. It must have been very strong winds that knocked this giant over.
When I visited on February 26, the entire trail was covered in snow. Looked completely different than just a few days earlier.
ORIGIN OF CYRIL PONS
The scene begins with Cyril Pons seen walking through the brush. I remember being incredibly happy to see Cyril’s return when this episode first aired on August 20, 2017.
The last time we saw Cyril Pons he was reporting from the scene of the Packard Saw Mill in Episode 2.001. Shelly Johnson had the news playing in her room at Calhoun Memorial Hospital. Mark Frost shot some additional scenes of Cyril Pons reporting but they were deleted (another Missing Piece to find).
Thanks to the outstanding Twin Peaks Unwrapped podcast, we learn about the original of the name Cyril Pons. In episode 73, Ben and Brian speak with fellow Bookhouse Boy Christian Hartleben about Cyril’s name. You can hear the conversation begin around the 30:34 mark. He shares that Cyril Pons may have been a nod to “Solar Pons,” is “a fictional detective created by August Derleth as a pastiche of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.”
The coolest part is Ben and Brian ask Mark Frost if this is correct (around 33:56). He responds, “You’re the first person whose ever picked up on that, and yes, that was a little bit of an homage.”
While you’re here, please do me a favor and pre-order Ben and Brian’s book based on their podcast. It’s going to be a phenomenal collection of their many interviews with Twin Peaks stars and much more. Order HERE.
CYRIL PONS WALKS HIS DOG
As Cyril gets closer, we see he is walking along a trail in the woods.
And he is walking his dog. Is that actually Mark Frost’s dog? The answer in a moment.
The camera pans down slightly to get a look at the black and white dog as Cyril walks by.
The camera follows Cyril and the dog.
Cyril passes the camera and continues along the trail.
The trail he walks along continues all the way down to Weeks Falls. The next stop will be Steven and Gersten’s tree from later in Part 15.
Here’s a short video of the scene in Olallie State Park during my visit on September 17, 2019.
IS THAT MARK FROST’S DOG?
After the episode aired on Showtime, there were many (including myself) who wanted to know if Mark was walking his own dog. He responded with a nod to a scene from Blake Edwards’ “The Pink Panther Strikes Again” from 1976.
Mark clarified his answer on August 22 by explaining the scene he referenced from the film. The hotel clerk was played by the late Graham Stark who was good friends with Peter Sellers (he was his best man at all four of his weddings!).
Here’s a short clip from this classic scene.
More recently in October 2019, Mark shared on Twitter that he has four dogs and will basically live forever.
Clearly, Mark is a dog person.
At a reading of “The Secret History of Twin Peaks” on October 20, 2016, he shared his philosophy about dogs and books – “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend.” (Thank you Showtime for posting this tweet).
I couldn’t agree more!
Thank you once again to Bookhouse Gal Jill Watson for pointing out this spot during our tour of Olallie State Park.
MARK FROST RESPONDS – UPDATE OCTOBER 21, 2019
On October 20, 2019, Mark Frost retweeted this article and provided some additional information about the dog in the scene. Thank you Mark for answering a lingering mystery for me!
It looks like it was Property Master Mick Flowers’ dog! Still no word on his/her name.
Mick was not only the Property Master for all 18 parts, he also appeared in Part 10 as the drummer for Rebekah Del Rio’s performance of “No Stars” at the Roadhouse. He was also the prop master for another of my favorite films from 2015, The Revenant.
If I was Mick, I would have totally put my dog in Twin Peaks. I mean I dressed up my dog Yodie as the Log Lady once during the Season 3 Marathon on Showtime. He was very patient.
