Forks is a city in Clallam County, Washington, on the western Olympic Peninsula, in one of the rainiest and most heavily forested regions of the contiguous United States. It takes its name from the rivers that meet nearby — the Quillayute, Bogachiel, Calawah, and Sol Duc — and it grew as a logging town serving the surrounding timber country. That resource economy has long been the backbone of the community, and the town remains the commercial and civic center for a roughly 2,000-square-mile area of forest, rivers, and coastline. The town's modern identity is equally tied to the landscape it fronts. Forks is the primary gateway to Olympic National Park's western reaches, including the Hoh Rain Forest roughly 31 miles away, Rialto Beach about 14 miles to the west, and Kalaloch Beach farther down the coast. The surrounding region holds more than 100 miles of saltwater shoreline and over 200 miles of wild rivers with salmon and steelhead runs, making it a destination for anglers, hikers, and beachgoers. The Quileute Tribe, whose reservation and the village of La Push lie west of Forks, has lived and fished along this coast for thousands of years and is central to the area's cultural identity. Forks also gained worldwide recognition as the setting of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, and that literary fame now brings visitors to the town and to La Push year-round. The city's population is about 3,500, and it is served by the Quillayute Valley School District, which educates students from Clallam County and part of Jefferson County. Forks suits people who want to live at the edge of a national park — deep forest, wild rivers, and Pacific beaches — in a small, self-reliant town that serves as both a working community and a gateway to one of the country's most distinctive landscapes.