Virgin River is technically a Netflix show, but it's really an escape to another world. A place where neighbors all know each other's name (and each other's business). Where every window looks out onto a mountain, and the stars shine at night. And where dashing bartenders double as leading men.
Excuse us for waxing poetic—but Virgin River (the third season comes out on July 9), has some of the most gorgeous scenery we've seen on TV. In fact, we'd be booking a vacation there, if it weren't for one big problem: Virgin River, supposedly located in northern California, is actually a fictional town. Fun fact: Virgin River is also the name of real body of water in the U.S., completely unrelated to the show—it's a tributary of the Colorado River located in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona.
Speaking to Oprah Daily, star Alexandra Breckenridge, who plays Mel Monroe, offered a major upside to the show's setting being fictional: There will never be a case of COVID-19 in Virgin River (unlike shows like This Is Us and Grey's Anatomy, which wove in pandemic storylines).
"Mel would be handling the pandemic. She's a strong, strong-willed woman, and she'd be taking care of anybody in Virgin River who got the coronavirus," Breckenridge says of her character, a nurse practitioner. "Luckily, nobody in Virgin River is going to get the coronavirus because it is a fictional place."
So, we viewers won't find Virgin River on any map. However, there are ways of "visiting" the town—whether by traveling to the filming location, or by reading the books that inspired the series.
No, Virgin River isn't a real town—but people ask constantly.
Robyn Carr, who wrote the novels that inspired Virgin River, said there's one question fans ask over and over: "Where is it? I want to go there,' Carr told EW. "I have to remind them that it only exists in our hearts and minds."
According to Carr, it's possible to recreate Virgin River's best qualities within your own community, starting with personal behavior. "We can have that sense of community in our own neighborhood or school or church group or community center or library association. All we have to do is try to create it. We create it by being helpful neighbors and good friends and positive people," she said.
The series is filmed in Vancouver and the surrounding area.
"Virgin River's a bit in its own time capsule," Breckenridge says of the series's setting. In order to create the town's nostalgic but visually striking atmosphere, producers shot Virgin River in various scenic locations in Vancouver and the surrounding area. In fact, the Vancouver tourism board offers an entire self-guided itinerary inspired by the show.
To add some Virgin River posts to your Instagram feed, head over to Snug Cove in Bowen Island, where most of the exterior, establishing shots were filmed. Other scenes are filmed in Squamish, Burnaby, or Port Coquitlam, all towns in British Columbia. According to the Agassiz-Harrison Observer, the "Welcome to Virgin River" sign seen in the first episode was shot on Pioneer Avenue in Agassiz, 75 miles east of Vancouver.
You can take a picture at Jack's Bar...sort of.
According to Conde Nast Traveler, the Watershed Grill in Brackendale, located 40 miles north of Vancouver, doubles as Jack's Bar in Virgin River. Though the interior of Jack's Bar is a set, the exterior scenes are filmed outside of the very scenic restaurant.
Mel's log cabin is actually someone's home.
In the first season of Virgin River, Mel finds the accommodations she's been promised by Mayor Hope McCrea to be...well, lacking. She's officially living in a drafty, creaky log cabin.
Mel doesn't like it—but in real life, someone actually lives in the accommodations. The scene was filmed in the caretaker’s cabin in Canada's Murdo Frazer Park. Built in 1950, the cabin has been used in other shoots, like Stargate, Psych, The Flash, and more. And yes, the park's caretaker apparently lives there.
Doc Mullins's practice is a Queen Anne-style home in New Westminster, Canada.
Per CN Traveler, Vernon Mullins's Family Practice Clinic house is located at 122 First Street in New Westminster. Built in 1889, this Victorian home boasts five bedrooms, two staircases, and magnificent gardens.
If you never want to leave Virgin River, then read the books that inspired the series.
You don't need a plane trip to go to Virgin River—you need a trip to the book store. Each installment in Robyn Carr's Virgin River book series follows different couples in the California town. Though the first novel centers on Jack and Mel, subsequent books introduce brand-new characters, which means surprises are on their way.
Since there are 22 books in Carr's series, you don't have to leave Virgin River anytime soon—depending on your reading speed, of course.
Robyn Carr's Virgin River Novels
