Stunning Virgin River Filming Locations You Can Actually Visit

If you only have time to visit one Virgin River filming location, Snug Cove, British Columbia is going to give you the most bang for your buck. Snug Cove is featured heavily in the series, with many of the establishing shots of the show like the local library, main streets, and Artisan Lane taken there. Even if Snug Cove wasn’t featured in the series it would be worth a visit. The small town sits on Bowen Island, a 20-minute ferry from West Vancouver, and is all about lifestyle retreats. So you can live your best life as Mel while also trying out a yoga/horseback riding/kayaking getaway. Ideal.

No visit to Virgin River would be complete without a visit to Jack’s Bar & Grill, especially if you are a new-to-town nurse who isn’t looking for love but wouldn’t be opposed to finding it with the brooding owner if it happened to crop up. I don’t know if you’ll find this at the Watershed Grill in Brackendale, British Columbia, but this is where the real Jack’s Bar and Grill is so you can always give it a shot. Brackendale itself is a haven for nature lovers, with people visiting the area north of Squamish for trail runs and river walks which is right up Mel’s alley. Then they can stop in to the Watershed Grill for a famous homemade burger, probably not served by Preacher.

Doc Mullen (Tim Matheson) has the great good fortune of caring for the people of Virgin River in a small practice in a gorgeous house. And if you think the house looks amazing in the series, you should see the real thing in New Westminster, British Columbia. The house is at 122 First Street in New Westminster and was originally built in 1889. Perhaps even more importantly, the house has a whopping five fireplaces along with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. It went up for sale in 2021 for $2.1 million, which feels like a steal considering it’s one of the main stars of a Netflix series. Everyone in Virgin River ends up at Doc’s practice at one point or another, although no one more than Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) who has been pregnant with twins for at least five years.

When Mel first arrives in Virgin River to assist Doc, she is thrown for a loop to discover that she wasn’t really expected by anyone other than Hope (Annette O’Toole), who hired her behind Doc’s back. And then there was the accomodation; a seemingly rundown log cabin filled with cobwebs that had Mel thinking there was no way she could stay. Of course, Mel and the rest of us saw the untapped potential in her little cabin. And that cabin is actually in use as a caretakers’ cabin in Murdo Frazer Park in North Vancouver. Originally built in the ‘50s, the film crew used the exterior of the cabin only, using a set to create the romantic interior.

If you found yourself checking out the home of Hope McCrea and wanting to just nestle in and get comfortable, you are not alone. The large wood-frame Craftsman bungalow is exactly the kind of place you want to visit when you need a little tea and sympathy. Or as is more often the case with Hope, sass and a dose of reality. Hope’s house is actually the Edgar Residence in Burnaby, British Columbia, and it was built as a residence for a family of artists. One of whom was named Bebe. I feel like Hope herself would approve.

Located about a half an hour north of Vancouver, the Virgin River film crew chose several locations in Port Coquitlam to shoot some interior shots. Port Coquitlam sits where the Fraser and Pitt rivers meet, and is filled with adorable little boutique shops along the main street where the crew shot footage inside the hairdresser’s salon where Charmaine worked and a pub Mel and Jack visited at one point.

The Watershed Grill AKA Jack’s Bar isn’t the only filming location for Virgin River in Squamish. Located along what is considered to be one of the most beautiful drives in the world, the Sea to Sky Highway, there is a 200 foot waterfall called Brandywine Falls that is seen in the third season of the series. And just 10 minutes away lies Shannon Falls Provincial Park where Jack and Mel have been known to kayak and fish and stare at each other with longing.

I don’t know about you but when I first saw Paige’s Bakeaway bakery food truck on Virgin River I was hooked. Not only did every single muffin coming off that truck look delectable, but that bakery truck lifestyle seemed ideal. Especially with all of the nature surrounding it. Fortunately you can head over to Deer Lake in Burnaby to see exactly where the truck is parked to deliver all of those delicious baked goods. Foreshore Park was also used in several shots, and both locations were used in the Virgin River community picnic episode from Season 2.

If you remember watching the Season 3 episode all about the Lumberjack Games, you remember seeing Mel trying to cross that scary rope bridge through a gorgeous, if somewhat terrifying forest, with Jack. That forest is actually Grouse Mountain, located just outside Vancouver. Grouse Mountain is a massively popular spot for city-goers to head out for some snowboarding and skiing in the winter, and of course there is also a zipline. Along with a rope bridge that Mel crossed with Jack supporting her, setting the tone for their love story of course.

Vancouver might be the main area where much of Virgin River is filmed, other than the town of Snug Cove, but a few scenes were shot in Whistler, a popular ski resort town in British Columbia. There were several Cheakamus Lake Road in Whistler, where there is a park with another suspension bridge, a gorgeous beach, and of course views of the ocean and mountains for miles.