This Is Where Big Timber Is Actually Filmed
Sometimes it's not fictional narratives but the events that comprise our daily lives that can make for the strangest stories. This has proven true both historically as well as in the present day, as evidenced by the continued popularity of reality TV. What serves as compelling reality TV is seemingly limited not by subject matter but simply by whomever is willing to act naturally in front of a camera. Recent reality TV successes include shows like "Below Deck," about a yacht chartering company, "The First 48," about real-life detectives investigating murder, and plenty in between.
"Big Timber," recently added to Netflix, is a reality TV show about a logging business called Wenstob Timber Resources, owned by a man named Kevin Wenstob. While Wenstob's work also includes the operation of a sawmill, logging work serves as the show's focus. Wenstob is unique in the logging world in that he's one of just a few independent sawmill operators in his local industry. Purchasing his sawmill, then, wasn't a financial decision backed by a larger company; instead, it was a purchase he made with his own savings.
Of course, by its very nature, the logging industry can operate in only select locations where trees are in abundance. Here's where Wenstob's logging exploits in "Big Timber" were filmed.
Big Timber's Vancouver Island location is part of its appeal
As detailed in a profile about the series on the Canadian heavy machinery blog Equipment Journal, "Big Timber" was filmed on Vancouver Island, located off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia just north of the Canada-United States border. Specifically, Wenstob and company are operating on a claim of land on a remote part of Vancouver Island called Klitsa Mountain. Its rugged terrain poses a natural challenge for Wenstob's logging operation, thus contributing to the drama driving the 10 episodes of "Big Timber" filmed thus far.
Klista Mountain is home to a plentiful amount of cedar and hemlock trees, which Equipment Journal describes as "some of the best wood in the world." While the total amount of lumber on the mountain could fill upwards of 1,000 truckloads, Wenstob's goal over the course of the series' first season is to transport 200 truckloads of lumber back to his sawmill prior to the advent of cold weather making his logging operation inviable.
The Klista Mountain filming location of "Big Timber," then, not only makes for a pretty backdrop, but also is essential to the series' core conflict.