← ballard salmon: a love story

VISITING THE LOCKS

hiram m. chittenden locks · ballard, seattle

HOURS & COST

free, every day of the year. grounds open 7am to 9pm — garden, locks viewpoints, and the fish ladder gallery included.

WHERE

3015 nw 54th st, seattle — the west end of ballard, where the ship canal meets salt water. buses along nw market st stop a short walk away; the small lot fills fast on summer weekends.

THE SALMON

mid-june into november. sockeye peak in early july, kings in late august, silvers around the equinox. the forecast knows the good days.

THE REST OF THE SHOW

boats rise and fall in the locks all day, california sea lions patrol the spillway, great blue herons nest in the trees across the canal, and the carl s. english jr. botanical garden blooms on the way in.

▶ will you see salmon today? check the forecast

THE WALK

  1. enter from nw 54th st, through the carl s. english jr. botanical garden — specimen trees from every continent, planted over four decades.
  2. pass the visitor center and drop down to the locks: two chambers, big and small, lifting boats between the tides of puget sound and the fixed level of the ship canal.
  3. cross the lock gates — you walk across the tops of the gates themselves, water churning below.
  4. cross the walkway over the spillway dam, where the sea lions loiter in season.
  5. descend into the fish ladder viewing gallery on the far shore. the windows sit below the waterline: twenty-one steps, climbing fish, glass between you and them.

WHY THERE'S A LADDER AT ALL

the locks, finished in 1917, hold lake washington and lake union about twenty feet above the sound — a wall across a route salmon had run for ten thousand years. the ladder is the apology: twenty-one weirs stepping up from salt water to fresh, so the runs could keep their appointment.

every summer and fall the fish still come — sockeye for the cedar river, chinook for the big gravel beds, coho for the little creeks threaded through the city. the windows just let you watch the promise being kept.

ASKED BY VISITORS

how much does it cost to visit the ballard locks?

nothing. grounds, garden, locks viewpoints, and the fish ladder gallery are all free, open daily 7am–9pm.

where is the fish ladder?

on the far shore. from the main entrance, walk through the garden, cross the lock gates, then the spillway walkway. the gallery is below the waterline, windows onto the ladder’s steps.

how long does a visit take?

an hour covers the loop — garden, locks, spillway, ladder. in salmon season, budget longer. the windows are hard to walk away from.

when can i see salmon?

mid-june into november. sockeye peak late june through mid-july, chinook in late august, coho mid-september through early october — check the forecast for any date.

can i watch boats go through the locks?

all day, every day — sailboats, fishing boats, kayaks, the occasional tug, rising and falling a few feet in front of you.