Ballard Locks and fish ladder

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Ballard Locks and fish ladder

Photo: Dennis Bratland · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

🥾 Hike · Seattle

2 hours · Free · No reservation needed

age fit
0–1 yr
★ 5.0
1–3 yrs
★ 5.0
3–5 yrs
★ 5.0
5–10 yrs
★ 4.0
  • 🚗
    About 35 min drive
    From Bellevue · Parking: Paid lot next to the grounds (about $2-4/hour) or nearby street parking
  • 🍼
    Stroller-friendly
    Flat surfaces — bring the stroller
  • 🌳
    Some shade
    Great on sunny days · Good on cool days · Wind-OK
  • ⏱️
    Typical visit: 2 hours
    Best seasons: Summer · Spring · Fall

A free living classroom: watch yachts and fishing boats rise and fall in the locks, then head to the fish ladder's underwater viewing windows to see salmon swimming upstream (most in June through September); a century-old botanical garden on the bank is good for a picnic.

💡 Tips
Sockeye and Chinook runs peak in July and August; summer weekends are crowded, so arrive before 10am. Plenty to eat in the surrounding Ballard neighborhood.

What this place offers

✓boat watching
✓fish ladder
✓salmon
✓garden
✓sea lions
✓restrooms
✓free

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This weekend's weather in Seattle

Forecast at the destination itself (coast and hills often differ from home)

🌦️
Sat 10/17
Drizzle · 51–60°F · 37% rain
☁️
Sun 10/18
Overcast · 44–59°F · 0% rain

Location

Seattle, Washington

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