Every fall, hundreds of thousands of salmon return to the streams of Puget Sound to spawn. They’ve lived in the Pacific Ocean for 1-5 years and traveled approximately 2,000-3,000 miles to return to the same stream where they were born. It’s a spectacular sight to witness.
There are so many incredible opportunities to view spawning salmon in South Puget Sound and Hood Canal (I’m based in this region, so that’s my focus). They actually start arriving in July and can be seen here until January, but you have to know where to look and when for each species. I’ve created a portfolio of salmon viewing opportunities that I hope some find useful to get outdoors and welcome the salmon home.
The inspiration for this project came from my work in salmon research. I’ve previously focused on energy portfolios (e.g. food items) that supported juvenile salmon throughout entire calendar years. Most research into fish diets and prey availability is conducted at a single point in time, during summer low-flows in rivers, typically in August to September, often due to constraints such as safe access and availability of field technicians/college interns. I wanted to know how juvenile salmon make a living every month and what food items support them during different seasons so I’ve collected data on year-round energy portfolios for juvenile salmon. Thus the idea for extended salmon viewing portfolios was cemented in my mind.
Without further ado, here is an interactive map with some of my favorite viewing opportunities in the South Puget Sound/Hood Canal region. You can navigate with Google Maps directly from links for each #.
I’ve included graphs of run timing for each of the locations so you can visualize the start, end, and peak of each run. Yes, some of these rivers and hatcheries support more species than what I’ve listed here. I’ve just picked one species for each viewing location that I felt had the biggest bang for your buck and complemented the other viewing opportunities presented in the portfolio. This is a mix of hatchery salmon viewing opportunities and wild salmon viewing opportunities. NOTE: yes, I know “wild salmon” should really be stated as “natural origin” salmon as wild is not entirely accurate anymore due to the impacts of hatchery fish over the past 100 years, but here I use it to distinguish between fish spawning naturally in the wild vs fish being spawned in a hatchery.
Viewing opportunities 1-15 are included with more detail below and I’ve created 2 graphs to show the portfolio effect of month after month of salmon viewing fun 🙂 The only reason they are 2 separate graphs is so the smaller runs aren’t lost in the larger y-axis scale of the larger runs. Don’t think the smaller runs aren’t worth visiting either. The smaller populations are often in smaller creeks that can offer fantastic up-close viewing since the creeks don’t often experience the same level of flooding during high-rain events that larger systems do.
All data were compiled from publicly available data via WDFW’s Spawning Ground Survey Database and Hatchery Escapement Reports and data from the Quilcene National Fish Hatchery.
- Pink Salmon (odd years only) at Hoodsport Hatchery. Peak: Early August. Spot one of the first salmon to return with the Hoodsport pink salmon run (pinks only live 2 years and return to spawn in WA in odd years). 24350 US-101, Hoodsport, WA 98548. For more information, visit WDFW.
- Summer Chum Salmon at Union River Trap. Peak: Early September. See endangered summer chum up-close as they are counted at a trap (Aug 15-Oct 15) as part of the population recovery efforts. (Behind QFC) 974 WA-300, Belfair, WA 98528. For more information, visit Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group.
- Coho Salmon at Quilcene National Fish Hatchery. Peak: Early-Mid September. View coho salmon at the hatchery or in the river via a short trail from the hatchery. You can also park along the Linger Longer Rd and walk across the bridge to view coho salmon swimming and spawning in the creek below. These fish are headed upstream to the Quilcene National Fish Hatchery. 281 Fish Hatchery Rd, Quilcene, WA 98376. For more information, visit US Fish and Wildlife Service – Quilcene National Fish Hatchery.
- Fall Chinook Salmon at George Adams Hatchery. Peak: Mid September. See the biggest salmon species, Chinook, as they are held at the hatchery before spawning. 40 W Skokomish Valley Rd, Shelton, WA 98584. For more information, visit WDFW.
- Pink Salmon (odd years only) at Veteran’s Park on South Prairie Creek. Peak: Mid September. Watch thousands of wild pink salmon, the smallest salmon species. (Foothills Trail and Veteran’s Park are behind the Fire Station) 350 WA-162, Buckley, WA 98321. For more information, visit Pierce County Water.
- Fall Chinook Salmon at Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls. Peak: Late September. View hatchery Chinook at the underwater viewing window and watch them at the waterfall. 110 Deschutes Way SW, Tumwater, WA 98501. For more information, visit the Olympia Tumwater Foundation.
- Pink Salmon (odd years only) at Dosewallips State Park. Peak: Late September. Lots of good river viewing points from the park. Pink salmon only return in odd years. Discover Pass required. 306996 US-101, Brinnon, WA 98320. For more information, visit Washington State Parks.
- Coho Salmon at Minter Creek Hatchery. Peak: Early October. See coho in the creek from the Creviston Drive bridge or watch the spawning action at the hatchery. 12710 124th Ave Ct KPN, Gig Harbor, WA 98329. For more information, visit WDFW.
- Pink Salmon (odd years only) at Mashel River at Smallwood Park. Peak: Mid October. Lots of short trails from the park that lead to gravel bars along the river to watch pink salmon (and Chinook salmon) spawning. 436th St E, Eatonville, WA 98328. For more information, visit this article from South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group or Nisqually Land Trust sometimes hosts salmon watching events on the Mashel at Smallwood in early October.
- Summer Chum Salmon at Johns Creek at Bayshore Preserve. Peak: Early November. Check out summer chum from a trail and with underwater cameras (first 2 Nov. weekends). 3800 WA-3, Shelton, WA 98584. For more information, visit Capitol Land Trust.
- Fall Chum Salmon at Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail. Peak: Mid November. Witness 24,000 wild chum salmon spawning mere feet away in Kennedy and Fiscus Creeks (docents on-site). 600 W. Old Olympic Hwy, Shelton, WA 98584. For more information, visit South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group.
- Fall Chum Salmon at McLane Creek Nature Trail. Peak: Late November. See 7,300 wild chum salmon from an easily walkable trail. Docents on-site. Discover Pass required. 5040 Delphi Rd SW, Olympia, WA 98512. For more information, visit WA Department of Natural Resources.
- Fall Chum Salmon at Swan Creek Park. Peak: Early December. Hike along Swan Creek to look for spawning wild chum salmon and join the Salmon Saturdays celebration held the first 2 Saturdays in December. 2922 Pioneer Way E, Tacoma, WA 98404. For more information, visit Metro Parks Tacoma.
- Fall Chum Salmon at Goldsborough Creek Fish Ladder. Peak: Late December. Watch wild chum (and coho) salmon navigate the series of weirs that make up the fish ladder in the creek. 26-198 W Hulbert Rd, Shelton, WA 98584. For more information, visit Capitol Land Trust and read this Daily Journal of Commerce news article.
- Fall Chum Salmon at Shelton Creek Dam. Peak: Early January. Follow wild chum salmon in Shelton Creek as it flows under streets and re-emerges every couple blocks (including at Dairy Queen!). corner of N 7th St and Laurel St, Shelton, WA 98584. No great additional information available.
If you’d like a simple cheat sheet table of when, where, and what to see of salmon viewing opportunities: here is a PDF you can download and print (for personal use only). Click the image to view the printable full-size PDF.
Here is an 12×18 poster I made to help you “ride the wave” of salmon viewing opportunities in South Puget Sound and Hood Canal. You are welcome to print this for personal use. No other use is authorized without express written permission. Please contact me if you are a non-profit, government agency, or business that would like to discuss sharing this poster with your visitors. Thank you. Click the image for the full-size file.
If you want even more salmon info before you head out to watch the spawning action, here are a few snippets on each species.
…and one final 11×17″ infographic. Same info as above, just in a different format. Click the image for the full-size file.
