Issaquah State Salmon Hatchery — Attraction in Issaquah

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Located at 125 W Sunset Way, the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery has more than 300,000 visitors each year. The best time to visit is September and October, when the salmon return to the hatchery up Issaquah Creek and when the Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery (F.I.S.H.) offers public tours. Excellent place to bring your kids for an educational experience. Our guided tour docent Lawrence was knowledgeable and clearly passionate about the salmon hatchery. The tour was 45 mins long but well worth it. The kids had a wonderful time and we'll be back to see the salmon spawn. Tons of salmon now for viewing! Come watching the mature salmons swimming, jumping in the Issaquah Creek and man made water ways. The fish ladder is another interesting place to observe salmons swimming by. After observation, do stop by the cute Railway Depot and take some photos.

Different displays with great info! My daughter loved watching them try to jump! It's free, easy to find and depending on the day lots of salmon!

If you are going to visit you really must do so when the salmon run is at it's fullest which is September-October. Even in that timeframe you will want to make to sure wait until there have been a few good rains because even though the salmon only need a tiny bit of a creek to get up they do need some.

When I went today there was plenty of Coho and Sockeye in the creek. In a few more weeks Chinook should be joining.

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A visitor from Finland to show her this gem that is in our area. Even though it was the offseason for the hatchery, we were able to see large tanks or pens full of baby coho fry and 2 year old rainbow trout. But the pens were mostly empty of the fish fry and no large, breeding salmon were returning to the hatchery yet. We were able to explain to her the excitement that the community has about this Hatchery during the Issaquah Salmon Days celebrations in early October.

Suddenly, we heard a woman's voice who asked if we wanted some information and it was one of the local docents of the Hatchery. And we spent about 15 minutes having a personal discussion about the Hatchery and the great things that it does. We felt fortunate to have that opportunity to speak with her and we appreciated it.

She told us the returning adults can start to appear around August, if the water is cool enough and the temperature isn't too hot which depletes oxygen from the water. We now plan to go back before the large crowds of Salmon Days so that we can start seeing the earliest...

Love this place!

Pros: Usually easy to find parking in the area Handicap and stroller accessible with ramps Educational! Many informative signs and diagrams that are kid- and adult-friendly Salmon ladder is undercover, so you can still view in the rain There is a bridge going over the water, so you can see the salmon in the creek Hatchery is clean and well-maintained There are a lot of nice places to eat within walking distance and also a nice trail with a big troll sculpture close by! You can make a fun outdoor day trip out of your visit. HIGHLY RECOMMEND going to Issaquah Salmon Days festival they have annually. Usually the first weekend of October. It’s my favorite festival/fair of the year.

Cons: None that I can think of unless you have a fear of dead fish (they naturally die during the...