Issaquah State Salmon Hatchery

One of the most amazing places in north west. I have been here so many times and brought everyone who came to visit in the fall. Be sure to visit anytime between beginning of September to end of November.

I love bringing my son here. He is 21 months old and it’s perfect for a free toddler activity to go on a walk and get him out of the house. He loves to run around checking out all of the different tanks, the fish ladder, bridge, and outdoor displays. It’s really fun to go right now because it’s right in the middle of the salmon returning so there is a lot to see. The volunteers have been helpful, but are a little strange. One lady went into detail about how the salmon get clubbed on the head and sliced open and killed for their eggs. I think that could potentially freak some kids out even though it’s reality. Luckily I’m a weirdo too so my son is probably exposed to that type of storytelling without me realizing it.

My daughter had an outing there a few weeks ago with her Girl Scout troop and it was horrible! WAY TO MANY kids to too few staff, one staff member told our troop to break into smaller groups to make things go faster for us then I get chewed out by a different staff member because she ‘doesn’t care what she said out front and we’re just using extra resources’ — VERY RUDE about the whole thing, did not learn a thing about salmon!!! Kinda learned a little about how to keep the river healthy but ALL SELF GUIDED SELF TAUGHT!!! All in all, if you’re expecting to learn or be treated with respect from these people, save yourself the frustration. DON’T GO HERE! If I could rate this place a zero, I would do it a heartbeat!

This place is a great place to see and learn about the life of salmon!
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!

Stopped by here after lunch at XXX burgers. No fish that I can find here right now. The bays are all empty, so I’m not sure what I’ll comment on. Oh yeah, the bathrooms are very nice! :) More next visit!

Yup, no fish in 2012. They aren’t saving the salmon, they are killing them off!

First went there few years ago with my son’s class on a field trip. This year went with my daughter’s. Great place to see the life cycle of salmon. Its a nice free fun with lots to learn for kids.

Been here two times during the Salmon day even. But pretty much you can come anytime.
It’s pretty cool how you can see all the salmon from the brdige, and they usually have a table with different kind of salmon during the salmon day. It’s a great education for the kids.
No bad comment about this place, because it’s FREE!!!

So nicely set up. If you go during salmon season sept/​oct, you really get to see alot of salmon and watch them jump. There’s also fun interactive posters. great place to walk through

Its free! I think we missed the season by a few weeks so we didn’t see too much, but other than that. it was pretty informative.

Salmon have huge and terrifying mouths.

Very cool place and since there are not many around I gave it four stars. There are many vantage points to see the salmon in the river or in the ladder. The compound is full of educational information to share with your children and the grounds have just about every species of plant in the Pac NW.
The time to visit the hatchery is late August to mid-​October with September being the best time.
On specific dates you can watch a crew harvest the eggs and sperm. This is not a scene for young kids as they grab the salmon out of their pool and crack them over the head and then go in for the goods. That would probably become a root cause of nightmares in the days to come.
The hatchery is nestled in the heart of downtown Issaquah, so make it an afternoon hitting the library, eating lunch or visiting a few parks with great playgrounds all within walking distance.

Just visited during the Issaquah Salmon Days Festival. Knowledgeable «salmon docents» were around every corner to provide info and answer questions. I don’t recommend going during the festival because it was very crowded and difficult to get a good view of the salmon in the tanks. Great place to take kids, they have interactive info stations about the salmon’s journey.

As far as fish hatcheries go — this is probably the best one I have ever been to. And others must agree, because the Issaquah hatchery is the most visited of Washington’s hatcheries.
Well, maybe that doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement so let me explain why if you find yourself out in Issaquah it is worth a stop.
It is easy to get to, easy to find, and been kept up well over it’s many years in existence and also improved and expanded over the years. It has a great history and is really the pride of Issaquah so a focus of the town (i.e. Issaquah Salmon Days Festival) and a great place to learn about our state’s Salmon run, how the life-​cycle of the Salmon works, and watershed stewardship. There are different displays and exhibits, a nice viewing fish ladder, and always many volunteers around to answer your questions. Because of that, it is a great educational experience for both young and old.
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.
And that is really the best part of the hatchery — seeing all the huge salmon in the little Issaquah Creek itself.

Ive always been really big into salmon. I had an incident with a couple of aggressive salmon when I was 7 but I was able to move past it. I wanted to learn all about these amazing creatures.
Ive read many books on salmon and have had a pretty successful life aside from that. This Hatchery completed me. It was so educational and I saw salmon spawning everywhere! I learned more about salmon just being able to watch them and video tape them than I had reading hundreds of books. I was truly moved and I will visit this salmon farm again.

Very impressive if you’re into natural science. Cost: free. Bag of fish food, $ 2.
The place is worth a stop if your an out of towner and haven’t seen a live salmon. They’re HUGE! I’m sure timing is everything, and the time of season you go may determine the type of experience you have here. It’s all very complicated to us Californians, thus, the «nice friendly eager to answer your questions» naturalists standing on the bridge. They will come to you and ask you if you have any for them. They live for this, so ask away. There is literally nothing they don’t know about salmon, the hatchery, and salmon, and spawning.
From the bridge, watch as these meter long poor bastards of the fish world flip and flop on their swim of inevitable death. You can see the ones that made it by walking down under the storage tanks. They are thrashed man! There are a bunch of displays that although probably were built to help kids understand salmon, helped a city dope like me understand. It was really entertaining! I knew nothing about salmon except how good they taste. I have a deeper appreciation for these guys. It’s a miracle they’ve survived this long. I could’ve spent about an hour here but we had to go. Bye salmon!

This place is very cool. If you can make it here when the salmon are spawning and around the Salmon fest it’s even better!

We visited the salmon hatchery today and had a great time. (beautiful day but COLD… BRRR…) The guide was wonderful and helpful and the kids had a good time. Best for older children though. My 3 year old said she wanted to go home and take a bubble bath. Hmmmm… maybe a few more years.

See the life cycle of the salmon up close and personal.
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.
Great educational fun for kids and adults…
From their website:
«This site was once part of „City Park“, which was connected to downtown Issaquah with a wooden bridge over Issaquah Creek. During the 1920’s, the park was well used with a bandstand and speaking platform for large holiday celebrations; and there was much picnicking along the creek.
The hatchery was constructed as a Works Project Administration project during 1936 – 1937. Plans included: Hatchery Building (increased in size during late design phase from 90 feet long to 176 feet!), hatching troughs, deep tray troughs, hatchery baskets, egg trays, overseer’s residence, feed house, garage, rearing ponds, water system, and racks and traps.
In the early 1990’s, the State Department of Fish and Wildlife announced plans to close the hatchery due to budget constrains. But the City of Issaquah, Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery (F.I.S.H.), the Muckleshoot Tribe, and King County all urged the state to keep the hatchery open. With a new focus on education, watershed stewardship, and bolstering native and threatened salmon such as the Lake Washington steelhead, the hatchery was significantly renovated and expanded in 1997 and 1998 with a new viewing pond, viewing shelter, four raceways, plumbing, stormwater systems, and a fish ladder. As of 1999, more significant improvements are still in the works!
The lands on which the hatchery sit are owned by the City of Issaquah which is leasing them to the State of Washington on a 99 year lease.»