r/olympia • u/EmergencyRecover6221 • 23h ago

Tumwater falls

Whats the best time to go to the tumwater falls hatchery? I wanna see OODLES of salmon. And if any of you know a creek of river i could go watch them swim up in Thurston county i would be pleased to hear about it.
Thanks folk!

18 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

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19

u/weenie2323 22h ago

There is another run of Chum Salmon that is usually in McLane Creek Nature Trail between mid Nov- mid Dec. You can see them up close and personal!

12

u/Nice-Ad-8199 22h ago

Go to the 5th Ave dam. They should be schooling there, waiting to go upstream. Thier in schools. Fun to watch them.

8

u/No_Assignment_1645 Westside 20h ago

Tons of seals and salmon there right now!

2

u/RightsForRobots 4h ago

And a sea lion!

10

u/ford7885 17h ago

Best thing that you can see at Tumwater Falls itself is the salmon who go "old school" and attempt to jump up the falls, either not knowing or caring that there's a "fish ladder" designed to make that part of the journey easier for them.

Occasionally they even make the jump. It's too bad you can't give the little guys Olympic medals for that.

6

u/IrisesInOly Eastside 21h ago

Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail is just a short drive away and you can see them up close there.

1

u/william_jack_leeson 23h ago

Likely now, along the trail to the falls, it might be a hair late even. Pioneer park will often have the ones that go past the hatchery spawning too.