Every Autumn, salmon make an astonishing migration where they return to their place of birth, where they’ll spawn and die, their offspring to repeat the cycle. On rivers, you may catch a glimpse of the migrating fish — often rocky areas with falls or rapids are prime places to view them as they have to jump to make it through. Salmon Cascades on Sol Duc river in Olympic National Park is one such place, which has been turned into an “exhibit” by placing a viewing platform near the area where the salmon jump.
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Visiting salmon at Salmon Cascades
The Salmon Cascades exhibit is not too far a drive from Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort. If you’re on your way there from Port Angeles, you’ll see clear signs for it on the right-hand side of the road. There’s also a restroom, parking lot and another parking area just after that with parallel-type parking spots. You might want to use these if you drive a large van like I was doing.
You’ll find a wood platform which is a great place for salmon viewing. When I was there early morning a young woman arrived looking around and asking where the salmon were. I pointed out the jumping area — in the rapids area near a large rock, and she laughed when one suddenly went airborne. I went for photography, but I stayed longer and went more times than I expected to because it was interesting watching the salmon struggle on their way upstream, sometimes going over flatter rocks as they jumped, sometimes getting pushed back and having to jump again.
As you approach the platform, you’ll notice a trail to your left. This only goes in a short way and leads to an area with some very large, climbable boulders out on the river.
On the right side of the platform, is an area where people often climb down some rocks and roots to get closer to the river – and the salmon. I didn’t venture down there (this time) due to the muddy weather, carrying photo gear, and my feets’ tendency to find whatever is most slippery and slip on it regardless of my high-traction hiking shoes.
When to view the salmon at Salmon Cascades
While the Autumn salmon run can start as early as July, you likely won’t see the salmon jumping here at that time. The best time to view the salmon run — including at Salmon Cascades — is from late September through early November.
I was worried that in late October, I would have missed the prime part of salmon migration season, but my worry was unfounded. In general, I found salmon jumping at least every few minutes.
I visited a few times on my recent trip from just after sunrise to mid-morning. The weather had been rainy the previous day and the morning was foggy and overcast in the morning, but sun had been promised and, thankfully, arrived.
The jumping of salmon seemed to be more frequent during my early morning visit — but I didn’t time them and this could just be my perception — and the water seemed a bit more turbulent. But with some sun shining on the water, the red color in the Coho was more vivid and made for better photos.
Map
This is an image of an interactive map with the location and more information about Salmon Cascades. You can view the interactive map page by clicking here.
More about Salmon Cascades
Featured Photo
The featured image for this post was taken later in the morning after the sun had come out. If you’d like to read more about it, you can visit the post on PNWLens or view the full sized image for download in the PNW Nature gallery or in its lightbox.
Website
You can visit the National Park Service’s Salmon Cascades page here.