The time is right to spot salmon as they spawn in King County streams

Now is the perfect time to take a quick trip to a nearby stream in King County and look for salmon as they return to the stream of their birth to spawn and continue the lifecycle.

For one of the safest bets where salmon can be seen, head to the Cedar River, just east of Renton, where this year’s return of bright red sockeye salmon is the strongest in the last five years. Viewing sockeye along the Cedar is fun and easy, thanks to King County’s popular Cedar River Trail, which parallels the river for several miles.

The Friends of the Cedar River Watershed are sponsoring a series of guided salmon-viewing opportunities for the next few weekends. On Oct. 23-24, and Oct. 30-31, naturalists will be stationed at several locations along the Cedar River from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to help visitors spot spawning sockeye salmon, and to teach people about the lifecycle of these amazing fish.

A little later this fall, sharp-eyed fish fans will be able to watch kokanee salmon move upstream from their home in Lake Sammamish into any of several small creeks where the fish will spawn.

Kokanee are smaller, landlocked cousins to sockeye salmon. They share the same bright red spawning color scheme, but unlike sockeye, they live their entire lives in freshwater.

Starting in early November, kokanee might be viewed from the crossing of King County’s East Lake Sammamish Trail over Ebright Creek in Sammamish, across from 148 East Lake Sammamish Parkway SE.

There is also an opportunity to spot kokanee from the 185th Place Southeast crossing of Lewis Creek, in Issaquah.

The “Salmon SEEson” program is sponsored by the WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council as part of its effort to recover salmon in the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed.

For directions and more information about salmon-viewing opportunities, visit www.kingcounty.gov/salmon  and click on Salmon SEEson, where you’ll also find great links to tips about protecting salmon and their habitat this fall – and year-round. You can also call 206-296-8016 for more information.

Related Information

Salmon SEEson

Salmon and Trout Topics

King County Water and Land Resources Division