Historic site

Ballard (Hiram M. Chittenden) Locks

774 locals recommend,

Tips from locals

Desla
August 11, 2022
Interesting place to see the locks in action as boats go from the lake to the sound and vice versa. Next to a nice garden.
Jason
April 6, 2022
This is a water elevator that allows boats to move from Luger sound and into fresh water which becomes lake Washington. For all of you deadliest catch fans this is where 90 percent of the shows boats and crew come after the Alaska crab season is over. Sig Hansen captain deadliest catch, is often seen around Ballard. During the salmon months jun-oct you will be able to see the salmon traveling up the fish ladder always an amazing site
This is a water elevator that allows boats to move from Luger sound and into fresh water which becomes lake Washington. For all of you deadliest catch fans this is where 90 percent of the shows boats and crew come after the Alaska crab season is over. Sig Hansen captain deadliest catch, is often see…
Whitney
October 6, 2021
My favorite place in all of Seattle. Watch the boats lock through, look for salmon in the fish ladder, and search or harbor seals, sea lions, and all the birds. Walk to Ballard for a trendy meal, or grab fish and chips at the Lock Spot just outside the gate. Golden gardens Beach is a quick drive away.
Valerie
February 18, 2021
Dating to 1917 and constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the busiest set of locks in the United States allows water traffic to travel between the tidal waters Puget Sound and the Lake Washington Ship Canal. This waterway passes through Seattle’s inland freshwater lakes, via Lake Washington, Portage Bay, Lake Union and Salmon Bay, where it meets Puget Sound. The locks have permanently changed Seattle, lowering the water level on Lake Washington and Lake Union by 2.7 meters, giving rise to many miles of new land on the lakefronts. There’s a visitor center detailing this eight-year project, while the sight of trawlers and pleasure yachts and barges navigating the locks is a real spectacle. On the south side of the channel is a fish ladder used by salmon to swim to freshwater lakes or streams to spawn, and then for the juvenile fish to return to the ocean. Spawning season is from around early June to the middle of August, and you can view the salmon through underwater windows.
Dating to 1917 and constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the busiest set of locks in the United States allows water traffic to travel between the tidal waters Puget Sound and the Lake Washington Ship Canal. This waterway passes through Seattle’s inland freshwater lakes, via Lake Washingt…
Samantha
November 29, 2020
Hear me out: the Ballard Locks are pretty cool. This American Society of Civil Engineers historic landmark has a great little park and a window into the Locks's salmon ladder (actually cooler than it sounds, I promise). There are free tours that provide great history and context of Ballard, the Locks themselves, and their importance to Seattle and Western Washington.
Hear me out: the Ballard Locks are pretty cool. This American Society of Civil Engineers historic landmark has a great little park and a window into the Locks's salmon ladder (actually cooler than it sounds, I promise). There are free tours that provide great history and context of Ballard, the Lock…

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Location
3015 NW 54th St
Seattle, WA
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