Of all of the tourist attractions that come to mind when you think of Seattle – the Sky Needle, Pike Place Market, the original Starbucks, the Seattle underground, the multitude of museums – perhaps the best tourist attraction might surprise you.
Over a million visitors a year discover the absolutely free, easy to access, uncrowded, educational, constantly active, and amazing things to behold at the Ballard Locks.
Locks? The incredibly simple yet ingenious constructions that lift and lower ships along canals without the use of cranes or pumps or anything more complex than a dam, some watertight doors, and a set of valves to allow water to flow in and out.
The Ballard Locks, officially named the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks after their chief engineer, let you stand right on the edge of the locks and watch the boats file in from the salt water of the Puget Sound and pack tightly in the 700×79-foot larger chamber (or the smaller 100×26-foot small chamber). Even without the operation of the docks, just being that close to so many different boats is a great experience, where you can watch fishing boats returning from the Bering Sea sitting an arm’s length away from yachts and kayaks and whatever else wants to go up to their docks on Lake Washington.
Once the boats large and small are packed in, the outer doors are closed and huge valves are opened to let in the fresh water from upstream, filling the space where the boats are, lifting the 20 feet to the level of the freshwater lakes beyond. The lake-level doors are opened and the boats sail out.
The raising and lowering process takes about 15 minutes, then the boats going in the opposite direction are given their chance to enter the locks, be sealed in, let the water drain out, and then sail on into Puget Sound and their destinations beyond.
The dam and locks were built in 1917 by the US Army Corp of Engineer, using the same basic concepts developed in China over 2000 years ago. Locks were used in Europe since the Middle Ages and they are key to making boat travel on canals and rivers easier whenever there is an altitude change.
The project involved more than the locks, it also included digging canals and lowering the upstream lakes, which drained swamps reduced flooding and created more land for the expansion of Seattle.
The work-site for the construction of the dam and locks was then turned into an amazing botanical garden: a favorite outdoor wedding venue, a place for picnics, concerts, and just relaxing among beautiful flowers and trees.
The free summer concert series is held on weekends from June to Labor Day, generally featuring
The walk from the parking area to the locks takes you through the 7-acre English estate styled garden and past the administration building and the visitor center / gift shop.
The visitor center has exhibits and videos showing the construction and operation of the locks along with educational materials about the various salmon species that swim upstream to Lake Washington.
Some of those salmon squeeze in with the boats, but since the 1970’s salmon have used a fish ladder go get upstream to spawn during the summer. The fish ladder, on the far side of the dam from the gardens, is a set of pools, each one foot higher than the previous, that makes the 20-foot climb just a set of little hops from one pool to the next.
While it is great to watch from above the fish ladder as the sockeye, chinook, and coho salmon hop and sometimes leap, there is an underwater theater of sorts where visitors can watch the salmon swimming at their own level. Huge plastic windows let visitors relax as they look into the underwater world of the fish.
The number of salmon change due to weather, tides, and seasons, but in general, the best viewing is mid-June to mid-July when 20,000 to 100,000 sockeye salmon swim upstream through the fish ladder.
Also in the “fish theater” (the Salmon Education Center) are interactive video screens that teach you about the lifecycle of the salmon, where they hatch in the lakes, head out to the sea where they grow big, and return to the same lakes and streams where they were born.
The locks offer seasonal guided tours to the public with an expert guide, but there’s also a chance to experience the locks from inside, either by kayak or tour boat.
After visiting the complex, there are convenient cafes and diners nearby for a meal and time to talk about the amazing sights at Ballard Locks.
About the Author
PAUL PENCE not only writes many of the articles in the pages of this magazine, he is also the publisher and editor of all of the magazines in the Amygis Publishing’s family of travel magazines.
He loves exploring, traveling the back roads, experiencing the world, and finding what is unique and memorable about the places he visits.
And he loves writing – poetry, short stories, essays, non-fiction, news, and. of course, travel writing.
For over 20 years, he has shared his explorations with readers in a wide variety of outlets, from groundbreaking forays into the first stirrings of the dot-com boom to travel guides, local newspapers, and television, including Runner’s World, Travel Lady, Providence Journal, and Northstar Travel Media. He currently publishes and writes for Amygis Publishing’s magazines Jaunting, Northeast Traveler, and Rhode Island Roads.