Viewing Windows & Ladder
The glassed-in ladder and holding ponds let visitors get nose-to-nose with adult salmon that have returned to spawn. Visitors can watch brightly colored chinook, coho, sockeye and other Issaquah Creek species jump from one level to the next in the ladder. They can also see the salmon in detail in the holding pond, which is the species’ final destination before being spawned or released upstream.
The windows were part of a hatchery remodel that began in the late 1990s. Major funding for the redesign came from the State Department of Fish and Wildlife and the City of Issaquah.