Fall viewing season
Find a viewing spot near you.
We encourage you to discover some of the local places around Whatcom County and find spawning salmon with your friends and family. Use the map below to find an area to explore near you!
Zoom and pan the map to explore public salmon-viewing sites around Whatcom County.
When to look
Know when each species comes back.
Salmon spawn from midsummer into early spring depending on the species, and steelhead spawn from winter into summer. Here is roughly when to watch for each one. The solid bar shows when each fish spawns, and the lighter bar behind it shows when they are moving upstream and holding in the river.
Summer-run steelhead are in the river year round, holding in deep, cool water until they spawn from February through May. The South Fork Nooksack carries our local summer run.
Winter-run steelhead move upstream through the fall and winter and can spawn any time from December through August.
Spring Chinook enter the river as early as February and hold in deep, cool pools until they spawn, from July through November.
Pink salmon move upstream from June onward and spawn from August through November, and only in odd-numbered years.
The Nooksack’s small sockeye runs enter the river in spring and spawn in the river’s forks from August through December.
Fall Chinook enter freshwater through the summer and fall and spawn soon after reaching the spawning site, from September through December.
Chum spawn from October through March in creeks all over the county, including Terrell, Squalicum, Whatcom, Padden, and Chuckanut Creeks.
Coho spawn from October through March and often choose small tributaries, so they turn up in creeks all over the county.
Timing on this chart follows Anadromous Fish Periodicity in WRIA 1 (WRIA 1 Co-Managers, January 2003), the shared reference for salmon and steelhead timing across the Nooksack watershed.
Late fall is the easiest time to start. Chum return in large numbers to creeks throughout the county, and their arrival lines up with our fall Salmon Sighting events.
Spawning behaviors
What to look for once you find them.
Once you find salmon, a few behaviors tell you what is happening in the creek. The female digs a redd (a gravel nest for her eggs) by turning on her side and beating her tail against the streambed. A male and female will pair up and swim closely together during spawning, quivering side by side (see the video below). You may also see males chasing off rival males in a sudden burst of splashing.
All adult salmon stop feeding when they enter freshwater, so returning salmon conserve the energy they stored in the ocean for spawning.
Fall events
Celebrate salmon returning to streams!
Every fall we set up our outreach booth beside a few Whatcom County streams to celebrate the salmon coming back. Stop by for games, prizes, and free refreshments, and stay as long as you like. Salmon Sighting events are open-house style, free, and great for all ages and abilities. Come look for salmon with us!
We host events all over Whatcom County, and in odd years we also head up to Glacier. We often share the creek bank with partners like the Whatcom Conservation District, Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, and Taylor Shellfish Farms. We post each fall’s dates and locations here once they’re set.
Watch respectfully
Help salmon while you watch.
Salmon are present in our watershed year-round, and wherever you live and play, your actions affect the health of our waters. Keep viewing spots clean and healthy for salmon by following these easy practices:
- Stay on the trailOff-trail hiking can disrupt fragile ecosystems. There is a trail for everyone!
- Stay out of creeksKeeping yourself and others (including pets) out of the water protects critical spawning habitat and the eggs buried in the gravel.
- Pack out everything you bring inRemove all evidence of your adventures when you leave to keep areas healthy and wild.
- Scoop the poop!Much of the pollution in our waterways comes from pet waste that washes into creeks, even when you think there isn’t one nearby.
Do not climb on or go near log jams. Large woody debris (downed trees and natural/engineered log jams) forms the deep, cold pools where spring Chinook hold from their return to the river until they spawn in late summer. Log jams are extremely dangerous. Salmon scared off by human activity leave these shelters and become more susceptible to high summer temperatures and areas of low flow.
Community science
Become a Salmon Spotter.
Salmon Spotters is our community science project. Volunteer with us to monitor creeks throughout Whatcom County during the fall and record which salmon you see. We provide the training and all the supplies, and the data you collect shows us which salmon are making it back to local creeks. Come count salmon with us!
Tell us what you find
If you see salmon in Whatcom County, let us know!
Every sighting helps us understand how salmon are doing in our creeks. Questions about viewing sites or fall events go to Sarah Brown, our Stewardship Program Manager, at sbrown@n-sea.org or 360-715-0283 x109.