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Welcome to Hipfig'sTravel Guide series
on Seattle, Washington State, USA. We're
really excited to share our gorgeous
hometown with you through Hipfig's
Video Guide series on Seattle. In this
video we'll be sharing our experiences
with Hiram M. Chittenden Locks or
more commonly known locally as the
Ballard Locks. In this Ballard Locks
guide we'll be sharing how to get to
Ballard Locks, things to do at Ballad
locks, and useful tips for travelers to
Ballard Locks. The Hiram M. Chittenden
Locks or Ballard Locks is a channel
whereby ships can pass through to go
from seawater to freshwater or vice
versa
it's located in the charming city of
Ballard at the west end of Salmon Bay
this is a must to if you are visiting Seattle
in the summer months. The easiest way to
get to the Ballard Locks is by taxi or
App based ride shares like uber or wingz
or lyft. If you're driving, Ballard Locks
is located at 3015 Northwest 54th
Street. The Ballard Locks can be accessed
from the north side of the Ship Canal
off of Northwest 54th Street. City of
Seattle meter parking is available at
the North main entrance gate. Parking is
paid by a vending machine and it can be
difficult to find parking at the Ballard
Locks main parking area especially
during peak times in the summer. Here's a
parking tip: free unlimited (time) parking is
available in the neighborhoods on the
north and south sides of the Locks main
entrance. Sunday parking is free in the
main parking lot as well. If you're
taking a public Metro bus from downtown
the fastest routes will be to catch
route 28 and then transfer to route 44
and get off at stop number 29660
which is the Northwest
Market Street and 8th Avenue Northwest
going westbound or you can stop at
stop 18085 at 32nd Avenue
Northwest and Northwest Market Street going
from southbound. Once you get off your
stop, walk south on 32nd Avenue Northwest
and then turn left on 54th Street and
it'll be about one block east on
Northwest 54th Street. Check on the Metro
trip planner website for more options
the link is available at hipfig.com
admission to the ballot locks is free
visiting hours for the locks and gardens
are from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. all year round
daily. When you first enter the gates of
the Ballard Locks you'll be enticed by
the beautiful park-like setting of the
grounds and garden. The 7 acres of
gardens and grounds at the Ballard Locks
are called the Carl S. English Jr.
Botanical Garden. You'll see visitors and
enjoying the grassy lawns and picnicking
under the shady trees there are often
special events including live music and
other events throughout the summer
the first main building you'll encounter
to the left is the visitor center the
Ballard Locks visitor center is open
from May 1st to September 30th 10 a.m.
to 6 p.m. daily
and from October 1st to April 30th 10
a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Monday
there is a free one-hour tour offered at
the visitor center contact the visitor
center at 206-783- 7059 to reserve
your place or check with them when you
arrive. As you continue up the pathway
past the visitor center on the left-hand
side you'll see the Botanical Garden and
rose garden and if you continue straight
forward you'll go into and meet the
Ballard Locks. What are locks you ask?
well this is not the locks that you put
on your bagel for sure. It's actually a
system used for raising and lowering
boats between waterways of different
levels and in this case connecting Lake
Union which is freshwater and the Salmon
Bay in Puget Sound which is saltwater
and part of the Washington Ship Canal
the locks are made up of small locks and
large locks. The ballard locks are made
of a small locks and large locks and is
operated by the US Army Corps of
Engineers. There are narrow bridges which
allow you to cross over from one lock to
another and as you continue you'll be
fascinated as you watch the water level
rise and lower as the boats line up to
cross the locks. It's really interesting
and fun and you see all sorts of boats
from small cruise boats to yachts anchored
and float up and down by the sheer power
of water. Most people in Seattle are
pretty friendly so wave to the people in
the boat and they'll wave back to you
please be warned that as you watch
there is no shade in this area so come
prepared. You'll also be entertained as
you see the occasional seal feeding as
they chase jumping salmon across the the
locks. the smaller locks are closed for
two weeks starting March 6 or 7th and
the large locks are closed two to three
weeks starting on November 6 to 7 for
maintenance. For your information bottled
water sold in the Visitor Center but
food is not usually sold inside the
gates of the Locks however you can bring
food in. There are also a lot of cruise
companies that offer Ballard lock
cruises so that you can you experience
going through the ballard locks yourself
for your convenience there are links to
these Ballard Lock cruise tours on hipfig.com
hipfig.com. As you watch the boats come into
the locks, watch for the Lockmaster as
he shouts out instructions to the boat
captains. The Lockmaster tells the boat
captains where to moor based on safety,
staffing, and use of space. The Lock-
master wants to keep the locks as full
as possible so you may see boats rafted
up with another boat or two. Boats will
tie up to the bollards aka the floats
that move up with the boat in the small
locks. Everybody on the boats and the
Lockmaster are alert to avoid damage
and collision
when the water level is raised or
lowered to the proper level, the boats
are directed out one by one. Continue
across the bridges to the Salmon Ladder
and watch and wonder through the windows
in the fish viewing area. Here you see
giant salmon making their way up the
ladder to return to the lakes and
streams where they were born to spawn
and repeat the life cycle. The best
seasons for viewing the mature salmon
making their way back to their spawning
grounds for Chinook and King salmon
July through mid-October the peak times
are the last two weeks of August, then
you have Coho and Silver salmon the
best times for them are August through
mid-October, and the peak times for them
were the last two weeks of September
Then you have Sockeye and Red Salmon
which run June through mid-October and
peak about in July. The fish ladder
viewing area is open from 7 a.m. to 8:45
p.m. year-round. For your information
once you're done with the locks you can
go to the free concerts which start at
2:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from
May through September. See their events
page for more details or look for the
link on hipfig.com/ballardlocks. The Ballard Locks is a
wonderful place to spend a few hours or
a whole day and a unique Seattle
attraction. Happy Travels! Go to hipfig.com
for more information or go to our
HipFig Travel Channel on YouTube and be
sure to subscribe for regular updates