Every time I visit my daughter & son-in-law in Seattle, I beg them to take me to the Ballard Locks. It's just a wonderful way to spend a beautiful day in Seattle.
There are two sides, one side has a huge park in it, and the other side has the fish ladder. They're connected via a little walk way that you walk across (the actual locks) and during the summertime when there's alot of boat traffic, you can see the rangers lining the boats up in the locks and the water raises (or lowers) so that they can get from one side to the other.
And not just small recreational boats either. HUGE Alaskan Crab boats can fit in those little lock things as well.
I love the fish ladder but always go during the wrong time of year and can never see the HUGE salmon, just the little babies.
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