EDITOR’S NOTE — A video of Sol Duc Cascades’ salmon is at https://giftsnap.shop/section/videonews?startID=15310110
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — A summer coho salmon (photo on the right) leaps out of the water as it swims upstream against a strong current at the Sol Duc Salmon Cascades in Olympic National Park on Friday.
Fish began showing up for the upstream migration last week, said Sam Brenkman, park chief fisheries biologist.
They are expected to be visible for the next four weeks. The Sol Duc is the only river on the North Olympic Peninsula that sees summer coho return to its waters.
How to watch them
The Cascades are located 28 miles west of Port Angeles.
Head south on U.S. Highway 101 at Milepost 219 into Olympic National Park on Sol Duc Hot Springs Road.
Six miles down the road you’ll find the well-marked parking area for the Cascades.
There’s a viewing platform from which you can watch the leaping salmon.
Or you can “hike just downstream of the Cascades,” Brenkman said. “That gives you a great angle to observe the fish.
“You can usually see the large adults milling around in that pool [below the boulders] and in the tailout of that pool.”
Bring your camera, but not your fishing rod. The Cascades are closed to fishing.
