I walked around these locks for about fifteen (15) minutes. There was free street parking nearby this free attraction. I saw some fish in an underwater chamber, I viewed a man who caught a salmon, and I witnessed some boats and some kayakers go through the locks.

Fascinating. We went on the free tour which initially started a little dry and ended up as one of the highlights of our stay in Seattle. Very informative about salmon and how the area fits in their life cycle. Our guide was excellent. The locks are huge and spectacular. It doesn’t sound great but it’s a wonderful afternoon. Allow plenty of time.

Stop first at the Army Corp of Engineers visitor Center. The proceed to the large boat lock. While we were there there was a large coast guard cutter returning with tugs on each end. Watching the locks fill and open and close is a clear picture of how the locks work. Proceed to the small boat lock- interesting to watch because at busy times they load up to ten or so boats in the lock before the transition. Then cross the "dam" and watch for sea lions on the ocean side trying to chow down and when to get to the other side you can see the fish ladder where large salmon are swimming and jumping up the ladder to get into the lakes

We’d seen the major tourist spots in Seattle and wanted to do something different. I’d read about the locks, we’d decided to have a look and ended up staying for almost two hours . The grounds are beautiful and the locks were very interesting to watch, we were lucky to see all sizes of boats and ships going through . The salmon jump was neat too with people cheering every time a salmon made the jump to the next level lol. Altogether we had a good time and I can totally recommend it for a change of scenery.