Pink Salmon Return to the Dungeness

Always a Thrill!

Pink salmon are coming up the Dungeness River from the ocean to spawn, and it is a great time to see them! This year the number we expect to welcome home is huge, from 300,000 to 350,000.

Pinks are in the river now and you should be able to witness this awesome sight through mid-September.

Pink salmon is the smallest of the five salmon species and returns to spawn in large numbers on odd-numbered years. The Dungeness gets two distinct runs of Pinks, an early and late run.

The early run goes up higher into the watershed to spawn, the late run spawns lower in the river. Railroad Bridge Park is in the sweet spot to see both runs.

There are pools in the Dungeness where 2,000 fish have already been counted by fish biologists.

Here’s where you can view them, and some tips:

At the River Center, walk west on the Olympic Discovery trail and over the historic railroad bridge to the span that crosses the main channel of the Dungeness.

You can also spot Pinks at the new levy by the old Dungeness Schoolhouse on Towne Road, the pedestrian walkway on the Woodcock Bridge, and at pullouts at the north end of River Road—or any other place you can get to the river safely (and not cross private property).

Wear polarized glasses to help you peer through reflections on the water and see the fish. A set of binoculars is also helpful to watch them wriggle through low rapids, and to observe eagles perching in trees, waiting to feast on spawned out salmon.

Please help the salmon by not throwing rocks in the river, do not build rock dams, and keep your dogs out of the water. Fishing for Pinks is not permitted.

For more information about salmon, visit the Dungeness River Nature Center’s salmon room off the main exhibit room. Admission is free.

Powell Jones, River Center Director
Underwater video, Dungeness River, by Dave Shreffler