Salmon Ladder in Ketchikan to see salmon jumping out of the water!

Hi there!

If you’ll be in Ketchikan in the summer, it’s a sight to see salmon trying to “climb the fish ladder”!

What this really means is that the salmon is jumping out of the water trying to continue swimming onwards.

In general, the best time to catch the salmon jumping out of the water is mid to late summer.

If you’ll be in Ketchikan from mid-July to the end of August, be sure to go to the salmon ladder to see if you can get a look at the fish jumping out of the water!

I was in Ketchikan in early September and I figured I might be a bit late to see the salmon in Ketchikan Creek.

But there were some still there trying to “jump up the ladder”!

Being my first time seeing the salmon jumping out of the water like that, I felt like I saw a decent number of salmon jumping out of the water.

But knowing that I was there late in the season, I can only imagine what it must be like if you’re there in the summer at the peak of the salmon run!

I’m sure it must be very exciting to see so many.

So if you are in Ketchikan in July or August, definitely walk by to check out the salmon ladder!

Below are tips for the Salmon Ladder in Ketchikan!

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The Salmon Ladder will be a 10 to 15 minute walk from your cruise ship.

If you’re on a cruise ship that docks in downtown Ketchikan (which is all cruise lines not named NCL), then it will take you no more than 20 minutes to walk to the salmon ladder from the cruise ship.

On google maps, it is listed as “salmon ladder vista.” (map)

If you arrive to Ketchikan on a Norwegian cruise ship, you won’t be docking in downtown Ketchikan. In that case, you will be around 15 to 20 minute walk from where the Ward Cove shuttle drops you off in downtown Ketchikan. (And along the way you can make a quick stop at the eagle totem pole!)

👆 Salmon ladder map: If your cruise ship is docked at Berth 4 in downtown Ketchikan, or if you take the Ward Cove shuttle to downtown Ketchikan, then you will be more like a 20 minute walk from the salmon ladder. Explore the map.

Just follow the signs for the fish ladder!

All over downtown Ketchikan are signs for top attractions, and that includes the salmon ladder!

If you see signs for the fish ladder, and that is the same thing as the salmon ladder.

The salmon ladder is at the Married Man’s Trail.

The Married Man’s Trail is a short boardwalk that connects to Creek Street.

You can see the salmon ladder directly from the Married Man’s Trail boardwalk.

On the other side, there is also an observation deck area where you will also be able to see the salmon ladder.

Once you’re there, you’ll figure it out and you can walk around! It’s not a big area.

You can walk to the salmon ladder from Creek Street.

And to Creek Street from the salmon ladder.

Basically, the Married Man’s Trail connects Creek Street and the Salmon Ladder Vista.

So it’s really easy to do Creek Street and the Salmon Ladder together as a part of your walk in downtown Ketchikan!

I’ve also seen harbor seals from the little observation deck along Creek Street, so have a close look around when you’re there to see if anything is around!

After the fish ladder, go to the Harris Street bridge to see more salmon.

If you want to see more salmon, then after you have had your fill of salmon jumping at the ladder, next up head to the Harris Street bridge!

It’s a 3 minute walk away. (map)

Once you’re at the Harris Street bridge, if you look upstream, you’ll probably see people standing by the creek.

If you don’t see people, you’ll see where you can walk around a bit right along the creek!

That’s where you want to go! So head down towards the creek.

There’s no jumping salmon here, but you’ll see a ton of salmon swimming!

If you’re late in the season, you’ll see a lot of dead salmon too.

The salmon ladder can be a part of your downtown Ketchikan walking route!

There is a walking route called the “Salmon Walk” that you can do as your self-guided downtown Ketchikan walking tour.

Basically the Salmon Walk is a walking route that you can follow to see various attractions in Ketchikan, including the salmon ladder, Creek Street, the Deer Mountain Fish Hatchery, the Totem Heritage Center, and the Tongass Historical Museum.

👆 Ketchikan walking tour map with salmon ladder. Spot the Salmon Ladder! Spot Creek Street! Spot Married Man’s Trail! Explore the map.

There is also a free shuttle that loops around downtown Ketchikan that you can take to different places if you don’t want to walk. Along the Salmon Walk route, there is a shuttle at the Totem Heritage Center.

So you can walk from Creek Street to the Salmon Ladder to the Harris Street bridge to the Totem Heritage Center, and then instead of walking back, you can catch the free shuttle back to the cruise ship.

If you are up for leisurely walk through Ketchikan, it is walkable though, and the salmon ladder makes for a great part of that walk!

See more easy walking to do in Ketchikan.

More salmon swimming during your cruise

I’ve also seen salmon swimming in Skagway! See my post about easy walking in Skagway.

Easy walking during your cruise: Ketchikan | Juneau | Icy Strait Point | Sitka | Victoria | Vancouver

More walking: Hiking in Alaska cruise ports

More for your cruise ship visit: All things Ketchikan on the blog

I went to the Salmon Ladder Vista on September 7, 2023. Your experience may vary! In 2023, it was said that the salmon arrived late. Instead of the salmon spawning season starting in the middle of July, it started at the end of July. So this may or may not be why they were still there in September 2023! (I really don’t know.)