Capilano Salmon Hatchery

North Vancouver hidden treasure. We happen to stumble upon this because we thought it was ridiculous to pay almost $ 40 CAD to walk the Capilano suspension bridge. If you drive past the suspension bridge about .3 mi there is campground you park your car there. It will be on your left side be careful not to drive past it, as it is easily to miss it. There will be some camping signs, so dont be fool. All you have to do is pay for parking and the experience is free.
After the hatchery, we were able to walk some of the trails and saw the second scenery point of some folks that paid to walk through the suspension bridge. There were few people there who had dogs on a leash, which means the trails is easy to walk. You will be able to see breathtaking views and nice trees along the walk way. It is a easy walk so good for all ages and must do when in Vancouver.

June is not salmon season, so we didn’t see salmon. The hatchery is a nice peaceful place surrounded with waterfalls and natural beauty. No tours, no workers anywhere, no TV screens… just a few displays and plaques to read about the life of a salmon. We didn’t even see juveniles or salmon eggs. Nothing. It was quite uneventful.
However, I’ve been to this place before when the salmon were jumping and it was an amazing sight to see. This place is FREE, so if it is salmon season, and the fish are jumping, I’d recommend checking it out. If it’s not salmon season, you could skip it and not be missing out on much.
P. S. There are other hatcheries that allow you to catch (and keep) their fish, but this isn’t one of them.

This was hatchery was beyond exciting for me. I had never been to a salmon hatchery before this and didn’t know think I was going to be impressed. I followed the signs to the hatchery in the early part of the morning which was the perfect time to go. There was no one else there so I could really experience the entire hatchery. The sounds, the sights, and even the smells… which all were so pleasant.
There is a small exhibit leading up to the main attraction; the fish ladder. The exhibits are very informative and you can also see the different stages of salmon growth prior to seeing them all jump for their life as well as the survival of the species in the ladder. The whole place is very well maintained and fairly safe as business tends to pick up once the tour buses come through.
Anyway, after seeing the lil salmon in their lil tanks, I headed to the main attraction. I’m not sure why but seeing the salmon swim so strongly against the rushing cascade of water coming fiercely down the ladder emotionally drained me. I’m glad I was there by myself because, although I probably looked like and idiot, I was cheering them on and contorting my body from side to side as if I was jumping along with them maybe with the hopes that they would make it with my «salmon instructions». This was such a powerful thing to watch. It really is «survival of the fittest» which helps stronger and even stronger salmon populations to spawn from generation to generation. Not everyone is a winner, but this is life. I really enjoyed the whole experience and stayed for almost 2 hours mesmerized by the slough of fish power-​housing it up the «steps» of the fish ladder. Really really amazing!
There are also bathrooms on-​site. The whole experience is FREE and if an you’re adventurist or hiker there are hundreds of trails surrounding the hatchery, some that lead up to the Cleveland Dam, Capilano Suspension Bridge and other cool places.
If you ever get a chance to see salmon fight for the life of their species in the salmon hatchery and up the fish ladders, please do some. I could almost guarantee you’ll go through a lot of emotions as they jump out the water vigorously struggling to make it upstream.

It’s free and it’s great! We get to see lots of salmon trying to jump up the stream. It’s fun! the surrounding is beautiful too. Love the trail too.

Such a fun thing to do with the kids, and it’s free!
It’s no frills. No guided tours, old looking dioramas, but it gets the job done and the price is right.
It’s not uncommon to have the whole place to yourself.
We usually hike down from Cleaveland Dam, which is another cool spot to visit, but they do have accessible parking too.
It’s such a fun little adventure and getting here is easy on the bus from the Quay.
The hiking trails in this area are beautiful as well, so it’s easy to make an entire day of it.

This was one of my must dos in Vancouver, and it surely didn’t disappoint !! It is free and self guided, and one of the prettiest places in a city of pretty places !! I enjoyed watching the salmon jump from the glass wall enclosures, there weren’t many when I visited, but the thrill was there nevertheless ! My friends, who were visiting with me poo poo’d the idea of coming here at first, but I was adamant about wanting to see it (after all it was my vacation too !) at the end they thanked me !! And said it was one of the highlights of their trip !! Which is saying quite a bit being that they love their television and getting them out in fresh air and sunshine takes quite a bit of work !!

I didn’t expect this walk! We walked from the Suspension Bridge to here, a good 25 – 30 minute walk for my short legs. I’m not a hiker… The walk towards the Salmon Hatchery was mostly downhill, but the walk FROM was uphill!!!
The Hatchery is amazing, FREE, and interesting to see! It closes at 6pm and we got there at around 5:30. No one was here so we had the entire place to ourselves!
The window to see the salmon jumping (from bottom to top of the man-​made river) is fantastic. We saw a few brave ones jump all the way –in one go! (Not to be mistaken with «in one jump»)
This is an amazing farm. They have many different types of salmon (swimming together). And further into the Hatchery, you’ll find the salmon eggs and baby salmon! Look closely and you’ll see literally CLOUDS of them! I thought it was just murky water!
It’s like we walked into a Discovery TV episode!!!
Though I wish the «education» part was more complex. The info about salmon is very shallow and, I guess, geared towards kids/​teens or quick reads. I totally wouldn’t mind an academic (written) lecture on salmon! I’d read it! I mean, I’m all the way here already!

The hatchery ended up being a stop on a hike up the Capilano River from a starting point on Rabbit Lane to lunch at Cleveland Dam then back. We looked for salmon in the river at different points along the trail where there was a view.
It’s neat that it’s open to the public (and free! as other reviewers have mentioned) and as a lifelong BC resident, I felt it was finally time to check it out! The friend that I went with hikes in this area regularly and she said that there were a lot more salmon in the river the week before I went. There were plenty of salmon in the fish ladder to see and the jumping is really cool to see (Nov 2013).
It’s pretty easy to spend half an hour here. We watched the salmon in the fish ladder until a school group arrived then moved outside to look at the fry pools and the grated area where the salmon enter the hatchery. Again, my friend told me that when she was there a week ago, there were many fish waiting at the entrance and fewer of them in the ladder. Lori N’s detailed review includes the information about the best times to view the salmon migration.
If you can spare the time, I’d recommend parking your car at a point along the network of trails in this area, pack a lunch and spend a good half day or more to hike and look around. Perhaps consider visiting Lynn Canyon suspension bridge in the same day, although that would involved a little driving.

This was certainly a worthwhile stop along the North Shore of Vancouver. It will take you no longer than 30 min to see it all, it’s free, and it would be excellent for kids. I applaud the effort to improve the environmental awareness, and the initiative to educate the public’s knowledge surrounding the food supply chain. Great spot!

I love this place! The Capilano River Park looks like it has great hiking & camping spots, but for me, the highlight is the hatchery! Here, salmon eggs are collected, fertilized, hatched, & released into the wild to help preserve the salmon species. You can see they baby salmon, aka fry, stored in pools until they are old enough to be released into the wild. And if you come during the right season, you can watch the adult salmon jumping up the fish ladder as they return from the ocean to the river to spawn. Totally awesome! I visited in late July & there were about a hundred Coho Salmon making their way up the ladder. It’s the most amazing thing ever! Totally worth a visit on your trip to Vancouver & even better if it’s during the migration season!
Best time to view adult salmon migrating (as written on their website):
Chinook: October — November
Coho: June — November
Steelhead: March — April
TIP: Free parking & free entrance into the facility where the hatchery & fish ladder are! Oooh yeah! Drive as if you’re heading to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, then keep driving past it Capilano Rd & follow signs for «Capilano Hatchery Entrance.» The entrance will be to the left down a hill on Capilano Park Rd.

I have been hiking the trails coming off of Rabbit lane for years. I always head up to the Cleveland dam and on my way back pass the Salmon Hatchery. Sort of took it for granted until hiking with a friend. Actually spent some time viewing the materials. Very well done. I believe you can park on the North Van side and get there quite quickly. Great for kids’ education I think. Price is right too!

Beautifully set up and the educational value is high. Great to visit for both kids and adults.

Absolutely worth a visit if you haven’t already! I’d be glad to go again!
We were here last summer with my family. It’s good for strolling, exploring, and learning! Everyone learned something new about salmon after the visit, and we got a good walk out of it too.
Clear your schedule for this visit, because you don’t know where those trails will take you. What was suppose to be a quick visit turned into a day long trip. We spent a few hours here before driving down to Lynn Canyon for more adventures!
P. S. It’s all FREE!

We visited late in the season so there were not too much salmon. What we did witness was very cool though.
There are also some paths which lead to some nice picture spots.
If you want to have an education about salmon and do something that’s free, then come here!

My daughter and I took the trail route to the hatchery and it was worth it! Along the way we viewed old and fallen trees as well as fishermen casting their poles into the river.
I was a great walk!

Beautiful, serene and full of natural life, the salmon hatchery is amaze. It’s a good hike into the forest from the street where the bus drops you off or you can drive through the dirt path and arrive. Surrounded by nothing but trees, streams, and beautiful waterfalls, this place is a magical escape. At the hatchery you can study and see the process of how salmon grow, gets farmed and finally released into the wild.
It’s pretty amazing to see how big and ugly the salmon fish is when you look at it up close: p

Learning is fun… and free!
We stumbled upon the fish hatchery yesterday after hiking around the jungley trails along to Cap river.
A pretty cool place to bring the kids, or out-​of-​towners for a visit.
I could see this being a total gong show on the weekends in the summer, especially when the tour buses arrive. But on a random weekday morning it would be quite tolerable.
Resist the inappropriate urge to bring a fishing rod.
Apparently that’s frowned upon.
And it is a federal offense!