Factory tours, hatcheries, and open studios in Washington
Factory tours, hatcheries, and open studios in Washington, each compiled from its own sources: tour times, fees, and what you can watch. No ratings; every entry carries its status.
Point at a dot to see the place.Tap a dot to see the place. Road map of Washington.
- Aplets & Cotlets Candy KitchenCashmere · Retail store and tour centerA working candy factory in downtown Cashmere, Washington, where Aplets & Cotlets, apple and apricot locoum with walnuts, have been made since 1920 and the factory tour is free.
- Carson National Fish HatcheryCarson · National fish hatcheryA federal salmon hatchery built by the Civilian Conservation Corps where Tyee Creek meets Washington's Wind River, and where spring Chinook climb a ladder home each May.
- Grand Coulee Dam Visitor CenterCoulee Dam · Visitor centerThe Bureau of Reclamation's free visitor center at the foot of Grand Coulee Dam in Coulee Dam, Washington, is a cylinder Marcel Breuer designed to resemble a generator rotor.
- Grant PUD Visitor CenterBeverly · Visitor centerGrant PUD's free visitor center at Wanapum Dam near Beverly, Washington, where a visitor can run a mock control room beside a dam whose spillway cracked in 2014.
- Hiram M. Chittenden Locks and Lake Washington Ship CanalSeattle · Shipping locks at seaward entry to the lake washington ship canalThe Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Seattle's Ballard district, where two side-by-side locks of 1917 lift boats between Puget Sound and the lakes while salmon climb a ladder past underwater windows.
- Issaquah Salmon HatcheryIssaquah · Salmon hatcheryA Works Progress Administration salmon hatchery in downtown Issaquah, Washington, where returning Chinook and coho climb a glassed-in fish ladder past underwater viewing windows.
- Leavenworth National Fish HatcheryLeavenworth · Public u.s. fish & wildlife service facility (national fish hatchery)A 1940 national fish hatchery on Icicle Creek near Leavenworth, Washington, whose cool summer water still runs from a valve beneath Snow Lake, opened by hand each year.
- Little White Salmon National Fish HatcheryCook · National fish hatcheryThe oldest hatchery on the Columbia, at Cook, Washington, where an underground room beside the Little White Salmon River shows Chinook held before spawning behind glass.
- Quilcene National Fish HatcheryQuilcene · National fish hatcheryHas a small one-room Visitor Center; the public is welcome to walk around the facility to see the fish ponds (raceways), fish ladder, fish weir, and the Big Quilcene River.
- Rocky Reach Discovery CenterWenatchee · Discovery centerA free hydropower museum at Rocky Reach Dam north of Wenatchee, where widened windows on the fish ladder put visitors eye to eye with salmon.
- Skagit ToursNewhalem · Scenic boat toursGlass-roofed boat tours on Diablo Lake in Washington's North Cascades, descended from the excursions J.D. Ross began in order to sell Seattle on Skagit River power.
- Spring Creek National Fish HatcheryUnderwood · National fish hatcheryA federal salmon hatchery on the Washington shore of the Columbia at Underwood, where tule fall Chinook climb a stepped ladder each September to the spring water that raised them.
- The Blacksmith ShopVancouver · Blacksmith shopThe reconstructed Hudson's Bay Company smithy at Fort Vancouver, Washington, where volunteer smiths forge period iron on the site where archaeologists found an anvil foundation and quenching pit.
- The Hot ShopTacoma · Working artist's studioThe Jane Russell Hot Shop, a working glass studio inside the Museum of Glass's tilted steel cone on Tacoma's Thea Foss Waterway, where glass is blown all day, every open day.
- Wanapum Heritage CenterMattawa · Heritage centerA free museum and cultural center of the Wanapum, the River People, beside Priest Rapids Dam near Mattawa, Washington, entered by a path aligned with the equinox sunrise.
- Willard National Fish HatcheryCook · National fish hatcheryRearing facility only on the Little White Salmon River, producing two million upriver bright fall Chinook annually and up to 1.2 million coho salmon annually in partnership with the Yakama Nation
- Winthrop National Fish HatcheryWinthrop · National fish hatcheryU.S. Fish & Wildlife Service mitigation hatchery on a 42-acre site on the Methow River, just outside the town of Winthrop in north-central Washington.
- WSU Creamery observation room (Ferdinand's)Pullman · University creamery observation roomWashington State University's working dairy; visitors can watch cheesemakers in action making Cougar Cheese and Ferdinand's Ice Cream from the Marc P. Bates Observation Room, which is open to the public during posted weekday business hours.
Factory Tours in all eleven states; next door in Oregon.