Of three thriving fish hatcheries on the Columbia River, this is the largest and, quite possibly, the most interesting. Created to provide a spawning ground for salmon that had been blocked from migrating upriver by the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam in the 1930s, the ongoing fish-rearing project produces some 1.6 million Chinook salmon a year. The young smolt are released into Icicle Creek each spring, from where they migrate to the Pacific.
From the hatchery, you can hike the mile-long Icicle Creek Interpretive Trail and learn about the local ecology and history.
