What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 5:15pm Tuesday 8am - 5pm Wednesday 8am - 5pm Thursday 8am - 5pm Friday 8am - 5pm Saturday 8am - 5pm Sunday 8am - 5pm

Coleman National Fish Hatchery

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Anderson, CA
Coleman National Fish Hatchery

For official information visit: https://www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/coleman Directional signs to the Hatchery are along the route.

Directions to the hatchery:
From Interstate 5 go east on Deschutes Road, turn right on Balls Ferry Road, turn left on Ash Creek Road, continue over the Sacramento River bridge, then turn right on Gover Road and then left on Coleman Fish Hatchery Road; the Hatchery is at the end of the road.

08/06/2026

What can you do at the hatchery right now?

Right now is a great time to bring a picnic lunch and relax in the shade at one of our picnic tables. You can also check out the raceways full of late-fall Chinook salmon and steelhead juveniles.

You will NOT find any adult salmon quite yet. Although they are making their way up river, they have not started entering Battle Creek quite yet-you will have to wait until mid- to late-September to spot those.

We welcome visitors year round; the hatchery is open daily from 8a-4p.

08/04/2026

Love nature and helping kids learn? Join our team of volunteers this fall!

We’re looking for friendly volunteers to help guide school tours at Coleman National Fish Hatchery this October!

Here’s what you need to know:

When: October (most tours take place Tuesday and Thursday mornings).

Flexibility: Volunteer as much or as little as you want—one day a week, a couple of days, or more! No minimum requirement.

Experience required: Absolutely NONE! We provide all the training you need. You don’t have to know a single thing about salmon to get started.

It’s a fun, rewarding way to spend a fall morning outdoors and help local students learn about our salmon!

Interested in joining us or learning more? Comment below or send us a message!

07/22/2026

We are excited to celebrate the Return of the Salmon Festival this fall!

This one day, free event, allows visitors to see hatchery operations and visitors can visit booths from agencies and non-profits across the north state to learn more about their work.

07/17/2026

In nature, an ending is always a brand-new beginning. Today, let’s talk about how salmon literally feed the forests of Northern California. 🌳✨

After spawning, Pacific Salmon die and it triggers an absolute ecological windfall—not just here in Battle Creek, but across the Sacramento River system. Biologists refer to salmon as a keystone species because their impact ripples across hundreds of other organisms throughout the ecosystem.

The Ultimate Fertilizer Delivery: Salmon spend years growing in the Pacific Ocean, absorbing marine-derived nutrients like Nitrogen and Phosphorus. When they return inland, they act as a massive, upstream nutrient delivery system. Scavengers like bald eagles, ospreys, raccoons, otters, and bears feast on the carcasses and carry them deep into the surrounding woods.

As the fish decompose, those rich ocean nutrients melt into the soil of watersheds throughout northern California. In fact, scientists tracking these unique marine isotopes have found salmon nutrients inside the leaves of towering streamside trees and in the bodies of songbirds miles away from the water!

07/16/2026

From adults back to eggs—the circle resets right here. 🔄🥚

We have almost completed The Great Salmon Odyssey. Once our (hypothetical) returning Chinook are safe in the hatchery holding ponds, our team steps in and helps start the lifecycle all over again. Our crew carefully collects the eggs from the females and mixes them with milt from the males in a controlled environment.

The Math of Mother Nature: Did you know that a single female Chinook salmon carries an average of 5,000 eggs? 🤯

Once fertilized, the bright orange eggs are thoroughly rinsed, treated to prevent waterborne fungi, and moved directly into our vertical incubation stacks—the exact place where our odyssey began.

07/14/2026

The final destination of our (hypothetical) cohort has been reached, Battle Creek! 🏡🌊

After braving ocean predators, marine gauntlets, and a grueling 300-mile upstream marathon against river currents, the adult Chinook salmon arrive right outside our doors.

How the homecoming works: once the salmon make it up the creek, they meet our fish barrier weir which acts as an intentional roadblock in the creek. Because the weir stops them from swimming further upstream, the fish naturally look for an alternate path. That leads them to our fish ladder, which they climb to swim right into the hatchery holding pond.

Our team is on-site and ready to welcome them back each fall. These fish have beaten incredible odds to get here, and they are ready to fulfill the mission they were born for: starting the next generation.

07/12/2026

The homeward stretch begins, and our cohort is looking... a little different. 🧐🐟

Welcome to the final week of The Great Salmon Odyssey. After years in the ocean, our fish have officially re-entered freshwater. But leaving the ocean triggers one last, radical transformation.

As our cohort leaves the ocean, their digestive tracks actually shut down and atrophy. So, how do they survive? They rely entirely on those dense muscle and fat reserves they built up in the Pacific Ocean. Their bodies undergo a massive physiological shift, redirecting every ounce of stored energy away from daily survival and pouring it directly into reproduction.

Science Fact: This internal shift triggers an incredible physical transformation. Their bright silver ocean camouflage disappears as they develop deep maroon and olive skin tones. The males also develop a "kype"—a pronounced, hooked jaw with sharp teeth used to defend spawning territory.

They are trading their sleek ocean camouflage for the battle gear they need to reach their spawning grounds. The final countdown is on!

07/10/2026

Welcome to the ocean years. 🌊🐟

Our salmon will spend the next 2 to 4 years exploring the rich, cold waters of the Pacific, following marine currents all the way up the coast as far north as Oregon, Washington, or even Alaska!

Their daily routine out here is simple: eat, grow, and repeat. By feasting on the ocean's abundant marine life, that little smolt that left Battle Creek transforms into a powerful, silver powerhouse weighing anywhere from 15 to 40+ pounds!

Why the bulk-up matters: Every ounce of food they find right now is critical. They are actively packing on massive amounts of dense muscle and rich fats. Why? Because once they start their journey back home to the hatchery, they will completely stop eating. This ocean-stored energy is the only fuel they'll have to fight their way back up the river!

Photo Credit: Michael Humling/USFWS

07/08/2026

Landmark Locked: The Golden Gate Bridge!

They made it through the Delta, and our cohort is officially passing under the Golden Gate and entering the vast Pacific Ocean.

Reaching the salt water is a massive victory, but a whole new set of challenges is waiting just outside the bay. This is where our salmon meet a new neighborhood of predators: harbor seals, sea lions, sharks, and orcas.

Did you know that coastal orca populations rely on Chinook salmon for a large portion of their diet?

Only a small percentage of the fish that leave Coleman NFH will survive this marine gauntlet to return as adults.

Photo Credit: NOAA Fisheries

07/06/2026

Imagine waking up tomorrow and suddenly needing to breathe in an entirely different atmosphere. 🤯

That’s essentially what our salmon are preparing to do right now through a biological superpower called smoltification.

As they drift toward the ocean, their bodies undergo massive internal changes. Their kidneys and gills are completely altering their cellular structure. Instead of keeping salt in (like a freshwater fish), they are gearing up to pump excess salt out. It's like turning an internal freshwater filter into a saltwater desalinization plant overnight. They also change their outfit. Goodbye, camo spots (parr marks)! Hello, high-fashion silver. They shed their river camouflage for bright, mirror-like scales to blend in with the sunlit ocean waves.

They are officially transforming from "parr" to "smolts"—freshwater fish becoming ocean voyagers.

Nature's engineering at its finest!

Address

24411 Coleman Fish Hatchery Road
Anderson, CA
96007

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5:15pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm
Saturday	8am - 5pm
Sunday	8am - 5pm

Telephone

+15303658622

Website

https://www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/coleman

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