Ever wonder where all the Sockeye Salmon come from?

The largest  salmon run in the world starts in Bristol Bay in June, and in July and August the salmon go into Lake Clark drainage. This salmon run is one of the key parts to the success of the ecosystem in Lake Clark National Park. Mature salmon return to their birthplace after 4-6 years from hatching. The draw of their "purpose of their being" brings them to Bristol Bay from all over the Pacific Ocean where they have been maturing for 2-4 years. From Bristol Bay the salmon will head up all the various rivers to where they would have originally hatched. Lake Clark salmon come out of Bristol Bay to enter Kvichak Bay, then head up the Kvichak River to Lake Iliamna, and then north up the New Halen River to Lake Clark.

Salmon start to spawn in Lake Clark drainage in July and August with some still spawning at the upper end of the lake until November. These are some of the latest spawning salmon in Alaska. In 2025 we had around 420,000 salmon come through the counting station, directed by biologist Dan Young of Lake Clark National Park. Since the counting started 24 years ago, we had the highest salmon count in 2024 at around 820,000.