The first weekend in October is your first chance to join volunteer naturalists for free salmon viewing programs along the Cedar River.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday in October, trained volunteer naturalists will be on-site at riverside locations around Renton and Maple Valley to provide free salmon viewing programs for the whole family.

Visitors can expect to see sockeye, plus possibly chinook and coho, at four sites including the Renton Library, Cedar River Park, Cavanaugh Pond Natural Area, and Landsburg Park and Dam. As of Sept. 26, sockeye salmon have been spotted at all four locations.

“By providing an opportunity to connect the community with this magnificent species, we learn that there are small things that you can do to help the salmon, things that if we all did collectively, could make a big impact,” Charlotte Spang, Salmon Journey program coordinator, said in a press release. “We share our urban environment with these amazing fish, and the fate of our local salmon is directly tied to the choices people make.”

The Cedar River Salmon Journey program, presented by the Seattle Aquarium and Seattle Public Utilities, has been working to educate the public about our local salmon and the things we can all do to help them for last 18 years.

Since 1998, more than 95,000 people have participated in the Cedar River Salmon Journey, learning about the intersections between people and salmon, plus the challenges salmon face today, including habitat loss and changing ocean conditions.

Further information on the program and directions to program sites can be found on the Seattle Aquarium website at SeattleAquarium.org/salmon-journey.