The Owen Sound Salmon Tour Is Underway!
Experience one of Owen Sound’s most remarkable fall traditions with the free, self-guided Salmon Tour.
The salmon run is weather-dependent and typically takes place from mid-September to mid-October. Conditions and activity can change quickly, making every visit a little different.
Check the Salmon Report
Before heading out, follow Tourism Owen Sound on Facebook and look for #SalmonReport updates.
The Salmon Report shares:
- How active the salmon are
- Where they are being spotted
- What they are doing along the river
Have you spotted salmon during your visit? Tag Tourism Owen Sound and use #SalmonReport when sharing your photos and videos.
Explore at Your Own Pace
Owen Sound is one of the few places in Ontario where visitors can watch Chinook salmon migrating upstream through natural streams and rushing rivers. Each fall, the salmon return to lay their eggs in the shallows before winter arrives.
Set against a backdrop of colourful forests, rivers and waterfalls—just two hours north of Toronto—the Owen Sound Salmon Tour is a free, educational outdoor adventure for all ages.
Choose how you would like to explore:
- Walk sections of the route, including parts of the Bruce Trail
- Cycle through Owen Sound and the surrounding countryside
- Drive the car- and motorcycle-friendly route
- Paddle sections of the Sydenham River when water and weather conditions are suitable
Use the new Tourism Digital Tour Guide, currently in its beta phase, to help plan your route:
Open the Tourism Digital Tour Guide
Follow the Salmon
Your journey begins at Owen Sound’s historic harbour on Georgian Bay and follows the Sydenham River through the city.
Continue through the River District, past the Tom Thomson Art Gallery and Owen Sound Farmers’ Market, and toward the Mill Dam. Here, you will find Ontario’s first fish ladder and may see salmon leaping and thrashing as they work their way upstream.
The route continues to Harrison Park, known as Owen Sound’s “jewel in the crown.” Surrounded by fall colour, the park offers trails, accessible playgrounds, a restaurant, family campground and the Black History Cairn. Weaver’s Creek Falls is currently closed, but other stops on the Owen Sound Waterfall Tour remain available to explore.
Continue to Grey Sauble Conservation Authority headquarters, where specially created spawning channels provide another opportunity to observe the salmon in shallower water.
The tour concludes at Inglis Falls, located along the Bruce Trail. One of the region’s most popular waterfalls, it also offers a spectacular view over Owen Sound and Georgian Bay—especially when the surrounding sugar maples are filled with fall colour.
Watch Responsibly
Please help protect the salmon and their habitat:
- Watch from the riverbank or designated viewing areas
- Keep pets leashed
- Avoid entering spawning areas
- Never chase, touch or disturb the fish
- Leave natural areas as you found them
Salmon sightings are never guaranteed, but the route offers plenty to discover along the way—from waterfront views and riverside trails to local history, waterfalls and brilliant fall scenery.
Don a pair of runners or hiking shoes to complete the Salmon Tour on foot. The route follows paved trails and sidewalks along the harbourfront and downtown Owen Sound, hard-packed dirt walkways and paved trails in Harrison Park, and somewhat more challenging paths en route to the Grey-Sauble Conservation spawning channels and Inglis Falls.
From Harrison Park to Inglis Falls, you will find yourself on the renowned Bruce Trail, the longest foot-path in Canada; just follow the white arrows.
The walking tour is 5.08 kilometres one-way, and you may choose to hike only portions of it. Free parking is available at the Visitor Information Centre, the Mill Dam & Fish Ladder, Harrison Park and the Grey-Sauble Conservation office.
Highlights of the salmon walking tour include the harbourfront walkway, the Tom Thomson Art Gallery, the Owen Sound Farmer's Market, and a stroll along "Millionaire's Drive" and historic homes backing onto the Sydenham River. On the trails to Inglis Falls, you'll find distinctive rare ferns, splendid autumn colours, rocky outcrops and unique flora and fauna.
Quiet paved roads and scenic, hard-packed trails mark the 6-kilometre Salmon Tour loop from the Owen Sound harbour to Harrison Park and back. This is a family-friendly route appropriate for all ages with several stops and resting points along the way, including the mill dam and fish ladder, where you can watch the salmon spawning. Bring your own bike or rent one from the Owen Sound Visitor Centre for FREE. Pack a lunch and make a day of it!
More experienced or adventurous cyclists can continue on the route to the Grey-Sauble Conservation spawning grounds and Inglis Falls, roughly 3 kilometres south of Harrison Park. There are two steep hills that might challenge a novice cyclist - one just outside Harrison Park heading up to Greenwood Cemetery and the other on Inglis Falls Road as you approach the falls.
Bike lock-ups are available at the Visitor Information Centre, the Owen Sound Farmer's Market, and the Grey-Sauble Conservation Administration Office.
The Salmon Tour is an easy drive from the harbour to Inglis Falls, with ample parking at all salmon observation sites. Parking is free at the Visitor Information Centre and the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority. There is a fee at the Inglis Falls Conservation Area.
You may wonder how the fish you see on the Owen Sound Salmon Tour came to thrive in Georgian Bay, Ontario. Native to the Pacific Ocean, the Chinook salmon were introduced to the Great Lakes in the 1960s to control the invasive Alewife fish population. The salmon adapted to their new environment remarkably well, thriving in the cool waters of Georgian Bay. This created a brand new industry -- world-class salmon fishing in Ontario - and fishing clubs have been stocking the lakes with Chinook salmon ever since.
The Sydenham Sportsmen, a non-profit conservation group, maintains the salmon fishery in Owen Sound, hatching, growing and releasing up to 500,000 salmon and trout each year into the Sydenham River. The group operates a hatchery at Weaver's Creek, a spring-fed waterway that stays cool enough year-round for the fish to hatch and grow. (You can visit Weaver's Creek Falls, downstream from the hatchery, on the salmon tour). According to the Sportsmen, salmon raised in hatcheries have a much better chance of survival than those reproducing on their own.
Timing is everything for the salmon. When they reach the "smolt" stage, ready to bolt in spring, they are released into the Sydenham River and head towards the open water of Georgian Bay, where they will live for the next three to four years, until fully mature.
Then nature lures them back to the river they came from, to spawn and end their quixotic journey, dying in the process of creating new life. Salmon in the wild behave the same.
Heading upstream on the Sydenham, the salmon encounter a former mill dam that would be impossible to scale were it not for a special fishway, or fish ladder alongside it. Built by the Sydenham Sportsmen in 1967, it was the first fish ladder in Ontario! The mill dam and fish ladder are cooperatively run by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Sydenham Sportsmen and the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority.
The Sportsmen and Conservation Authority have also created spawning channels for the fish at various points along the river - gravelly, protected areas where they can lay their eggs in the shallows. The salmon breeding and stocking program is closely monitored each year by the Ministry of Natural Resources. University researchers also often study the salmon in Owen Sound.
If you happen to arrive at the Mill Dam when there is a lot of activity going on, it may be the sportsmen collecting eggs and milt (semen) from the fish for their hatchery program. Feel free to stop by and watch or ask questions.
Get hooked on salmon fishing!
The Owen Sound bay and harbour are great spots to catch Chinook salmon. You can fish off the harbour wall and river banks in the fall when the salmon are migrating inland. No fishing is allowed near the mill dam or further upstream, where the fish are spawning.
The best time try your luck is late evening, when you will find many other anglers and local residents gravitating to the harbour and river. And in Owen Sound, you can eat what you catch!
Great salmon fishing can also be found in the bay throughout the year, but slow trolling and downriggers are the only ways to catch them. The city has two boat launches, one on either side of the bay, and a marina to serve boaters.
The city celebrates its bountiful supply of salmon at the annual Salmon Spectacular Fishing Derby, held the last week of August. The popular 10-day festival features two Saturday fish fries and daily entertainment.
Fishing Supplies are available at:
Watson's Tackle House
125B 14th St. W., Owen Sound N4K 3X6
519-371-0090
Canadian Tire Sporting Goods Dept.
1605 16th St. E., Owen Sound N4K 5N3
519-376-5220
Wal-Mart
1555 18th Ave. E., Owen Sound N4K 6Y3
519-371-6900
Heading upstream on the Sydenham, the salmon encounter a former mill dam that would be impossible to scale were it not for a special fishway, or fish ladder alongside it. Built by the Sydenham Sportsmen in 1967, it was the first fish ladder in Ontario! The mill dam and fish ladder are cooperatively run by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Sydenham Sportsmen and the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority.
The Sportsmen and Conservation Authority have also created spawning channels for the fish at various points along the river - gravelly, protected areas where they can lay their eggs in the shallows. The salmon breeding and stocking program is closely monitored each year by the Ministry of Natural Resources. University researchers also often study the salmon in Owen Sound.
If you happen to arrive at the Mill Dam when there is a lot of activity going on, it may be the sportsmen collecting eggs and milt (semen) from the fish for their hatchery program. Feel free to stop by and watch or ask questions.
Please feel free to Walk, Cycle or Drive the self-guided Tour using the links on our site.
Other fall activities
Comfortable temperatures and the fantastic trails of the Niagara Escarpment and the Bruce Trail make hiking, biking and paddling popular fall activities along the Sydenham River.
In the mood for exploring? Within the Owen Sound region you'll find studio tours and apple picking, caves, cliffs and lighthouses, waterfalls and some of the most beautiful vistas in Ontario, on serene country roads and also overlooking Georgian Bay.
Many festivals and events in Owen Sound and area and, in the River District this time of year, including the Salmon Spectacular Fishing Derby, Meaford Scarecrow Invasion, Cobble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Ribfest, and more!