Charles River New Dam Fish Ladder - Boston, MA - Fish Ladders on Waymarking.com

In Boston, between Boston's neighborhoods of the West End and Charlestown, is the Charles River Dam and Locks, which has a fish ladder that allows for passage of fish, including American Shad and Blue Herring.

The dam and locks are located behind the North Station/Boston Garden complex, down a side street east of the highway lanes for I-93 that appears to go to a parking lot. Walk to the path, passing by the State Police station to the locks, then walk along the pathways through the locks and to the fish ladder on the north end of the dam.

The fish ladder is a series of concrete baffles. There are two of them - one for passage at high tide, and one for low tide. There are a couple signs around that are not very informative. One has the following:

"Two Routes for Fish into the Charles

During High Tide
Fish swim the left rte. attracted by river water, that is pumped through the passage.

During Low Tide
Fish swim the rte. on the right against river water that flows naturally into the harbor.

Fish return to the sea thru Locks & "

There are nice mural like sculptures by the brick building that show a pictoral history of the Charles River and the credits for the building of the dam, built in 1977 and still maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

River/Waterway: Charles River

Visit Instructions:
Please share a self-made picture of the Fish Ladder and tell us something about it. Did you see any fishes? You do not have to be in the picture, neither does your GPSr.

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