Last updated 2026-08-29 · from 1,176 US Army Corps of
Engineers lockage records, Jul 30 – Aug 28, 2026
Every number on this page is computed from the Corps' own lockage log for the
Hiram M. Chittenden Locks — arrival time, doors-closed time and cleared time for
every lockage — not from anecdotes. The
live forecast applies the same data to the current moment.
The short version: a recreational boat's median trip
is 27 minutes arrival-to-clear: an 8-minute queue plus an 18-minute
chamber cycle. Evenings run 20–22 minutes; late mornings run 40+. Nobody — in
1,176 recorded lockages — has cleared in under 10 minutes.
Median wait by hour of day
Arriving at
Median arrival-to-clear
07:00
28 min
09:00
35 min
11:00
42.5 min
13:00
39 min
15:00
22 min
17:00
25 min
19:00
21 min
21:00
22 min
The midday peak (median 39–42 minutes, 9 am–3 pm) is driven by two things at
once: recreational volume and the commercial priority window — the daily tour
boats lock through at ~11:24 and ~13:59, and commercial traffic legally goes
first. After 7 pm the median settles near 21 minutes.
Queue and chamber are different animals
The chamber cycle — doors close, water moves, doors open — is mechanical:
median 18 minutes, barely varying by hour. The queue is what moves:
median 8 minutes overall, but bimodal. Measured across the archive, roughly
60% of boats make the next cycle and 33% miss it and wait about
one extra cycle (~24 minutes). That is why LockPush shows ranges and
probabilities: the "average wait" is a number almost nobody actually
experiences.
Weekdays vs weekends
In summer, recreational volume is flat — 26 chamber-loads/day on weekdays and
26 on weekends (medians). Commercial traffic halves on weekends (14/day →
8/day): the working tugs and government vessels run Monday–Friday, leaving the
daily tour boats. Holiday Mondays behave like weekends.
When it gets much worse
Opening Day (first Saturday of May) sends hundreds of boats through.
Low-water summers: the Corps has routed all traffic through the small
lock to conserve water (July 2024), producing 1-hour-plus waits.
November maintenance: the large lock closes ~2–3 weeks most Novembers;
the small lock (vessels under ~120 × 26 ft) carries everything.
Common questions
How long is the wait at the Ballard Locks right now?
LockPush's live forecast at lockpush.netlify.app is the only measured answer: it computes the current expected wait from the Corps' own lockage records, refreshed every 5 minutes, by direction. There is no official live wait time.
How long does it take to go through the Ballard Locks?
Median 27 minutes arrival-to-clear for a recreational boat, measured across 781 recreational lockages in 30 days (Jul–Aug 2026). That splits into a median 8-minute queue plus an 18-minute chamber cycle. Half of boats clear in 20–42 minutes; summer-weekend afternoons can run far longer.
What is the best time of day to go through the Ballard Locks?
Evenings. Measured medians: 39 minutes at midday (9 am–3 pm) versus 20–22 minutes after 7 pm. The worst measured hour band is late morning: 11 am median 42 minutes.
What is the fastest possible trip through the locks?
About 11 minutes. In 1,176 recorded lockages over 30 days, not one boat cleared in under 10 minutes — the chamber cycle itself is the floor. Arrive to a ready chamber and 11–18 minutes is realistic.
Are weekends busier at the Ballard Locks?
For recreational boats in summer, barely: 26 lockages/day weekday vs 26 weekend (measured medians). What changes is commercial traffic, which halves on weekends (14/day to 8) because the working tug fleet runs Monday–Friday.