Kitsap Waterfall Survey: "Stephenson Canyon Falls"

Located in the heart of East Bremerton is a small park encompassing a steep-walled defile carved into the glacial deposits and clay layers near the Port Washington Narrows. This is Stephenson Canyon. flowing through this canyon is small but quaint Stephenson Creek, which flows year round. Looking at topographic maps and google terrain imagery. I entertained the idea that somewhere along this canyon there might be a waterfall. I wasn't expecting a titanic 50-60 footer producing a jet like roar, but I entertained the possibility of maybe a small one ten to twenty feet tall or a pretty cascade, and my curiosity drove me on.

Shaded relief map from Google Maps showing the location of Stephenson Canyon in East Bremerton. 

One afternoon I drove down to the canyon, parked at the trailhead and began walking upstream along the creek. The gently rounded boulders and vegetated slopes soon gave way to hard blue clay shelves and carved notches. Once or twice I passed by some very tiny cascades maybe one to two feet high tumbling over more resistant clay outcrops. And soon the clay gave way completely to slippery bedrock, which suddenly rose out of the creek producing a delightful three-foot-tall cascade.

Three Foot Cascade. Photo by Micah Kipple

Pushing on around a couple more bends, the sound of hissing water made me look up, and there leaping off of a small ledge of rounded rock into a green-blue catch basin was a five-foot waterfall. A smile crossed my face as I stepped onto a nearby ledge on the creekside to get a better look. Then I saw the second tier. Almost hidden by a sharp turn in the creek, this tier slid down the shallow face of another basalt ledge another five to six feet, bringing this waterfall's total height to about 10 feet. I was ecstatic, while there were numerous signs I wasn't the first one here. I was still pleased I had found a waterfall, regardless of how small it was (Ok, if it was under four feet it would be pushing it), and smack in the middle of Bremerton no less.

The lower horsetail tier of Stephenson Canyon Falls. Photo by Micah Kipple

While these falls are beautiful, getting to them is somewhat of a chore, and they aren't as pretty as they could be. I'm going to make an effort to pick up trash while I'm there in the park, and I need to find a way to put this on the City of Bremerton's radar so maybe there can be an official volunteer effort to clear the area around the falls. That would be very nice indeed and would make this a destination to keep going back to.

A close up of the lower tier. Photo by Micah Kipple.

Both tiers of the falls. Photo by Micah Kipple.