Step Falls | World Waterfall Database

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This waterfall has been surveyed, mapped and measured in person by the World Waterfall Database.

Step Falls is the lesser of the two major waterfalls found on the so-called "Sasquatch Steps" on the north flank of Mount St. Helens. When the mountain erupted in 1980, it basically created a catchment basin in the resulting crater. Beginning in the winter of 1980-1981 the Crater Glacier began to form and is currently the largest glacier on Mount St. Helens, as well as the youngest and fastest growing glacier in the United States. Once the glacier began growing, it also began melting and its meltwater has channeled largely into what is now Loowit Creek. A small portion of the glacier drains further west from Loowit Creek and has formed Step Creek in a parallel channel. Like Loowit Creek, Step Creek has also carved a significant canyon into the post-eruption landscape, but because Step Canyon occurs in an area of significantly less resistant material, it is a much bigger, deeper and generally more impressive canyon.

Also like Loowit Canyon, Step Canyon is incredibly unstable and is the site of frequent landslides and avalanches. This instability was the catalyst which led to the formation of the canyon in the first place and has since resulted in parts of the canyon widening as well as significant alterations to Step Falls itself over the years. Google Earth holds imagery which shows that Step Falls has migrated over 200 feet upstream between 1994 and 2009, but even more impressive is that the creek has cut its channel so much deeper in that 15-year span that Step Falls may have been reduced in height by as much as half. When we attempted a full survey in August 2011 the falls appeared to be no more than 120 feet tall, but as little as 15 years prior were closer to 200 feet tall (and perhaps fittingly, 15 years prior to that the falls and canyon didn't even exist).

Lower Step Falls is found about 900 feet downstream from this entry, and can be seen in tandem with Step Falls from most perspectives. Normally we would classify waterfalls with such visible proximity as a single entry, but the significant distance between the two leaps precludes any such groupings. Lower Step Falls has suffered similar alterations and upstream migration over the years, but appears to be situated along a more stable band of bedrock and may subsist longer than Step Falls ultimately will.

HISTORY AND NAMES

Step Falls is the Official name of this waterfall

Step Creek was named after the Sasquatch Steps, a series of rough terraces and cliffs found on the north flank of Mount St. Helens immediately below the breached crater. Step Falls was then named for the stream.

Our thoughts

As far as waterfalls go, Step Falls isn't terribly interesting - especially having to view it from a mile distant. But the geology of Step Canyon is simply fascinating for any of dozens of reasons. Nowhere else on earth can the unmitigated erosive power of water be witnessed with such punctuation. It would even seem that Step Creek is so efficient in showing off the forces of nature that Step Falls may just erode its way out of existence in the coming decades - though this is ultimately a moot point since Mount St. Helens will eventually (over the span of several thousand years) fill its crater in and re-grow to its pre-eruption size, burying all of the waterfalls present therein.

Location and directions

Step Falls is best seen from the Loowit Trail in the vicinity of the ford of Loowit Creek (see the link for Lower Loowit Falls below for directions), within Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. The falls can also be distantly seen from the Boundary Trail starting at about two miles east of the Johnson Ridge Observatory at the end of Highway 504.

View this location in Google Earth

Step Falls is shown in the center. The 10 closest waterfalls within a 8km radius are shown as well (if any). Click any icon or see the list below for more information.

Additional Nearby Waterfalls

Name of Waterfall	Distance
Lower Step Falls	0.15 mi / 0.24 km
Loowit Falls	0.28 mi / 0.45 km
Middle Loowit Falls	0.44 mi / 0.7 km
Lower Loowit Falls	0.75 mi / 1.2 km
Toutle Glacier Falls	1.57 mi / 2.52 km
Talus Glacier Falls	1.77 mi / 2.83 km
Falls Of Abraham	2.42 mi / 3.88 km
Ape Canyon Falls	3.13 mi / 5.01 km
East Dome Falls	3.14 mi / 5.02 km
Unnamed Waterfall	3.53 mi / 5.65 km

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Photography tips

From the closest trail the falls are almost exactly a mile distant, so a powerful telephoto lens is necessary if the objective is a well-framed shot. Like neighboring Loowit Falls, the biggest problem with Step Falls is its north facing orientation in a long, deep, narrow canyon. The falls will be lit by direct sunlight for no more than 6 hours out of the day, and by about 3pm the dust which is kicked up in the canyon by the frequent winds will form a significant haze over the falls, severely degrading the quality of afternoon light (see the above picture).

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Step Falls Skamania County, Washington, United States