Canyon Falls is the second of the three
waterfalls on the South Fork
Skykomish River
The Skykomish River is a long river in the U.S. state of Washington which drains the west side of the Cascade Mountains in the southeast section of Snohomish County and the northeast corner of King County. The river starts with the confluence ...
. The falls occur about halfway between
Eagle Falls and
Sunset Falls
Sunset Falls is the final of the three waterfalls on the South Fork Skykomish River. The falls drop in a long, narrow, powerful chute. The river is thought to attain speeds of an hour and the chute is nearly long. In high water, because o ...
.
The falls drop about 40 feet in three tiers. The first is a powerful 20-foot plunge in which the relatively calm river suddenly attains chaotic state. The next 2 drops are tumultuous cascades. The river is pretty calm both prior to and after dropping over the falls.
Problems
There have been many incidents at Canyon Falls, most of which are deaths that resulted from people being swept over the falls. In the past, numerous people have died because they failed to notice in time that they were approaching the falls simply because the river is so calm above the falls. Many of those deaths were deaths of people who were floating down the river in inner tubes or rafts.
On June 14, 1994, 19-year-old Steven Henderson pleaded guilty of
first degree murder back on Feb 1st, when he killed his friend at the falls. The two men had bought beer and headed down to the falls. They soon got drunk and when his friend, Don E. Hood, made a remark about his mother, Henderson lost it. He chucked a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
-sized rock at Hood, knocking him out. He then dragged his friend to the edge of the rocks before pushing him into the falls, where he drowned. He was sentenced to 30 years in
prison for it.
In the past, there have been disagreements between the people that own the land around and at the falls and the public. The landowners are tired of people trespassing on their land so as a result the land has been posted.
References
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Waterfalls of Snohomish County, Washington
Waterfalls of Washington (state)
Tiered waterfalls