Stream power is a measure of the main driving forces acting in a channel and determines a river's capacity to transport sediment and perform geomorphic work. Recent digital elevation models allow the calculation of channel gradient and consequently stream power at unprecedented spatial resolution, opening promising and novel opportunities to investigate river geomorphic processes and forms. The present paper investigates the suitability of map‐derived information on total and specific stream power (SSP) to identify dominant processes within the channel (i.e. erosion, transport or deposition). SSP has been already used to identify a threshold for channel stability. This paper tests this knowledge and investigates whether or not attributes of stream power profiles are statistically correlated with distinctive field morphological forms. Two gravel bed single‐thread English rivers are used as case studies, the Lune and the Wye. Available deposition and erosion features surveyed in the field from 124 different locations are used to classify channel reaches as erosion, transport or deposition dominated. Meaningful patterns emerge between the stream power attributes and the field‐based channel classification. An SSP threshold, which erosion is triggered, compares favourably with the ones in the literature. Information about upstream stream power profiles helps to determine the dominant processes. The joint configuration of local and upstream stream power information uniquely classifies reaches into four classes of different sensitivity to erosion and deposition. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.