Cantwell Gorge Trail

Cantwell Gorge Trail is about a 0.9-mile loop from the Cantwell Cliffs parking area. It follows the shared approach to the signed lower-gorge route, then returns on the shared rim trail. The park map’s 0.2-mile label is the gorge corridor alone, not the walk from the lot and back. Allow about an hour to 80 minutes; it’s short, but steep steps and rough footing slow the loop down. Follow the one-way signs. If you’d rather skip a tight rock passage, take the separate upper-rim route.

From the far end of the lot, the approach drops through the woods to the cliff rim. Fat Woman’s Squeeze is a narrow fissure between large sandstone blocks and the way into the lower gorge. The opening tightens enough that you may need to turn sideways for a few paces, then the route descends roughly 150 feet into the ravine.

The yellow-blazed gorge trail follows the shaded flats beside Buck Run. A short plank boardwalk crosses a wet patch, then the path passes another slot and a large rock shelter where a small waterfall appears after wet weather. Stone stairs and steep switchbacks climb back to the rim; from there the shared trail returns to the lot. The cool ravine has hemlock and black birch shade, ferns, and early-spring flowers including trillium and may-apple.

Buck Run has cut a deep valley through the park’s Blackhand Sandstone. The cliffs’ overhangs and narrow passages are part of that erosion story; iron-rich concretions leave rusty red-brown patches on some rock faces. The route is a good pick if you want a short hike that keeps changing from close rock walls to open rim, but the uneven dirt, steps, wet footing, and exposed edges make it more work than its mileage suggests. Trails close 30 minutes after sunset. Dogs may come on a six-foot leash.