Parking
Use the Cantwell Cliffs parking area off OH-374. The marked trail entrance and exit return to this lot; picnic tables, grills and latrines are at the parking-area picnic site.
Overview
About Cantwell Rim Trail
Why go
- The Squeeze and high rim make a distinctive sandstone walk in little distance.
Heads up
- Steep steps, uneven rock, roots and exposed edges make the short loop strenuous.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Hocking Hills map
Full mapElevation981–1,142 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Hocking Hills Tour Guide
Your drive to Cantwell Rim Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Hocking Hills State Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
Cantwell Cliffs0:00 / 0:26
“Cantwell Cliffs is coming up, with a narrow sandstone passage called the Squeeze and a rugged gorge below. Allow an hour or more for the lower gorge loop, with steep stairs, rough rock and exposed edges.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Hocking Hills Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Pines over Old Fields
- Pieces of a Cliff
- A Ballroom by the Cave
- Hocking State Forest Horse Campground Turnoff
- 22 audio storiesacross Hocking Hills’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor White-tailed Deer, Snapping Turtle, Chipmunk, and 9 more
- Works offlinemaps, 18 trails, 29 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Cantwell Rim Trail
A short loop with a lot underfootCantwell Rim Trail is a 1.1-mile loop over the upper rim of Cantwell Cliffs.
Cantwell Rim Trail is a 1.1-mile loop over the upper rim of Cantwell Cliffs. The marked one-way route returns to the same parking area; allow about 60–80 minutes for its steep steps, rough climbs and stops. You get close to the sandstone walls and high rim country without committing half a day. The mileage is short, but this is a hard walk.
Follow the upper-rim routeThe 1.1 miles describes the named rim circuit.
The 1.1 miles describes the named rim circuit. The lower Gorge Trail is a separate route at Cantwell Cliffs, so don’t add it to this distance or assume the broader two-mile listing is the same hike. Follow the one-way signs and the marked entrance and exit; both bring you back to the lot.
Expect rough footingThe upper route climbs and drops over uneven stone, roots and many steps, with sections beside…
The upper route climbs and drops over uneven stone, roots and many steps, with sections beside exposed cliff edges. Take your time on the steps and keep to the marked trail. This is a poor fit for anyone who is uneasy on steep, irregular footing or near an unguarded edge. Winter trails are often icy, so the park recommends traction cleats.
Pass through The SqueezeThe route’s signature is a narrow passage between tall sandstone walls called The Squeeze.
The route’s signature is a narrow passage between tall sandstone walls called The Squeeze. It’s a close-up look at the rock, very different from the wooded rim openings. For a photo, frame both walls around the strip of daylight ahead; the gap is what shows how tight the passage is.
Water shaped the cliffsCantwell’s recesses are carved into Black Hand Sandstone, rock laid down more than 350 million…
Cantwell’s recesses are carved into Black Hand Sandstone, rock laid down more than 350 million years ago. Uplift and stream erosion shaped the cliffs and gorges, while a softer middle layer let the recess caves widen. At The Squeeze, you can see the same sandstone close enough to pick out its ridges and layers.
Camp Logan stood above the routeThe segregated Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Logan, Company 526, stood atop Cantwell Cliffs…
The segregated Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Logan, Company 526, stood atop Cantwell Cliffs from 1933 to 1937. Its Black workers helped improve Cantwell Cliffs, along with Rock House and Rock Bridge. The trail’s history includes the people who built the early park paths, not just the rock they wound through.
Start at the Cantwell lotUse the Cantwell Cliffs parking area off OH-374.
Use the Cantwell Cliffs parking area off OH-374. The trail entrance and exit are separate, but both return to this lot; picnic tables, grills and latrines are at the parking-area picnic site. Trails are open from 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset. Dogs are allowed on a six-foot leash.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Hocking Hills
15 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
83 sightingsSnapping TurtleMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
13 sightingsChipmunkMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
19 sightingsGray RatsnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
47 sightingsWatersnakeMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
11 sightingsRing-necked SnakeMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Hocking Hills. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
