Cantwell Cliffs

The Rim Trail: An exceptional trail! I live in cornfield land so any chance to do something new is exciting. I've hiked around the rim of the Grand Canyon before but this was different - the rock formations, hemlocks, weather, cool shade - it was all amazingly beautiful in the Midwest sense. Wish I knew about this place when I was homeschooling because it's a huge biology outdoor lab with the fish, deer, other wildlife, plants, differing levels of tree and plant life, incredible birdsong, and so on. My biggest cautious with this place is how rugged the trail gets in many places - uneven & deteriorating rock stairs in some places, constantly watching where you step (roots, holes) , and yes, hiking along an unprotected rock cliff. Some paths are not suitable for young children and those not physically fit (we didn't see anybody else on the Rim Trail but could hear everyone on the Gorge Trail). Bring a hiking partner for safety. Cell service is limited and not sure how well a satellite device would penetrate the tree canopy in the summer. I would not recommend the Rim Tail after rain due to slippery rock and mud would make for many hazards. Note: I saw one Google suggestion to do the trail "backwards" so you get all the scenic cliff overviews at the end of the trail but that would create a distressing hike up hundreds of new stairs with a steep elevation. Kindly follow the path as recommended and enjoy the scenery first and save your legs! Summertime parking: we arrived after packing up camp, around 9:30 am? Parking was easy. When we departed around noon, no parking spots were available.

Beautiful hiking. A little slippery.

These cliffs were really pretty and beautiful it was huge. There are a lot of stairs I will say but other than that it was pretty simple. My only complaint is that the path was hard to follow we didn’t know where to go and could tell if we were going off trail or not but I think we accidentally did go off trail. But the views are breathtaking.