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117 parks in 7 regions

Buck Run Falls at Cantwell Cliffs

Rockbridge · Hocking County

Seasonal sheet falls over a sandstone cliff face, with a rock shelter behind it

Up to 150 ftheight

Strenuoushike

Visiting information you can trust

Check before driving — this site is seasonal, approximate, privately run, or otherwise uncertain. Confirm hours and access with the official source above.

Content last reviewed: September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source: Official page
Location confidence: Approximate — boundary or exact point not confirmed
Approximate location, use the address or trailhead
Check current conditions: Official conditions or closures

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

A seasonal curtain of water that can spill more than 100 feet down the cliff face at Hocking Hills' most remote, least crowded unit.

Height: Up to about 150 feet when flowing
Trail: About 1 to 2 miles, rated difficult
Managed by: ODNR Division of Parks and Watercraft
Best time: Spring and after heavy rain; usually dry
Nearby feature: Fat Woman's Squeeze, a narrow rock passage
Distance from Old Man's Cave: About 17 miles by road

When it flows

Only flows after heavy rain or during snowmelt; the cliff face is dry most of the year.

The story

Cantwell Cliffs and its gorge were cut into Blackhand sandstone by Buck Run, with the deep valley likely shaped in large part by surges of glacial meltwater as the Wisconsinan ice sheet retreated roughly 10,000 years ago. Iron oxide concentrations in the rock create the dark reddish brown streaks visible on the cliff face and around the seasonal falls.

The site is named for the Cantwell family, early settlers from Virginia who arrived in Hocking County in the early 1800s. Local accounts differ on the exact origin of the name, with some crediting Joseph Cantwell and others pointing to the death of his younger brother Josiah near the cliffs. Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps crews built the stairs and trails here starting in 1935, and because of its distance from the other Hocking Hills units, Cantwell Cliffs remains the least visited part of the park.

The waterfall does not have one universally used name; Buck Run Falls describes the creek that forms it, and most park sources simply call it the Cantwell Cliffs seasonal falls.

Stay behind railings and on marked trails. Wet rock at the top and base of a falls is slick in every season, and most Ohio falls do not allow swimming, wading or climbing. Flow depends on rain: many falls are a trickle in late summer and at their best after a wet spell, in spring, or frozen in a hard winter.

Which Cantwell?

Locals have long argued over which Cantwell the cliffs are named for. One version says the cliffs, and the nearby community of Ilesborough, both honor Joseph Cantwell, who married into a wealthy local family. Another says the name instead marks the place where his younger brother Josiah died.

Behind the legend

No park record settles the question, and both explanations rest on family oral history rather than a documented source, so the exact origin of the name is genuinely unresolved.

If you go

It is a good story to ask a ranger about at the trailhead kiosk; it has no bearing on how the loop trail itself is hiked.

Getting to the falls

About 1 to 2 miles on the gorge and rim loop, including a narrow passage called Fat Woman's Squeeze and a steep descent to the base of the falls and rock shelter.

Status

Open to the public

Hours

Half hour before sunrise to half hour after sunset, daily

Cost

Free

Phone

(740) 385-6842

Managed by

Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Watercraft

Please note

Stay on the marked trail; Use caution near cliff edges; Pets allowed on leash.