We report on experimental high spatial confinement of elastic energy in a silicon phononic cantilever for which the quality factor of a higher-order flexural resonance is increased by a factor of 27 (from Q ∼ 80 to Q ∼ 2130) with the use of a three-row phononic crystal (PnC) strip. As shown by numerical simulations performed with the finite element method, the PnC both reduces anchor loss and confines elastic energy inside the cantilever. The PnC and the cantilever are fabricated with standard clean room techniques on a silicon on insulator substrate. Optical measurements of the out-of-plane displacements are performed with a laser scanning interferometer in a frequency range around 2 MHz.