The Hype of Havasupai
Place: Havasupai
State: Arizona
Closest Cities: Peach Springs, AZ Seligman, AZ, Kingman, AZ
Time of Year: November 2024
How we got there: Road Trip
What’s all the hype surrounding Havasupai? It’s just a few waterfalls right? Wrong! Havasupai is so much more of an experience than you can imagine! It is an event of a lifetime!
Before you get too excited about planning your trip, you must know it isn’t easy and it takes a lot of coordination and organizing to make it happen! Your first step is securing permits. That in itself can be daunting. Presale permit applications start in the middle of December and end January 3rd. It costs $20 per person(nonrefundable) to enter the lottery. You can choose 3 dates that you are interested in and if you are drawn you will be given a chance to purchase your permits. Permits for the campground are $455 per person and permits for the lodge are $2277 for up to 4 people in a room. All permits are for 3 nights. For more detailed info go to https://www.havasupaireservations.com/.
I entered the lottery for 2024 and was not selected. It was very disappointing, but all you can do is try! I had put it out of my mind until one of our favorite Youtube travel vloggers posted about their trip to Havasupai. You can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVKX_Z7IGM4&t=139s. I got to thinking about the Havasupai Transfer System and thought I would take a look. The transfer system is the only way that people who won permits can “sell” their permits that they can no longer use. This is a way to control the permits and not allow people to get permits and sell them for a profit. It is a good system and it worked out for us! I logged into my account and pulled up the transfer list. This list is always changing as permits are added and sold everyday. There happen to be 2 permits for a 3 day weekend in November so I grabbed them! I know what you are thinking! Isn’t it cold there in November? The answer is yes, however we found it to be an amazing time to go to beat the heat! In the weeks after I obtained our permits, I watched the transfer list looking for more permits on that same weekend and low and behold a set of 4 popped up. My brother Marc grabbed them. You have to buy the set even if you only needed two. Once you own them you can put the extra back on the transfer list. In our case we asked around and found that Cesar’s brother Alex and Cesar’s friend Judson wanted to go and so our group of 6 was established!
The next step was to book a hotel for the night before the hike. The hike starts on the Supai Reservation near Seligman and Peach Springs, AZ. Permits can be picked up before 5pm the day before your hike at the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn so this is where we choose to spend the night. Rooms are $99 per night and very simple but clean. We booked our room on expedia.com. It is still another hour or so to the trailhead but this is the closest you can get! There is a tiny convenience store inside as well as free continental breakfast in the morning. Make sure to fill up on gas before getting to the reservation. There are also 2 restaurants nearby for dinner but the food is mediocre and service is slow. It’s all part of the experience!
We had spent months researching and gathering all the backpacking gear as this would be our very first backpacking trip. We have camped in tents before but have never had to carry it all on our backs! We packed and unpacked and weighed our packs multiple times to get them just right! 30 pounds was our max. Everything you need for 3 night including all our food was in those backpacks!
The day before the hike, we pick up Judson and headed to The Grand Canyon Caverns to meet my brother Marc and his wife Stephanie(they were driving from Colorado) and Cesar’s brother Alex who was driving from San Diego. We picked up our permits and ate our mediocre dinner and turned in for the night. It was so very cold (low 30’s) and we wondered if this was a mistake! Most people start the hike around 4am but due to the time of year and the cold, that was not necessary for us!
Like I said before, it was still about an hour to the trailhead .
I think everyone was a little nervous. I mean we were about to hike 10 miles into the Grand Canyon with 30 pounds on our back! I have to mention that this is not the only way to reach Havasupai. They do have a helicopter that will take you down to the Supai Village where you can then hike the rest of the way which is about 2 miles. There is a catch! Although the helicopter is only $100 per person each way, it is on a first come first serve basis IF the helicopter is running that day. No reservations are taken and locals/supplies who live in the village have first priority. If you want to hike but do not want to carry your packs, you have an option of reserving a mule to carry your stuff for about $200 each way. That’s more than the helicopter!! And you have to wait for the mules to arrive and hope your stuff made it in one piece! We did witness bags being thrown from the mules and trampled while in route! We were in it for the full blown experience so we opted to hike the whole thing and lug our packs on our backs!
The parking lot at Hilltop where we would start the trail is small and we had to park along the road. This isn’t a problem as long as you leave a copy of your permits in the dash! There are restrooms at the top but these will be only only ones until you reach Supai Village in 8 miles.
Instantly we descended 1200ft in the first mile passing weighted down pack mules and stray dogs along the way. The canyon walls turned for white to rusty red. The trail is pretty rocky and all I could think was that we would have to climb this on the way out!
After the first mile, the descend wasn’t as noticeable. We hiked through dry riverbeds and through gravel and loose rocks. The canyon walls became taller and more scenic. Hiking poles were helpful trudging through the rock. There was very little vegetation and absolutely no wildlife if you don’t count the mules and stray dogs!
The 8th mile lead us into the Supai Village. No photography or video is allowed to protect the people who live here.
We came to our first river crossing and then crossed the bridge into the village.
Notice that the bridge is fairly new. In August of 2024 there was a severe flood that took out many bridges in the area as well as the campground that we were headed to. Havasupai had only been reopened for a month when we made this trip.
In the village we stopped for a potty break and a little lunch at the local café. It is hard to believe that there is a whole little town 8 miles into the Grand Canyon! They have a school, café, grocery store, town hall, heli pad, community buildings and residential homes. It was nice to take off our packs and relax for a bit. There we little hooks outside the café to hang our backpacks. I had a weird sensation after removing my pack similar to that feeling you get after being on a cruise ship! A little unbalanced! There were aches and pains in parts of my body I had never felt before!
At the cafĂ©, we ordered fry bread tacos and sat down to eat. Sitting in there, you wouldn’t believe you were in a native village deep in the Grand Canyon! I snapped one photo of Alex, but not sure if that was allowed!
We had another two miles to go to reach the campground and this route was pretty sandy. We started to see the clear blue river running alongside us and before you knew it we were upon our first waterfall. Havasupai Falls! We also passed Fifty Foot Falls but did not get a good photo due to the vegetation surrounding the view.
Wow! The water was so blue! I was really excited now! We made it! We ended up hiking another mile through the campground to find the perfect camping spot at the top of Mooney Falls. This made 11 miles in all!
Just over the cliff was the magnificent Mooney Falls! How lucky were we to find a spot large enough for all 6 of us and with an open sky view and Mooney Falls so close! Camping spots are first come, first serve.
We set up camp and built a firepit. Normally fire are not allowed but as it was 35 degrees at night, they made an exception! It made our evenings so much more enjoyable! We collected firewood around camp and found a pile near Havasu Falls which we carried back. Meals were dehydrated food from a pouch which we stored in rat sacks hanging from the trees and we drank water filtered from the river right near us. There was one fresh water spring in camp, however it was a long walk so we took our chances with the river water. No one got sick! There were elevated pit toilets a short walk away which was a really nice “luxury”!
It was already late afternoon when we finished setting up camp. We explored the top of Mooney Falls in preparation for the climb down the next morning. The trail that lead down the cliff to the bottom of Mooney Falls was a one minute walk from out campsite.
The triangular shaped hole in the picture above was the entrance to the tunnel that would lead us to the bottom. I love the sign that states “Descend at your own risk”! This would be our route first thing the next morning!
Although the temps were in the low 30’s, we all slept warm and cozy in our tents and were ready for the next day’s adventure! Today we were sure to get wet during several river crossings and the misty climb down to the waterfall, so Cesar and I decided to wear our Neoprene socks and Choco sandals for this hike. We headed down to the opening of the cliff “trail” and started the climb down.
Now we did not get as many pictures of the descend as I would have liked but imagine climbing backwards relying on chains, ladders, & stone foot holes dripping in mist from the waterfall! We really wanted to keep both hands holding on! Our emotions were a mix of fear and pure dare devil excitement!
We were ecstatic to reach the bottom! What a view! The pictures do not do it justice!
What a gorgeous waterfall! This was worth the sketchy climb down!
As if this wasn’t enough beauty for one day, we still had to hike 4 miles to Beaver Falls. The only access to the trail that leads to Beaver Falls and The Confluence is to scramble down to the bottom of Mooney Falls. So if you think that looked too scary for you, you may not make it to Beaver Falls!
What a beautifully unique trail covered in vines and greenery with walls of red cliffs all around! The river flowed along side us all the way.
It wasn’t long before we made our first of several river crossings! We were so grateful for our Neoprene socks and Choco sandals that kept our feet warm. We did not have to keep taking our shoes on and off like many other hikers. We removed our pants and found hiking sticks to help steady ourselves against the quick flowing river!
This picture above is one of my favorites from the whole trip taken by Judson.
Not only were there river crossings, but there were crazy sketchy ladders, bridges and rungs to scale. I ladder must have been purchased from Home Depot!
Right as we were about to arrive at Beaver Falls we got to experience our one and only wildlife sighting! A lone mountain goat!
Beaver Falls is really incredible. We really did not do a good enough job taking pictures here! This was our first view!
Aqua blue water cascading down pedestals. Just amazing! We waded through the waters to reach one pedestal for pictures and Marc was the only one willing to take the plunge into the frigid water!
We had a picnic on a log before deciding that we were not going to go all the way to The Confluence. That would have been another 6 miles and we did not want to climb back up the dripping wet cliffs in the dark!
We had to wait a bit when we reached the bottom of Mooney Falls for the ladders to clear so we could make our way out.
The climb out was much quicker and a whole lot less scarier than the climb down! Everyone was happy to be back in camp for a warm meal and dry clothes!
Our next excursion was to visit the bottom of Havasu Falls. If you remember, Havasu Falls was the first waterfall leading into camp. It was about 1 mile from our campsite. At the top of the falls is where you can get fry bread from a little stand. They keep their own hours so you never know for sure when they will be open. We had already tried the fry bread in Supai Village, so we skipped the line and hiked down to the bottom of the falls.
We pretty much had the place to ourselves! So pretty!
It was time to prepare for our hike out. I was not looking forward to this part! 11 miles up and out. I thought our packs would be lighter after eating a good bit of the food but it sure didn’t feel any lighter! As we made our way through camp, we stopped at Fern Spring to get some fresh water for our journey.
We backtracked through Supai Village and made our way on the rocky trail in good spirits!
At one point we came across one of the stray dogs feasting on another stray dog. Kinda gross!
We made good time and were feeling great until we reached the last mile of switchbacks! We would need to climb 1200 feet in elevation to reach the parking lot! We were already 10 miles in. One mile to go! Boy was it a killer! With pack mules passing up and down the trail and loose rock under our feet, it definitely wasn’t easy! My brother Marc was the first out and he purchased cold Gatorades from the native children in the parking lot and met us all at the trail head. This was one of my favorite moments! I was exhausted but so full of pride for everyone for completing this once in a lifetime feat! What a great feeling!
Marc had also retrieved his truck and brought it closer so we wouldn’t have to walk another 1/2 mile. You can see the helicopter in the background of this video.
Before we all split up to head back home, we stopped in the Route 66 town of Seligman for a well deserved meal! Our choice was the Roadkill Café! The food was good and there was a hunting and taxidermy room to check out.
Now you know what all the hype surrounding Havasupai is all about! This was definitely worth the months of preparation! I hope you too get to experience Havasupai one day! Please remember to hike responsibly and leave no trace!
