Havasupai


Location Havasupai, Arizona
Elevation Trailhead5,180 ft
Supai Village3,200 ft
Campground2,720 ft



Overview...

Havasupai is located about 30 miles West of Grand Canyon South Rim (no access from there). Its part of Grand Canyon and one of the sub canyon of Colorado river.
This canyon is about 100-200 feet wide and several hundred feet deep for more than 20 miles. And ends up at Colorado river.
It is a dry canyon until it get close to Supai Village. Small creek goes through the village & camp ground then all the way to the Colorado river.
There are multiple waterfalls along the creek. Welknown big waterfalls are 50 foot falls, Little Navajo falls, Havasu falls, Moony falls and Beaver falls.
Since it is a part of Havasupai Native American reservation, you MUST make a reservation and make a payment through internet in advance.
Click Here for more informations (Reservations, Fees, Payment etc...)



Weather forecast

at Havasupai campground
National Weather Service 7 Day forecast
Windytv 6 Day forecast



What you bring?

The KEY of the backpacking is LIGHT WEIGHT !
Every ounce comes to your shoulder. Do Not bring unnecessary items....

in your backpack
Backpack (45-60 litter recommend)
Water bottle or bladder
Tent
Sleeping pad
Sleeping bag
Cooking Stove
Fuel for stove
Cooking pan & pot
Cup
Utensils
Washing cloth or sponge
Meal for Breakfast & Dinner
Snack for Lunch
Swimsuits
Water shoes or Sandal (recommend toe & heal coverd for hike)
Bath towel
Jacket
Headlamp
Water filter (optional)
Emergency kit (bandage, pain killer etc...)

Trekking pole (recommend)
Hiking boots
Camera and extra batteries



Location...



Havasupai is located about 30 mile West of Grand Canyon South Rim and about 140 mile East of Las Vegas.

Google Map trip directions....
From Las Vegas 220 mile about 4 hours
From Los Angeles 440 mile about 7.5 - 8 hours
From Flagstaff 165 mile about 2.5 - 3 hours
From Phoenix 260 mile about 4.5 - 5 hours


Google Earth Map

Google Earth KML Data

Purple LineHistric Route 66 : via Kingman54 mile
Green LineHistric Route 66 : via Seligman30 mile
Yellow LineIndian Route 1860 mile
Red LineHavasupai Trail : Hilltop - Campground9.5 mile
Blue LineColorado River Trail : Campground - Colorado River6.5 mile




Getting there...

There are only 1 road (Indian Route 18) goes to Hualapai Hilltop.
This road is connect to Histric Route 66.
Histric Route 66 is connect to I-40 freeway at Kingman and Seligman.

Coming From West via Kingman (coming from Los Angeles, Las Vegas etc...)

From Las Vegas to Kingman, take I-93 South for about 100 miles (1.5 - 2 hours). You will drive through Boulder City and Hooverdam bypass bridge.
From Barstow to Kingman, take I-40 East for about 200 miles (3 - 3.5 hours).

Once you got to Kingman, take I-40 Freeway East and get off at Route 66. It is only 4 miles and the 2nd exit from I-93 & I-40 junction.
(There are couple of 24 hours gas station on Route 66 junction near I-40. I reommend to fill it up at there. Because, most of gas station on route are closed at night. There are another 114 miles ONE WAY to the trailhead parking lot. So, you may able to drive back in one full tank.)

From Kingman to Hualapai Hilltop
Follow the Histric Route 66 East for 54 miles (about 1 hour).
There is Indian Route 18 junction on your left. It is about 7 miles passed the Peach Springs (that is the last chance to get the gas. but station opens only 7AM-8PM)
Make a Left turn onto Indian Road 18 and follow the road for 60 miles (about 1 hour) that ends at Hualapai Hilltop.
There are no road sign facing towareds West at this Junction. So, be careful or you will miss it (especially at night).
Reset your car trip odometer at Peach Spring (7 mile) or Kingman (54 mile).



If you came too far (drove more than 10 minutes past Peach Springs), just turn around and you will see the road sign near the Junction.
(check Coming From East via Seligman)



Coming From East via Seligman (coming from Phoenix, Flagstaff etc...)

From Flagstaff to Seligman, take I-40 West for about 75 miles (1 - 1.5 hours).
From Phoenix to Seligman, take I-17 North, then take AZ-69 North at Cody Lakes, then take I-40 West at Ash Folk. Its about 170 miles (3 hours).

Once you got to Seligman, exit the I-40 freeway (there are only 2 exit) then take Route 66.
(There are couple of 24 hours gas station at Seligman. I reommend to fill it up at there. There are another 90 miles ONE WAY to the trailhead parking lot. So, you may able to drive back in one full tank.)

From Seligman to Hualapai Hilltop
Follow the Route 66 North for 30 miles (about 30 minutes).
There is Indian Route 18 junction on your right.
You will see Havasupai bilboard and road sign near the junction.
Make a right turn onto Indian Route 18 and follow the road for 60 miles (about 1 hour> that ends at Hualapai Hilltop.






Hualapai Hilltop Parking lot / Havasupai Trailhead

Hualapai Hilltop has 2 large parking area. Yet, many can't find open parking spaces.
In that case, you have to find open parking spaces by the road side. Sometimes people has to drive back for half mile to find open space.




Hualapai Hilltop Parking




The Hike...





From TrailheadDistanceElevation change
Supai Village office7.5 mile-2,000 ft
Camp Ground9.5 mile-2,400 ft

From CampgroundDistanceElevation change
Supai Village office2 mile+400 ft
Havasu Falls0.5 mile+150 ft
Moony Falls0.5 mile-200 ft
Beaver Falls2.5 mile-400 ft
Colorado River6.5 mile-900 ft



From Hilltop Trailhead Parking lot...

The Trailhead is the Northend of Parking lot. (near the Restroom)
From the trailhead, the trail goes down the side of canyon wall for 1.5 miles to the bottom of the canyon.
This part is moderately steep and there are lots of switchbacks.


View from Trailhead

Switchback section

Switchback section



Hike down to the bottom of the canyon...

After the first half mile of switchback section, the trail kept going down for another mile to the bottom of the canyon.


Down to the bottom of the canyon



Easy hike following on the dry wash...

Once the trail comes down to the bottom of the canyon, it starts following the dry wash at the bottom of the canyon.
This dry wash is couple hundred feet wide.
There are NO Sun shade at this point for next 2.5 miles.


follow the dry wash



Dry wash turns to Slot Canyon...

This wash getting narrower (50 - 100 ft) and deeper (couple hundred ft).
You can get some sun shade at few sections for next 2 mile.
The scenery gets nicer and nicer !


walking through the slot canyon



Slot canyon opens up...

All of the sudden the canyon opens up. You may see Supai sign.
Now, you are in the Havasupai indian reservation.
Yet, there is another 1.5 miles to the Havasupai village tourist office.


Entering Supai Reservation



Walk into the Havasupai Village...

You will start seeing houses and horse/cow stables.
At this part, the narrow trail turns to wide dart road. Follow the road and it turns to the right at the end of big horse stable then it turns to the left.


Entering the Village



Check in at the office...

In few minutes, you will see the tourist office (green building) on your LEFT.
You have to check in at the office to recieve the permit.
Also, you can get the water at the out side of the office.
(You may want to fill your bottle up at here when you hike out)

There is a big helipad by the tourist office. All the fly in/out hikers/packs gets here.
After you passed the helipad, there is a small restaurant on the left.
They carry only easy food like burgers and sandwiches.
Across from restaurant, there is an grocery store on the right side.
This building really doesn't looks like grocery store, but they carry pretty much anything the local people needs...from Ice cream to AAA batteries.
All the items in the store is little bit expensive, since everything cost the transportation fee.
You will see Post office, school, Basketball court, church etc....
The Havasupai Lodge is located at the most end of the village (NE corner).


Tourist Office

Helicopter Landing pad

Restaurant / cafe

Menu

Grocery Store

Grocery Store



Getting out from Village...

There are 2 more miles to the camp ground.
On the way, you will see Little Navajo falls on the left side.
Also, there is Fifty foot falls farther up to the left. You can barely see it from the trail.
Its only 5-10 minutes walk to these falls.


Little Navajo falls and Fifty foot falls



Havasu Falls...

About 15 minutes after the Little Navajo Falls, there is the Havasu Falls.
Havasu Falls is about 100 feet high and very beutiful.
Trail goes down on the side of water falls.


Havasu Falls



Campground...

Campground entrance is only 5 minutes from the Havasu falls.
There is a Fern Spring (natural spring) on the Left side about 3 minutes from the entrance.
This campground is more than half mile long and 100 yard wide.
The creek goes through the middle of the campground.
You can find any spot for setting the tent. Ground is soft dart/sand most of the part.
There are several restrooms in the campground.


Fern Spring

campground



Moony Falls...

Moony Falls is only 5-10 minutes (about half mile) from the Campground.
This is about 200 ft high waterfall and very gorgeous.
For getting down the water fall, you have to take a very narrow and steep pass alongside the criff.
At this section, there is chains and radders.

Moony Falls

trail through the tunnel

exposed steep section with chains and radders



Beaver Falls...

Beaver Falls is about 2.5 miles from the Campground.
From the Moony Falls, follow the canyon for 2 miles down.
There is a trails along the creek on either side. For couple of times, you have to walk across the creek to follow the trail.
About a mile from the Mooney Falls, the trail goes through the deep vineyard.
Beaver Falls are cascade falls. You can climb up the side of water fall to get to the top of falls to jump in.


across the creek

Trail goes through the vineyard

trail through the tunnel

rudder section

Beaver Falls



Down to Colorado River...

Colorado River is 6.5 miles from Campground.
It is another 4 miles hike from Beaver falls.
The trail gets little bit gets harder to follow. There are couple of easy class 3 sections.


crossing the creek

last minutes to junction



Colorado River Junction...

You will see lots of raft boat at the Colorado river junction.
If you are lucky, you can see rafting boat at the Havasu rapids.


rafts at junction

Colorado river junction

raft on Havasu rapids