Havasupai Falls and Supai Canyon – Arizona

The History of Havasupai Falls and Supai Canyon

Havasupai Falls sits deep in a side canyon of the Grand Canyon, on the land of the Havasupai Tribe in northern Arizona. The water here is famous for its color, a bright blue green that comes from high concentrations of calcium carbonate, and it pours over a string of waterfalls along Havasu Creek. The falls are the draw, but they are only part of it. To reach them you hike ten miles down into the canyon, through the village of Supai, and into one of the more remote and striking places in the American Southwest.

The People of the Blue-Green Water

Havasupai means people of the blue green water, and the Tribe has lived in and around this canyon for centuries, farming the canyon floor and living alongside the creek that gives them their name. The village of Supai sits about eight miles down the trail and is one of the most remote communities in the lower forty-eight. It is so far from a road that mail is still carried in and out by mule, the only place in the country where that is still true. A few hundred people live down there, inside the canyon walls, in a place with no road in or out.

The Falls

Below the village the trail keeps going toward the water. Little Navajo Falls comes first, with its strange and beautiful terraced formations, and then the big one, Havasupai Falls, the most photographed waterfall in the Grand Canyon. Further down the canyon are more falls, including Mooney and Beaver, for those who keep walking. The whole stretch of creek is the kind of place that does not look like it belongs in the desert, and coming on it after miles of dry trail is part of what makes it land the way it does.

A Place That Has Become Hard to Reach

Visiting Havasupai has always meant getting a reservation from the Tribe, but the system around it has changed a great deal. It used to mean calling a phone line over and over and hoping someone picked up before the season filled. There was no website and no account to log into, just persistence and luck. Today it runs through an online reservation system with early access tiers, a mandatory multi-night minimum, and a price that runs into the hundreds of dollars a person. Permits sell out within minutes. The Tribe has had to build real infrastructure around the canyon to handle the number of people who want to come, and the casual version of the trip that some early visitors had does not exist anymore.

Know Before You Go

• Region: Southwest United States
• Location: Havasupai Reservation, Coconino County, northern Arizona, within the greater Grand Canyon
• Trailhead: Hualapai Hilltop, at the end of Indian Reservation Road 18
• Coordinates: 36.2552, -112.6979 (Havasupai Falls)
• Costs: Permit required, reserved in advance through the Havasupai Tribe. Multi-night minimum, several hundred dollars per person. See the official reservation site for current pricing.
• Schedule: Reservations open seasonally and sell out fast. There is no day hiking to the falls; all visitors must have a camping or lodge reservation.
• Attraction Type: Natural Area (tribal land)
• Activities: Backpacking, hiking, swimming, photography, camping
• Notes:
  • The hike is ten miles each way from the trailhead to the campground, with the village of Supai about eight miles in. This is a serious backpacking trip, not a casual walk.
  • The road in is sixty miles of remote highway off Route 66, with free-range cattle and elk on the road, especially at night. Drive slow.
  • There is a cafe and a small store in Supai, but plan to pack in what you need.
  • Permits are required and must be reserved well in advance through the Tribe. There is no showing up and hiking in.
  • This is tribal land and a living community. Treat the village, the people, and the canyon with respect, and pack out everything you bring in.
• Additional Resources: Official Havasupai Reservations Site

My Visit

I hiked Havasupai in 2015 with a friend named Rozanne, who everyone called Mountain Matron, and her son. I had organized the first Hell Hike and Raft trip in Idaho the year before, and Rozanne was one of the bloggers who joined us out there. When she had an extra slot on her Havasupai permit the following year, she invited me along.

The drive in was its own adventure, sixty miles down Indian Reservation Road 18 in the dark, with signs warning that I would, not might, see elk and free-range cattle. They were not exaggerating. I slept in the back of the Jeep at the trailhead with the wind rocking it all night, and the next morning, before the sun had cleared the canyon rim, we started the ten miles down. The trail drops through switchbacks and then winds through narrowing canyon walls until the village of Supai comes into view, houses and horse corrals tucked into the rock. We stopped at the cafe in the village, where I ordered a club sandwich I could barely finish, and then kept on toward the water.

Little Navajo Falls showed itself first, and then Havasupai Falls, the one off every postcard. We found a spot along the trail, set up camp, Rozanne and her son in hammocks and me under a tarp, and spent the next day just being there. It is still one of the most striking places I have ever stood, and it is the kind of trip that has only gotten harder to do in the years since. I feel lucky I got to see it when I did.

I put down the fuller story of that trip in a look back ten years later.

Photos From My Trip

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