Top Tips

Everything in this section is further explained throughout the guide. These are the cliffnotes.

• Permits for Havasupai are highly sought after. You will want to acquire permits as soon as they become available. Traditionally, permits become available on February 1st at 8:00am (Arizona Time). New for 2024 is a presale that begins on January 5th, allowing visitors to enter a lottery for their preferred dates before the traditional sale on February 1st opens.

• When checking-in to pick up your permits, the group leader must be present. Additionally, all group members must have a print out of their Account Information Page while on the reservation.

• Driving Indian Road 18 to-and-from Hualapai Hilltop is approximately 130 miles round trip. There is no gas station. Make sure you have enough gas to get your vehicle there and back.

• When looking up the weather, specifically look for the weather in Supai, not Havasupai Reservation. The latter is a much larger, higher elevation area.

• Camp on the right bank (east side) of Havasu Creek near Mooney Falls for the best campsites.

• Bring a small, personal roll of toilet paper. The compositing toilets at the campgrounds are restocked every few days, but often run out of toilet paper before the next restock. A small back-up roll is essential.

• Bring a collapsible water container, such as this one, to avoid repeated trips to the spring to collect water.

• You do not need a large amount of fuel for your stove. I did not quite use up a small 110g canister. One 110g canister per person is enough.

• Since this is a destination backpacking trip where you won’t break camp for several days, I strongly suggest considering 2 luxury items:

  • The entirety of Havasu Creek will be lined with hammocks for maximum relaxation. I strongly encourage bringing one as well.

  • If you plan on spending the day swimming or otherwise relaxing at one of the waterfalls, consider bringing a collapsing backpacking chair.

• Not every campsite has a picnic table. They are very advantageous. Try to get a campsite that has one.

• Soak/bathe in the natural tub on the right bank of Havasu Creek at the top of Mooney Falls.

• Wear trail runners with mesh uppers. If you plan on hiking north of the campground to Beaver Falls or to the Confluence of Havasu Creek and the Colorado River, you will make a large number of creek crossings. Having sneakers with mesh uppers will squeeze the water out with every step, and your feet will dry in minutes after each creek crossing.

  • Note: The trail through Supai onward to the campground is quite sandy. You may end up having to stop and dump sand out of your shoes during this stretch.

• A day hike to the Confluence requires an early start. Leave the campground no later than 8:00am.

• There is cell service from Supai Village to the top of Havasu Falls, but try to limit your smartphone usage to picture taking so you can enjoy being there. Even better: Keep your device in airplane mode for massive battery savings.

• Hike out early (~4:00am) to avoid the steep assent to Hualapai Hilltop in direct sunlight.

• Trekking poles are nice, especially when scaling the canyon wall.

• CLICK HERE AND THOROUGHLY READ THE RULES BEFORE LEAVING HOME

Permits

Website

Acquiring permits for your trip to Havasupai is done on the www.havasupaireservations.com website.

While only the group leader is responsible for selecting the dates and number of permits for your group, every member of your group needs an account in order to enter the reservation. Only the group leader needs an account at the time of permit purchase.

Presale

New for 2024 is a “presale” system implemented by the tribe. This system did not exist prior to my visit, so I am not personally familiar with it. It sounds like a lottery where your trip leader selects a list of preferred dates. Upon conclusion of the presale registration period, the system programmatically fills in the campground’s calendar with requests. If too many requests overlap the same dates, the winners are randomized. Registration for the presale begin on January 5th and end on January 18th. The fee for entering the presale lottery is $15. If you win the lottery, you will be notified via email with your dates and an invoice for your permit fees of $455 per person (as of 2024). Shortly after presale selection ends, the remaining calendar dates will be made available for purchase to everyone during the traditional registration period.

Traditional registration

The traditional registration period opens on February 1st at 8:00am (Arizona Time). You will enter your group size and the website will show you available dates on a calendar. The date you choose will be the date you enter Havasupai Reservation. All permits are for a 4 days/3 nights — no more, no less. Only possible start dates that can fit your group size for 4 days/3 nights will be shown as available. As of 2024, permit fees are $455 per person.

Historically, permits sell out for the entire year in less than 1 hour. With the new presale system, they may sell out even quicker. You must be ready to search for permits at 8:00am.

Transfers

The tribe will not refund your permits for any reason, and many people who acquired permits in 2020, unwilling to postpone their trip, were unable to recoup their costs when the reservation closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To alleviate this issue, the tribe implemented a transfer portal on the website.

Many people are unable to make their trip for any number of reasons. With the transfer portal, those visitors can place their permits up for resale. Permits can only be sold for the price-of-purchase. The combination of these two things has eliminated scalping — a significant problem pre-COVID. If you miss an opportunity to acquire permits on February 1st and can be flexible with your schedule, you have a quite good chance of still being able to visit that year. Keep an eye on the transfer portal, and you may seize an opportunity to acquire permits a few weeks out.

What to do with your permits

The day before your hike into Havasupai, you will visit the office at Grand Canyon Caverns Inn. The group leader must be present, and will present their state-issued ID or driver’s license, a printout of their Account Information Page from the website (this page will have a QR code on it), and a printout of their permit reservation code. The group leader will receive a map, permits, tent tags, wrist bands for each person in the group, and a parking pass for your vehicle. All members of the group are required to have a printout of their Account Information Page while on the reservation, and are required wear their wrist bands at all times.

There are several more rules for checking-in and visiting the reservation. Those rules are also obviously subject to change. click here and THOROUGHLY READ THE RULES BEFORE LEAVING HOME. There are a number of headaches that can be easily solved by reading the rules ahead of time.

The day you enter, you will drive up Indian Road 18 until you reach the checkpoint shortly before Hualapai Hilltop. The checkpoint is stationed starting at 5:00am each morning. After showing your documents, continue to Hualapai Hilltop, park, and begin your hike into the canyon.

When To Go

The Havasuapai Reservation is in the desert American southwest along the Grand Canyon. The days are hot, and the nights are cold. As with most destinations, spring and fall are the ideal times of year. During these months, you can expect average highs near 80°F and average lows near 50°F.

I would encourage you to avoid winter months as the temperature can get quite cold at night. With the daytime temperatures being very mild, the colder water can also be less enjoyable. Conversely, summer months see significant heat which can be not enjoyable for many, especially when hiking to/from camp or day hikes within the canyon.

Monsoon season is during the summer. While precipitation is relatively low, this is usually when Havasu Creek will experience flash flooding — causing the creek water to turn brown and the tribe to evacuate campers. Flash floods can also occur outside of monsoon season. In March of 2023, a flash flood saw campers trapped between their evacuated campsites and access to Supai cut off by a washed out bridge.

Considering both temperature and precipitation, in my opinion, the best months to visit Havasupai are April, May, September, and October. The tail end of March and beginning of June are also reasonable.

Note: When researching weather, make sure to look up the weather at Supai village, not Havasupai Reservation. Much of the Havasupai Reservation is a couple thousand feet higher in elevation than Supai and the campground. It also encompasses quite a large geographical area. Supai is a much more specific point to get your forecast from.

How To Get There

Where To Stay

Because the reservation is remote and you’ll want to start your hike early, it is ideal to stay somewhere relatively close to Hualapai Hilltop the night before your hike.

Hualapai Lodge in Peach Springs, Arizona

This is the best option. Hualapai Lodge is a very nice hotel in Peach Springs, Arizona. As soon as you know your permit dates, use your favorite travel booking site to reserve a night here for the night before your hike. There is an attached restaurant, and a gas station across the street.

It is worth mentioning there is a train track behind the lodge. Many people complain about the trains at night. The lodge offers free ear plugs, if this is a problem for you. The train track follows the entirety of Route 66 in this area. The trains are unavoidable no matter where you stay. They will be a bit louder in Peach Springs proper as they travel quite close to the town and sound their horns to warn traffic.

Other options

The obvious other option is the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn (where you will pick up your permits). It’s definitely a desert motel, but it suffices for a night. The rooms are simple, but clean, and they have a 50’s-themed diner. The motel is a bit closer to Indian 18 than Hualapai Lodge, but I’m not sure that matters much.

Your next best option is probably something in the town of Kingman west of Peach Springs. Just be aware this will add nearly another hour to your travel to Hualapai Hilltop the day of your hike.

Campgrounds

Supai Campground

A couple miles past the village of Supai you will come across the Supai Campground. The campground begins at Havasu Falls and continues northwest for approximately 1 mile to Mooney Falls.

A small spring trickling from the southern wall near the beginning of the campground is your source of water. Havasu Creek itself is full of calcium among other things (which provides its beautiful color). You’ll want water from the spring. I highly suggest bringing a collapsing water container like this one so you can carry all the water you will need to your camp and avoid repeated trips to the spring.

There are 3 sets of composting toilets spaced evenly throughout the camp. These toilets are generally nice as far as composting toilets go. Every few days the tribe stocks them with toilet paper. However, paper often runs out before the next restock. It is highly suggested you bring your own small roll of toilet paper as a backup.

There are several wooden foot bridges to cross to the right bank of Havasu Creek. The iconic one you’ve probably seen in pictures is on the north end of the campground near Mooney Falls. Note that these foot bridges get washed away regularly and are rebuilt, but they generally place them in the same areas.

The north end of the campground tends to have the most beautiful campsites. The primary feature of the campground is Havasu Creek, and this area of the creek has a lot more steps for the water to cascade down.

This area of the campground also seems to have an effect around 1-3pm where the light bouncing off the canyon walls produces and orange glow to everything. I did not notice this effect anywhere else in the campground.

Both sides of Havasu creek are nice in this area. However, I prefer the right bank for two reasons. The first reason is the cascading steps face the right bank. The second reason is the northern-most toilets are on the left bank (behind the trees). From the right bank, you have a beautiful view of the creek and you avoid the smell of the composting toilets.

I highly recommend considering 2 luxury items:

1. A hammock.

2. A collapsing backpacking chair.

Havasu Creek reaches maximum relaxation with a hammock, and most visitors bring them. There are many lightweight leisure hammocks you can purchase.

If you plan on spending time hanging out at one of the many waterfalls swimming, tanning, and relaxing by the water, I recommend bringing a collapsing backpacking chair. These can get heavy pretty quick, so I recommend either the Helinox Chair Zero or the REI Flexlite Air. The chair is invaluable if your campsite doesn’t have a picnic table.

There are picnic tables scattered all throughout the campground. They are extremely useful and I highly suggest finding a campsite that has one. They make a great surface for cooking, a great place for your group to congregate in the evening to talk or play games, and a seat while you’re at camp.

Speaking of cooking, people tend to overestimate the amount of stove fuel they need for a 4 day/3 nights stay. For personal use, you will probably not even use the smallest 110g fuel canisters you can find. I recommend one 110g fuel canister per person. That will give that person enough fuel to boil water with a little leftover as surplus.

A final thing of note is the natural tub at the very edge of Mooney Falls on the north end of the campground. The tub overlooks the base of Mooney Falls, and has no current passing through it to pull you over the edge. It’s a wonderful spot to relax or rinse the sweat off your skin after a day’s hike.

There is a campsite here. However, I don’t recommend using this campsite because the tub is a popular place for people to congregate.

Protecting your food

During my trip, I did not see a single squirrel or any other such critter. However, that doesn’t mean they’re not around. They’re waiting for you to abandon the area in order to capitalize on any food, trash, or toiletries left on the ground, table, or in your tent.

If you’re worried about food security, relax. Securing your food in Havasupai is easy. You really don’t need to worry about a rat sack or a bear canister (though, as the tribe points out, this is the only guaranteed way to secure your food). Properly hanging your smelly items is sufficient.

1. The first thing you’ll need is some odor resistant bags. I commend these from LOKSAK. I brought one for my food, one for my trash, and one for my toiletries.

2. The second thing you’ll need is some sort of stuff sack to place them in. I used an ultralight dyneema stuff sack.

3. The last thing you’ll need is some cordage to hang the bag. I used some ultralight cordage.

There are many methods you can use for hanging the bag. The good thing is: there’s no bears around. This means you can hang the bag at shoulder/head height for easy access. Because of this, none of the intricate bag-hanging strategies are truly necessary.

1. Tie one end of your cordage to your stuff sack.

2. Tie the other end of your cordage to a rock or other such heavy object.

3. Throw the rock over a branch.

4. Pull the cordage until your bag is should/head height.

5. Tie the loose end of the cordage to the tree or to itself such that the bag stays shoulder/head height.

You can absolutely wing this. It’s not that serious. If there were bears, your bag-hanging strategy would be much more technical. Just keep your bag several feet off the ground and several feet away from the tree trunk. You will be fine. Worse case scenario is your food is stolen by critters and you’ll have to walk to the village to buy more.

If you’re intent on a hardened solution, don’t waste your money on a bear canister. Simply use an empty protein powder container. You do not need the bear resistance.

Do not forget to leave no trace. Carry out everything you carried in.

Cell Service

You are very likely to have cell service in and around Supai village. I had cell service from Supai all the way down to the top of Havasu Falls. The service was very good until Little Navajo Falls. Between there and Havasu Falls, I dropped to 2-3 bars, but it was still reliable.

I would recommend keeping your phone in airplane mode for two reasons:

1. Battery savings. If the radio on your phone is not constantly hunting for a tower, you will find your phone battery lasts significantly longer.

2. You are in a little slice of Heaven. Enjoy the moment.

More info on the various waterfalls and hikes within the canyon coming soon.