Havasupai Falls: Everything You Need to Know From Abbi Hearne + Brianna Madia:
Our Itinerary + FAQ
NOTE: We are using affiliate links in this post (meaning, if you click a link and make a purchase, we will receive a percentage of that sale.) ALL PROCEEDS BRI + ABBI MAKE FROM THIS BLOG POST WILL BE DONATED DIRECTLY TO THE HAVASUAPI TRIBE. See our full packing list here.
About Havasu Falls
Havasu Falls is located on the Havasupai Indian Reservation deep in the Grand Canyon (on the border of Grand Canyon National Park) and requires a permit to access. There is a small village in the reservation near the falls and they manage the campground, hiking trails, permits, etc. The permits are extremely high-demand and they usually sell out within a few minutes of becoming available every February! You must have a permit to camp and visit the falls, they do not allow day hikers into the canyon. The permits are for three nights at the Supai Campground, which is located between Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls. It’s an 11 mile hike from the trailhead down into the canyon, and then you camp in the same campground all three nights and do day hikes from there.
In my opinion, this is a very approachable “first” or beginner backpacking trip due to a few factors. Firstly, it’s very easy to follow the trail and route-find. There are signs at every turn and the trail is very established. You also only set up camp once, and then do three days of day-hiking and exploring the area before packing up to leave. There are restrooms provided in the campground, the campground isn’t too crowded but you’re certainly not completely alone, and it would be relatively easy to contact rescue teams should there be an emergency. All in all, I think this is a very adventurous experience, but it’s still quite “civilized” for a wilderness backpacking trip. That being said, we do not reccomend doing this trip if you are not capable of hiking and carrying your own gear, or paying for the helicopter transport if not. There is an option for using pack animals to carry your gear, but in my opinion and experience, the conditions are unethical and abusive (more on this below). The helicopter ride in and out is an option, but only when available after fulfilling the needs of the tribe, so you shouldn’t bank on it.
The bottom line is, this area is extremely beautiful and remote. You should treat it as such. Do not commit to this trip if you aren’t wiling to spend time and energy working on the fitness and capabilities needed to carry your gear on your back 22 miles in and out of the Grand Canyon. You should also be aware that you are on this tribe’s land, and you should recreate responsibly and respectfully to their desires. It’s incredible that they allow us visitors to come enjoy their sacred creeks and waterfalls, and I would hope all visitors keep that in mind with all of their actions and interactions with tribe members!
NOTE: The Havasuapi Tribe is suffering greatly due to COVID-19, please consider donating to this GoFundMe to support them during this time. They have taken a massive hit to their income (based on tourism and permit purchases), if you hope to visit these falls in the future please consider donating now. We have used affiliate links in this post, and all proceeds will be donated to the Havasupai Tribe via GoFundMe.
Our Full Itinerary for Havasupai Falls (Permits for 3/3-6)
Day Zero (3/2)
We woke up in Las Vegas after spending the night in the van outside of a friends’ house, took some showers to freshen up before the adventure really started, and made some last-minute stops around town (like REI for dehydrated meals, Panera Bread to pick up pastries for breakfast the morning we started hiking, etc) and made our way out to the trailhead about four hours away. We stopped at a spot along the road to the trailhead to pack and sort everything, fill our water bottles and pack bladders, and get everything completely ready to start hiking first thing in the morning! We arrived at the trailhead shortly after sunset and did our best to get a good nights’ sleep!
Day One (3/3)
On the first day of our permit, we woke up about 15 minutes before first light, used the restrooms at the trailhead, ate our Panera pastries, and started hiking at 6:45am just as the sun was lighting the canyon walls across from us. I used an app called Strava to keep track, mainly to know how many miles we’d covered. We knew it was about 8-9ish miles to the village and then another 2 miles to the campground, and having the tracking helped us maintain morale!
The first mile is all downhill as you descend into the canyon. We were worried we’d be cold, but we stopped to take off our jackets by the time we got to the bottom of the switch backs. I REALLY regret forgetting my trekking poles simply because it’s so much easier to balance a heavy pack (especially going downhill) with them. Once we arrived at the wash (probably 2 miles in) it’s pretty much flat feeling (slightly downhill) the entire rest of the way. We both hike relatively fast, and arrived to the village (8.2 miles) at 10am. We checked in and hiked the last two miles to the campground which is just past Havasu Falls. We arrived at the top of Havasu Falls at 11am, hiked a small ramp down, and then a few minutes later arrived to the campground.
We were super tired and sore by the time we got to the campground at 11:15, so we picked the first spot we liked near the creek, dropped our gear, and took a snack break soaking our feet in the creek! After setting up the tent and getting situated, we hiked back up to Havasu Falls for the afternoon. The sun fully left the falls by 3pm, so we headed back to camp, watched some Netflix shows that we’d downloaded ahead of time until dinner, ate two freeze dried meals for our dinner and went to sleep around 8:45pm.
Day Two (3/4)
We woke up around 8:30, walked to the nearby restrooms and had a slow morning, breakfast around 10am and then made our way downstream to Mooney Falls (it’s about a mile from Havasu Falls to Mooney Falls, and the campground is all along the stream between the two). The down climb to the base of Mooney Falls (which is the access point for the other day hikes) is no joke — I would hardly call that a hike! It involves a system of fixed ladders, chains, tunnels, and carved-in steps, which are all quite exposed (and mostly require going down backwards like a ladder), and made even more spicy by the constant mist of the falls making everything wet and slippery! It’s also difficult because people go up and down the same route, so you often need to wait for others in front of you, or allow people to pass.
Once we got down, we hiked downstream a little bit and found a quiet nook with some nice sunshine and relaxed there all afternoon! The shallow water was perfect for walking around in and we even found a sandbar where we could sit and be in a few inches of water. I’ve had a lot of people ask about the water temps — it wasn’t too cold and I’m usually a total wimp! I definitely didn’t want to get in when we weren’t in the sun, and i didn’t really swim (Bri did!) but it was very comfortable for walking around, sitting in shallows, and going in up to my thighs.
After the sun left the canyon around 3pm, we hiked back to camp, ate some snacks, made dinner, watched netflix, and then fell asleep around 8:30pm.
Day Three (3/5)
We decided we’d do most of our hiking on this day since it would be the most amount of time since our hike in to recover :) We woke up at 8am, made coffee and breakfast and had a chill morning but still starting hiking until 10am. We hiked out to Beaver Falls, which is about 2.5 miles from the campground (5 miles round trip) and arrived around 11:15am. We had it all to ourselves and Bri swam around while I relaxed on the shore! The falls were out of the sun by 12:30, so wild! We hiked a little bit farther downstream, found a beautiful giant blue pool, and then started making our way back so we could spend more time in the sun at our closer little spot. We stayed in that spot until around 3pm again and then hiked to the top of Mooney Falls to soak up the sun until about 4:30pm.
We walked back to our camp site on a different trail and ended up finding a bathroom much closer to our campsite haha! And then we decided to do a short excursion up a canyon nearby. Dinner at 5:30, packed up almost everything, and then went to bed by 8:30.
Day Four (3/6)
By the last year, we were pretty ready to get back to civilization, so we woke up at 7am, packed up, ate breakfast and started hiking by 8am. That day, we drove to Flagstaff and got a hotel in town!
FAQ For Havasu Falls Backpacking:
How do I get a permit for Havasupai Falls?
This is certainly the most difficult part about going to Havasupai! There is very high demand for permits and they usually sell out within minutes. My biggest advice is to be as flexible with dates as possible. We were able to get permits from someone else’s cancellation (we essentially bought their permit from them through the website) just a few weeks in advance. We were lucky to be so flexible and be able to do it so last minute!
Why is it so expensive? Why do they require permits? Why no day hikers? etc.
To start, as a business owner myself I would encourage people to avoid being critical of pricing when you don’t know anyones cost of doing business, and, when a business is in very high demand, its important to understand that they have the freedom to charge prices that reflect that demand. The income from these permits (and related tourism) provides roughly 70% of the jobs in the Havasupai Community. The area is relatively small, and the impact of tourism, campers, and hikers every day is huge. It takes a lot of time and effort to maintain the area and keep the impact minimal. Permits are required so they can keep the crowds manageable and keep track of all visitors (which is also why there are not day hikers allowed).
What should I pack for Havasupai Falls?
Here is a blog post with Bri’s and my packing list of essentials!
What is the best season to go?
The canyon walls are quite tall, so there is a lot of shade that keeps the temps pretty regulated. We went the first week of March and I think we were pretty lucky to have amazing weather and warm temps (highs in the 80s). If I could pick any time to go, I would probably choose later spring or early fall because most of the activities involve swimming/water hiking and the water is pretty cool! That being said, I felt like the water wasn’t *too* cold and I’m usually a total wimp about that kinda thing!
How long is the hike?
From the trailhead, it’s a little over 8 miles to the village of Havasu (where you’ll check in and get your physical permit tag for your tent), and then from there it’s a little over two miles to the campground. The hike in is very steep downhill for the first mile and then subtly downhill after that!
Should I use a pack animal?
When you check out for your permit, you’ll be offered a little checkbox to book a pack animal to carry all of your gear for you. It seems casual at the moment, and a lot of people check this box without knowing the condition of these animals. From what we saw first hand the animals are not very well taken care of, are overworked, and overloaded. You can find more info here.
How do I pick a campsite?
When you get to the campground, you’ll see various sites with picnic tables along a one mile stretch of the creek. Honestly, every site is beautiful! You can’t really go “wrong” and if you don’t love your site, you can always change it. In my opinion, the best campsites are on the little islands in the creek, where you walk across little bridges and you’re surrounded by the water!
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Feel free to comment here if you have more questions and I’ll add to them!
ABOUT THE HAVASUPAI PACK ANIMALS
From Brianna’s Instagram Post:
“@abbihearne pulled some last minute permits for Havasupai and asked if I wanted to backpack in with her for a few days. Of course I said yes. It’s about 22 miles round trip through desert washes and into the pure paradise that is the Havasuapi reservation.
Every photo you’ve seen will truly never do this place justice and I can’t wait to show you more, but morally I can’t continue talking about this trip until I address something that really didn’t sit right with me...
As Abbi and I descended down canyon, we noticed people hiking out with *nothing* on their backs. I became so confused at one point, I actually asked someone where all their stuff was. They casually motioned backward and continued walking. Moments later, pack mules loaded with backpacks, coolers(??), camping gear etc. were dragged around the corner and through the canyon at a running pace, being whipped if they didn’t get uphill fast enough. I was incredibly upset but I thought perhaps it was a one-off. Throughout the rest of the hike, I’d argue that 80% of people we saw were carrying no more than a hydration pack while trains of animals carried the remainder of their extensive luggage.
Abbi informed me that when she filled out our information on the permit, there was a simple checkbox that asked if you wanted to use pack mules for additional fee.
All I’m hoping to accomplish with this post and these videos is to provide a bit of insight as to what happens when you click that checkbox.
I understand there are exigent circumstances, but all I ask is this: If you are an able-bodied individual, please consider training harder, packing lighter, and carrying your own weight. [I’ve been told @havasupaihorses is an additional source]