Everything You Need to Know About Backpacking Havasupai

I’m assuming that as you are on this page, you probably already know what Havasupai is and you are just looking for details on how to plan your perfect Havasupai adventure. For those of you who don’t know, Havasupai is actually the name of a tribe based in Supai village in Arizona in part of the Grand Canyon. In recent years, it has become extremely popular to backpack to the campground just past the village to see the incredible bright turquoise waterfalls there.

Havasupai was a bucket list location for us and when we finally were able to win permits to go, we felt extremely overwhelmed because there was so much to research! SPOILER ALERT: All of the planning was SO WORTH IT!

This guide will give you absolutely EVERYTHING you need to know about planning your own Havasupai adventure, including:

1. How to get permits – I cover this in a separate blog post here
2. Should you get a cabin or a campsite
3. Where to stay the night before your hike
4. What you need to bring with you
5. What is the best time of year to do Havasupai and how cold / hot will it be
6. Parking your car and details on what the hike into Havasupai is like + our experience
7. What to do while you are in Havasupai (there is actually a lot to see)
8. Hiking out and post hike restaurants
9. What to do after Havasupai (you are in a beautiful part of the world and there is SO MUCH MORE TO SEE!)

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Havasupai in a Snapshot

Before You Hike Havasupai

How to get permits for Havasupai

If you want to visit Havasupai, you will need to get a permit for 3 nights in the campground or in the lodge. Read this blog post for everything you need to know about booking permits to Havasupai. I also go over how to book a mule in this blog post if you want to go down that route.

Should you book the lodge or a campsite

When choosing whether to book a campsite or the lodge, the price make help make your decision easier. Both bookings are for 3 nights. Campsites are $455 per person and the lodge is $2,277 per lodge room for up to four people.

Apart from the price, the other major difference between the Havasupai campsites and the lodge is the location of each of them. The campground is located just past Havasu Falls and is much closer to Mooney Falls, Beaver Falls and the Confluence. The lodge is located in Supai Village which makes each of the waterfalls a bit more of a hike to get to.

Where to stay the night before your hike

There is only one hotel that I recommend staying at the night before you hike into Havasupai. Make sure you book a night at the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn as soon as you receive your permit for Havasupai so that you don’t miss out. This hotel is not only the closest hotel to the trailhead, but it is also the check in point for Havasupai.

Check in is available the day before or the morning of the first day of your backpacking reservation. You will find the check in in the lobby of the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn.

If you stay at the Inn, there is a continental breakfast provided and also a microwave, hot water, coffee and cutlery which you can also use to cook your dinner the night before if you need to.

What you need to bring with you to Havasupai

Once you book your Havasupai permit, you will receive a list of everything that you need to either print and bring or screenshot on your phone. I recommend printing a copy of everything anyway just in case you run out of battery or lose the screenshot.

You will be asked to bring all of your paperwork when you check in at the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn, however, they didn’t ask to see any of ours at all and simply asked for the main name on the reservation.

Best time of year to hike to Havasupai

The best times of the year to hike Havasupai would be either April or May or late September – mid October. This way you will avoid the insane Summer heat but it might still be warm enough to tempt you to jump into the water.

Being a canyon, Havasupai often gets flash floods, which can be extremely dangerous, especially considering the campground is located in the canyon itself. Flash floods can occur very suddenly and at any time throughout the year, however, the monsoon season is during Summer from June until August. There was a flash flood in September, only a couple of months before we were due to go. It took the tribe a couple of months of clean up to recover from the damage.

Backpacking Havasupai in November

We hiked to Havasupai in November which wasn’t our first choice but the weather turned out to be not too bad. Our first night in the park was October 29th and the weather forecast had said that it was going to be below freezing for a coupe of the nights that we were there for. We brought so many warm layers and insulated sleeping mats to go under our sleeping pads but the weather decided to warm up for us so we weren’t cold at all.

If you decide to hike backpack to Havasupai in November, my biggest tip is to be prepared for the cold but also be prepared for potential heat. The weather can change from year to year.

During Your 3 Nights in Havasupai

Parking your car

To park your car at the Havasupai trailhead, you will need to print out your reservation confirmation and leave it on your dashboard. There will be instructions on everything you need to do and bring with you once you get your reservation.

There is a very small parking lot right at the trailhead and then overflow parking on the sides of the road leading down to the trailhead which is where most people end up parking. When we arrived both the road and the parking lot were already packed. We were able to find a spot about a 10 minute walk up the road.

Hiking to Havasupai / Our experience

Distance (from Hilltop Trailhead to the campground): 15.7km / 9.7 miles | Elevation: 729m / 2,391 ft | Time: 4-7 hours

The drive from the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn was around 1.5 hours. We had breakfast before we left and arrived at the trailhead at around 10am. After making sure we had everything in our day packs and our overnight backpacks had their mule tags on, we dropped them off with the mules. We then stretched and went to the bathroom one last time and we were off!

The switchbacks into the canyon

The trail starts by head straight down into the canyon via a bunch of switchbacks. You will need to keep an eye and ear out for mules coming up and down the trail because it is a very narrow path and they take up the entire trail. Make sure you stick to the inside for safety purposes when they pass you so that you don’t get knocked off the trail. It is a long way down!

After the switchback the trail flattens out a little as you head towards the canyon. You will likely be exposed to the sun during this section of the trail but once you reach the canyon there is more shelter.

Hiking through the canyon

The next section is the longest section of the trail where you will be hiking through the canyon. I actually loved this part of the trail because it was so sheltered from the harsh sun and the canyon itself is absolutely stunning! We spent a lot of extra time taking photos and videos during this section of the trail.

The turnoff to Supai Village

After what seemed like forever, we made it to an intersection where we found a sign pointing to the left towards Supai Village. Off we went and eventually we were walking along a beautiful crystal clear river. This was our first glimpse of the beautiful Havasupai water and it did not disappoint!

During this section of the trail we crossed a couple of bridges which led into Supai Village.

Walking through Supai Village

We knew when we were close to the village because there were lots of signs leading up to it, reminding us not to take any photos while we hiked through. Even though we couldn’t take photos, the image of the village will be forever etched into my memory. I felt like I had stepped back in time in a weird way because the houses were so well built and they had Halloween decorations covering them.

We hiked past loads of animals including dogs and mules and horses. Surrounding the village was an incredible sight of red and orange rock walls. It was absolutely stunning and looked like it could definitely have been the set of a blockbuster movie. We were passed by a couple of kids riding a horse bareback through the village at some point and yet we also saw some villagers driving gas ATVs to get around. I was like the village stuck between 2 different times.

The signs to Havasu Falls and the Campground!

After the village, there were signs to the campground and all of the different waterfalls. This was it! The last stretch! The trail continued to be flat and sandy for quite some time until it began descending and we reach Havasu Falls! Seeing the falls for the first time felt so unreal! Of course we stopped to take some photos before continuing onto the campground which wasn’t too much further.

The Havasupai Campground

By the time we finally reach the campground, my feet were well and truly done. The first thing we saw when we reached the campground was the pile of bags that had been dropped off by the mules. Ours had not arrived yet so we quickly used the bathrooms at the entrance to the campground and set off to find a campsite.

We didn’t go too far into the campground before finding a few sites next to each other. We had a couple of 4 people / 2 tents which wasn’t a problem at all. We walked past some tent sites that were more open and exposed to the wind but right next to the bright blue river which would have been a gorgeous spot.

Facilities on the trails and at the campground

There are a few blocks of pit toilets in the Havasupai campground but none on any of the trails, except for one more just after you hike out of the campground and up the hill towards Supai Village. Toilet paper and hand sanitiser are provided in the toilets, but I recommend bringing some with you just in case because you never know when they might run out before they have a chance to refill them.

As there are no toilets along the trails, you will need to use the green toilet and pack it out. There are no showers at the campground so I recommend bringing some wet wipes to clean yourself with.

What to do in Havasupai

Havasupai is all about those epic turquoise waterfalls surrounded by bright orange dirt. They are some of the most picturesque waterfalls that I have ever seen. There are lots of different hikes to do such as the following:

Havasu Falls

The most famous and easiest to get to waterfall at Havasupai is Havasu Falls. You will see Havasu Falls from the trail right before you reach the campground. You can also hike down to the waterfall which will take you around 5 minutes down an easy sloped trail.

Mooney Falls

Mooney Falls was my favourite Havasupai waterfall, however, I hated the climb down to it. It was absolutely terrifying and I legit thought I was going to die at one point. You can read all about the climb down to Mooney Falls here. Mooney Falls is similar to Havasu, except it is larger and in my opinion, more spectacular. Most waterfalls are absolutely stunning though!

Beaver Falls

Beaver Falls is the most unique waterfall at Havasupai as it is tiered pools flowing down from each other. To get to Beaver Falls, you actually need to hike to Mooney Falls first, so I’m sorry to say that there is no avoiding the dreaded climb down Mooney Falls. After Mooney Falls, you then keep hiking and will need to cross a few rivers. I loved this part of the hike because it made it so much fun and more interesting.

The Confluence

The Confluence is the longest Havasupai hike and we didn’t end up doing it because we were worried about getting too cold due to the weather and the large number of water crossings that you need to do on this trail. We also don’t think we would have made it back before dark as we started our hike pretty late.

The Confluence is a really long and challenging trail which you definitely need to do your research for before going. Make sure you are well aware of how high the water crossing are because I have read that one of the is potentially neck high. You will definitely need to bring a dry bag with you on this hike.

Try some Fry Bread!

OH EM GEE I will be forever dreaming about the Fry Bread! There is a small stand right before you reach the top of Havasu Falls, when hiking to the campground from the village. There are no real “set opening hours” so you might need to check whether the stand is opening a few times.

Make sure you bring some cash with you. When we were there it was $15-17 depending on which toppings you chose.

Supai Village

Supai Village is 2 miles / 3.2km from the campground and you will hike through it on the way in and back out from Havasupai. In the village, you are not allowed to take any photos or videos.

Other waterfalls

There are a few other waterfalls that you can hike to in Havasupai outside of the above list. You can read about them in my blog post about all of the waterfalls in Havasupai here.

The hike out of Havasupai

The hike out of Havasupai felt shorter than the way in. Perhaps it was because we started at 6am and we also knew what the trail would be like. We started hiking in the dark with our headlights but it got light pretty quickly and we were lucky to get a gorgeous sunrise on the trail.

I think we were all hiking faster on the way out than the way in because we were super keen for a nice big lunch. We decided to have lunch at the Roadkill Café which was DELICIOUS. Although I think anything would have tasted delicious after all of the hiking that we had just done. I did get some sort of weird food poisoning thing 24 hours later. I’m still not sure if it was the steak I had at the café or something else.

What else to do and see near Havasupai

Havasupai is located in such a beautiful part of the world and you could make your backpacking trip into a larger road trip by visiting some of the places below:

The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon South Rim is around a 3 hour drive from the Havasupai Trailhead. We actually drove there after hiking out and having lunch. We got there just in time to watch the sunset before then driving all of the way back to Las Vegas. I know crazy right? But so worth it because Dave had never seen the Grand Canyon before.

Alternatively, you could do a Driving Tour or even a bucket list Helicopter Tour from Las Vegas on separate day. I haven’t done the Heli Tour but my parents have and they said it was absolutely worth the money and something that they will never ever forget.

Las Vegas

We stayed in Las Vegas before and after Havasupai. We decided to stay at a nice but affordable resort to relax after our big hike and it was SO WORTH IT! We stayed at the Club Wyndham Desert Blue which was such a great choice of hotel to relax at after. It had a lovely outdoor pool area with a bar and really nice rooms. There was also a free shuttle to get into and back from The Strip which was super handy!

Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam is probably the most famous dam in the world! I went there when I was travelling solo before I met Dave but we didn’t stop there this time around because we were in a bit of a rush both times we went past. The construction of Hoover Dam was completed in 1935.

It is an impressive sight to see so if you have the chance to stop by on your way to Havasupai, you definitely should! You could also do a group tour to Hoover Dam from Las Vegas like I did when I was solo travelling.

The Valley of Fire State Park

The Valley of Fire State Park is so much more incredible in person than I thought it would be! The entire park looks like it could be a set for a movie! There are lots of hikes you can do in the Valley of Fire and awesome photo ops. There are also a lot of road viewpoints if you don’t feel like hiking.

Commonly Asked Questions

Can you swim in the water at Havasupai?

Yes! You can swim at Havasupai if you feel like it. When we were there in November, it was a little chilly outside and so it was hard to want to swim in the waterfalls, but we did get into water on the trail to Beaver Falls (because we had to at the water crossings) and I also had a little dip in the river on the way back from Beaver Falls.

The water itself wasn’t all that cold but the air outside was.

Can you have campfires at the Havasupai campground?

Campfires are not allowed at Havasupai due to the risk of wildfires.

Are dogs allowed at Havasupai?

You are not allowed to bring your dog to Havasupai, however, you will see plenty of cute dogs that belong to the tribe along the trail. We even had one that hiked with us for a short part of the hike out from Havasupai campground which was so so nice!

Is the water drinkable at Havasupai?

I wouldn’t drink directly from the waterfalls or the rivers, however there is a tap provided in the campground with drinking water. We used this to fill up our drink bottles and to cook with.

How many campsites does the Havasupai campground have?

There are not really a specific number of tent sites at the Havasupai campground. There is a large area where you are allowed to pitch your tent anywhere. We did notice that a lot of the space did have what resembled tent sites with lots of picnic tables.

You might also enjoy:

• Everything You Need to Know About the Climb Down to Mooney Falls in Havasupai
• How to Hike to Beaver Falls in Havasupai
• Did You Know There are 5 Waterfalls in Havasupai?
• How to Get the Most Out of 1 Day in the Valley of Fire State Park
• Instaworthy Valley of Fire Photo Spots + Our Camera Settings

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