It took 10 years for us to get back to this beautiful place. The goal was to actually go in the summer of 2020, but…that was not possible due to the pandemic. In case you’re not familiar with this place, this isn’t a National Park, but rather it’s land that belongs to the Havasupai Tribe within the Hualapai Indian Reservation in northwestern Arizona. Luckily (?), our permits were honored for this year to be able to make it back. They started accepting reservations to visit again in February of 2023 after closing in 2020.
The Hike
Getting there is part of the adventure. We drove from Southern California for about 5 hours to a pretty desolate place where the head trail is located. The roadmap to the place is as follows: drive to the head trail, hike or heli for 8 miles to the village of Supai, and then hike for another 2 miles to get to the campground. The good news about the getting there part is that it’s mostly all downhill to get into the village and the canyons. The other part of the good news was that it wasn’t as hot as it can get during the summer. This was during the Hurricane Hillary weekend, so it was mostly cloudy but humid as hell during our hike down.
The Village and Campsite
The village of Supai is pretty small, and taking photographs of the locals is kind of a no-no. I was able to sneak a few but tried to provide respect. There is a local store to buy a few goodies and groceries and a basic cafe with some basic food, ideal for the break. The campsite is very basic, but it does the job of staying close to the water.
First sign of the village as you continue down the trail. No pavement to be seen here!
The Waterfalls
