Havasupai – The Hike – Monai Adventures

This post is part of the “Havasupai – The Land of the Blue Green Waterfalls” series.

From the trailhead, also known as the Hilltop, there are no roads for motorized vehicles to get down to the Supai village and the Havasupai campground. You have to either hike or fly by helicopter to get there.
I’d argue that to fully experience Havasupai, one must hike the 10 miles of trails from the trailhead to the campground.
How else could you best realize how remote this place is; and how high, large and beautiful the canyon is when faced up close; and how hard the village’s supply train workers and mules have to work to get Supai residents’ needs into the village and the campground on a daily basis?

In this post I do not provide a very detailed set of hints on how to prepare for the hike or what to take, as there are plenty of other articles about it out there on the internet. I figured that by summarizing the hike and showing some the pictures of the trail, you would know what to expect and how to prepare for it.

The view near the Havasupai trailhead — The canyon view near the Havasupai trailhead

Getting to the Trailhead and Parking your Car

All of my hikes to Havasupai took place in early Spring and I got the hikes started right at first light in the morning. For that to happen, I had to leave the hotel at Peach Springs early enough to cover the 80 miles by car before dawn.

When you get close to the trailhead, you will notice cars parked along the road for almost a mile before you reach the end of the road to loop around. As you drive to drop the bags at the end of the road, keep an eye for a good parking spot along the way, so you know where to come back to park your car. With luck you will get a parking spot near the trailhead.

Preliminary check-in: The rules established by the Supai government keep evolving, so double check their website for whether or not you are supposed to show your reservation to somebody at the little cabin right by the trailhead. For my last trip in 2020 I had to show the reservations for my group before we hit the trail. Also, keep in mind that you will have to check-in by the Supai village’s tourism office later anyway. I’ve also seen Supai Rangers ask hikers for their reservations along the trail in the past, so keep you reservation handy for such occasions.

Hike !

IMHO, the 10-mile hike to the Havasupai campground could be summarized in 5 sections:

The Hilltop canyon zig-zags
The walk to the bottom of the canyon
The traverse of the Hualapai Canyon
The final stretch towards the Supai village – walking along the Havasu Creek
From the Supai Village to the Campground

So, take your time, enjoy the hike, yield the right of passage to mule trains and keep yourself very well hydrated during your visit.

Section 1 – The Hilltop Canyon Zig-zags

Havasu Falls trail — The descent of the Hilltop canyon through the zig-zags of the trail

Section 2 -The Walk to the Bottom of the Canyon

After you leave the zig-zags of the Hilltop canyon, you will walk all the way to the bottom of the canyon to complete the first 2 miles of the trail. Here you will see some of the most spectacular canyon views of the hike.

Section 3 – The Traverse of the Hualapai Canyon

This is the longest section of the trail. As you get to the lowest part of the terrain, the trail will make a 90 degree turn to the right and enter a canyon, the Hualapai Canyon. The canyon starts with not so high walls, but as you traverse it, you will notice that it narrows down and its walls grow substantially in height. At those narrow and high sections you will understand why it is dangerous to hike this trail during the monsoon months of the year and the involved risks of getting trapped by flash floods that may wash out through these canyon paths.

Havasu Falls Trail along Hualapai Canyon — Havasupai trail along the Hualapai canyon.

Section 4 – The Final Stretch Towards the Supai Village

Section 5 – From the Supai Village to the Campground

As you approach the end of the trail, you are gifted with a very nice view of the Little Navajo Falls and the Fifty Foot Falls in the background. Stop for a quick picture and plan to come back here for more exploration in the next day or so.

Havasupai Campground - Food stand — Right before the bridge that takes you to the campground and to the awesome view of the Havasu Falls, a food stand serves the famous frybread and other good eats, in case you feel like having a meal before setting up your tents in the campground.

The astonishing view of Havasu Falls, near the end of the trail: a great reward for the hikers’ efforts and determination

For a more detailed view of my descent from the Hiltop to the Havasupai campground in March, 2020, here is the GPS info of the hike:

Also, here is the link to the “Havasupai Adventure” interactive map, which shows the location of each one of the main points of interest in the Havasupai area.

Now you know what to expect from the Havasupai trail as you hike it to the campground.

Plan to get your body a nice rest on the day before the 10-mile uphill hike out of the canyon.

The next article in this series of posts talks about the Havasupai campground and what to expect for the camping experience there.

Enjoy your visit!