3-Day Backpacking Trip to Havasupai Falls

My friends and I recently went on a backpacking trip to Havasupai Indian Reservation. It was my first time backpacking, and I was really nervous about carrying 30+ lbs of weight on my back. However, the views almost made me forget about all the weight on my back.

3-Day Itinerary

We stayed at Havasupai for 3 days and 2 nights. I would have to say it’s not enough time to enjoy the waterfalls, so try to stay another day or two if you can.

Day 1

On Day 1, we left early from Hualapai Lodge in Peach Springs, 1.5 hours south of the trail head, and drove to the trail head. From the trail head we started our journey down to Supai. The first 2 miles of the hike were on a steep hill, but it was a little bit easier to descend with some switchbacks.

Throughout the way we saw amazing views of the Grand Canyon, up close and personal.

In the morning it was quite breeze on Hilltop, but it quickly got warmer as the sun rose higher and we started working up a sweat hiking. Luckily, there was a lot of shade along the way (and it was October), so it didn’t feel that hot. After the initial descend into the valley, we were hiking mostly on flat ground.

8 miles into the hike, we go to the village of Supai, where we had to check in at the office and pay our entry and campground fees. For the 2 nights stay and the entry fee, we paid $81.40 per person. After paying we received a wristband to wear for the rest of the trip.

From Supai Village, we had another 2 miles to hike. There was a gradual descend towards the campground (keep this in mind for the trip back up), and we encountered our first waterfall – Navajo Falls.

It was very tempting to jump in, especially after our long hike, but we were eager to make camp before it got dark, so we hurried along and promised to return.

Right before getting to the campsite, we finally saw the world-famous Havasu Falls. And it was spectacular! The beautiful blue-green colors of the water set in the Havasu Canyon with the sun slowly descending behind it was quite the sight to see. A picture speaks a thousand words, so here it is. They even added a picnic table in the middle of the water! #nofilter

After 5 hours of hiking, we finally made it! The campground is first come first served. You can make camp anywhere you want, and we arrived early enough (~3 PM) that there were still plenty of spots to pick from. After we made camp, we quickly made our way back to Havasu Falls for some play time before it got dark.

 

We ended our first day looking at the bright shiny stars in the sky. Absolutely gorgeous!

Day 2

We made our way to Beaver Falls, 3.5 miles below the campground or 7 miles round trip. Some of us even went as far as the Colorado River 7 miles away from the campground, or 14 miles round trip. The journey to the Colorado River is beautiful but super aggressive for a day hike, so I suggest leaving super early to make sure you have time to get back. We didn’t leave early enough and we spent a lot of time taking pictures so my friends who went to the Colorado River had to hike back in the dark for the last miles (I do not recommend doing this – it’s quite dangerous!).

The hike to Beaver Falls was good enough for me, so that I did not attempt to go all the way to the river. Mooney Falls is quite close to camp, so it was the first waterfall we encountered on our way to Beaver Falls.

To reach the bottom of Mooney Falls (and you will have to if you want to get to Beaver Falls), you will need to descend the chains, ladders, and bolts down a 200-foot tall cliff. It was scary! I would even say it felt scarier and less safe than the cables at Yosemite’s Half Dome!

Like the day before we passed through with the promise of coming back later to play….

After Mooney Falls, we encountered 3 water crossings. And yes you will need to take off your shoes and actually walk through sometimes knee deep water. It was fun at first, but taking off shoes and putting them back on got old…Water shoes would have been helpful!

 

And then finally, we reached Beaver Falls! Beaver Falls was quite unique. Instead of one large waterfall, you have many smaller cascading ones. Because of this there are many areas for you to swim and play in. To get to the different areas, sometimes you have to do some climbing….

On our way back to camp, we stopped at Mooney Falls and played. There was a make shift swing by the cascading falls, and one of us jumped in with the swing!

We had a plan to swim in every waterfall we saw that day, but it was quite ambitious. At the end of the day we were not able to play much in the water except at Mooney Falls.

Day 3

We started our day early so we can have enough time to drive back to Las Vegas before it got too late. The journey back up was a little bit more painful than the way day, especially last uphill at the end of the hike, but we made it! The hike back to Hualapai Hilltop took us ~5.5 hours, which wasn’t too bad. Whew!