The Havasupai Falls Hike: From the Permits to Havasu Falls

I'm Jared Dillingham at this Oasis in the desert Southwest notoriously difficult to get to before you can set your eyes on Havasu Falls you'll need to hike 11 miles and before the hike you'll need to buy a permit from the Havasupai tribe after picking up your permit and wristband it's an hour drive up from historic Route 66 through the Hualapai and the Havasupai reservations where you'll have to be on the lookout for cattle and Elk especially at night your first destination is the Hualapai Hilltop parking lot it's usually full so you'll likely have to park alongside the road [Music] the ranger office but no Services no water so bring all your water with you before leaving town they do have a composting Outhouse here the sign says eight miles to the Village of Supai 10 miles to the campground but it's more like 11. the tribe does a great job maintaining the long series of switchbacks you'll hike down into the canyon these will be the worst part of the hike back up in a few days [Music] they sell around 100 permits a day so the trail is never really crowded the scenery is beautiful the whole way aside from the trash people toss aside the trail changes from packed sand to loose gravel which can be a bit of a struggle to walk through so the hike in to Havasupai Falls is very pretty in itself so our bags are about 40 pounds each they're a bit heavier because of all the camera equipment and batteries that added to our total weight normally people try to come in with about a 30 pound bag of 35 pound bag regardless of the weight if that does not appeal to you hiking 10 miles with 35 pounds on your back there are ways to get around that and one of them is coming around the corner right now fuels have been a part of life for the Havasupai tribe for hundreds of years there are no roads into the village of Supai so the mules carry supplies in which if you look closely you could see that includes Amazon deliveries these days they also carry bags of tourists for a few hundred dollars they'll carry 32 pounds of your gear round trip animal rights groups encourage hikers to carry their own things saying the pack animals are mistreated years ago posting disturbing photos of neglected mules which also Disturbed members of the tribe size and weight limits are in place and hikers who choose this option have to reserve their mule way back when they book their reservation the other option [Music] is a flight in on a helicopter which the tribe also uses to haul supplies this is less of a guarantee since the helicopter does not fly daily and you cannot reserve a seat you have to show up in the lot sign up and wait your turn personally I under the hike the giant Boulders and rock formations and all the desert scenery there is little to no water along the way you may find a trickle from a spring which you can drink if you have the right kind of filtered bottle if you can hold off until the Eight Mile mark That's when you catch your first glimpse of the more appetizing Blue Waters of Havasu Creek which you'll follow through the village and into the campground one thing I can't show you is the village of Supai because photography is strictly off limits there I could tell you it's home to five or six hundred people they have a market a church a school with about 70 kids grades k through eight and they're building a pretty big Medical Center in town as well the only vehicles in the village are ATVs which are flown in in pieces and assembled here after the village you have two miles left and along the way you'll pass little Navajo Falls which you can go back to visit later perfect welcome to the campground and from here you go find the perfect Creekside spot to set up your camp keep in mind if you're planning a trip to Havasupai Falls in the future gets really hot in the summer you'll run the risk of monsoon flooding by late June through the rest of the summer and remember during the winter it actually snows here so keep all that in mind as you make your plans I'll see you next time [Music]

Channel: Jared Dillingham

Views: 10,448

Keywords: jared dillingham, Jared Dillingham travel, havasupai hike, havasupai hike out, havasupai hike 2023, havasupai falls hike, havasupai falls hike 2023, havasupai falls hike tips, havasupai hike tips, havasupai helicopter, havasupai mules, havasu canyon, havasu falls, hike to havasu falls, havasupai trailhead, hualapai hilltop, little navajo falls, havasupai falls camping, havasupai campground

Id: K3iDWxQlUlQ

Length: 4min 55sec (295 seconds)

Published: Mon May 08 2023