Havasu Falls Report
 

Just back from a great trip to lovely Havasu Falls. Here are some of the highlights. Feel free to add any comments or questions.
Flew to Vegas and rented a van with 4 of my buddies. Drove 4 hours or so to Peach Springs and stayed at the funky, Grand Canyon Caverns Inn. Nothing special but the rooms were clean and warm. The Caverns exploration was a fun and interesting 45 minute trip. Ron our guide was a very funny dude! Supper up near the Caverns was the best dang burger I have had in a while. And they let us shop the gift shop with our beers while we were waiting for our supper! Drinking AND shopping! Yahooo!
The next morning at the crack of dawn we took off for the 1 hour 10 min drive to the Hilltop parking lot at the trail head to the Supai Village. The drive was fine and paved the whole way. Watch out for early morning deer and jackalope! The parking lot was smelly and crowded. This is also the starting point for the mule trains (thus the smell) and the helicopters. There is a trailer where you can buy sodas and water if ya want. The first mile and a half of the trail is the switchbacks. Not too hard and not too steep. Give way to the horses/mules. The views are terrific too. The last 6 1/2 miles is walking thru the dry creek bed. Not too bad on the way down but hella sandy and hard on the way out! The canyon walls get pretty narrow at times and it is beautiful. The Supai Village is a little Indian Reservation nestled in the canyon. These people were VERY poor but most were really nice. There were a couple of the men and young punks who made us feel a little uncomfortable but overall they were very nice. I was suprised at the amount of trash that was strewn about. Never understood people who just liter for the heck of it. We stayed at the Supai Lodge. A nice and clean 24 bed place. The airconditioning ,clean beds and showers were livesavers!
The little cafe served yummy indian tacos and a good cup of joe in the morning. Look for the little brown house to get some ice cream delights! The next day we hiked on to the 3 falls, Navajo, Havasu and Mooney. Hiked all the way to Mooney and then worked our way back. Mooney Falls had a series of tunnels and chain ladders etc to manage to get to the bottom of the Falls. If you are afraid of heights this might not be your cup of tea. Some of the steps are really far apart and you have to rely on the person below you to guide your footing at times. But it was well worth the effort and turned out to be my favorite part of the adventure! At the bottom be sure and look for the rope swing! Very fun! We swam in each of the Falls on the way back. Each had their own special characteristics!
There had been a flash flood the night before and you could see the reminents of camping gear (from campers who tented too low). The campground looked nice yet primitive. There is fresh water available in the campground too if ya need.
The hike out was icky because of all the sand/pebbles of the dry creekbed, but really do-able. We started at 5 am with headlamps to avoid the heat of the day. Turns out it only took us 4 hours to hike out! But that sand was not fun! We each took at least 3 liters of water for the one way trip. Most of us also had gatorade/ecelerade like stuff too. There is NO water on the way in or out!
It was a great adventure!
Susie

Thanks for this report!!
My husband has been wanting to do this...how did you book everything, guides, etc.?

Didn't need or use a guide. The trail is clearly marked. Made reservations for the lodge via the tribes website. Book early as they fill up fast. I booked in March for August!
Have fun!
Susie

Thanks for the report! I've wanted to do this as well but not sure the kids (girls 7 &12) would be up for all the hiking. Your thoughts? Also, how far is it from Vegas to the start of the hike down?

Pumpy,
It took us around 4 hours to drive from Las Vegas to the trail head. As far as little kids go....unless they are really into hiking, you might want to ride the mule or take the helicopter. It was a long hike! I am not sure I would bring them but I have no kids so it is hard for me to judge. It was hard for us adults ranging from 29 to me, 44 years of age!
Use your bes judgement but I would lean towards no on the hiking part.
Good luck
Susie

I LOVED this hike! I think it's one of the most beautiful places in the country.

Pumpy - I don't think this is appropriate for 7 & 12 unless they are VERY (and I mean VERY) hardy hikers. It's a LONG hike. And the hike down to Mooney Falls requires chains and is nearly vertical in spots.

I think one the craziest things I've ever seen is when we were walking back out, and reached those switchbacks (which were slowing us down b/c it was starting to get really hot), we passed a family. Mom, dad and about 2 y.o. kid. The dad was pushing one of those jogging strollers. We were stunned that anyone would ever attempt this. They were just leaving to come down at around 11am, it was already hot, the kid was already complaining (they had only done a mile!) and I knew they had all that sand to slog that bulky stroller through. For lack of a better word, I think it was a really stupid thing to attempt with a jogging stroller and a kid that young, especially in the heat.

Wow! Great trip report. I've always wanted to go. This one's a keeper!

Thanks for the great report. This is something I've always wanted to do, however my husband is not able to do that kind of hiking. Does anyone know more specifics about how to find out information on the mules or helicopters ... do they go both in and out to Havasu Falls?

The tribe has horseback trips -
http://www.havasupaitribe.com/horses.html

What's the a helicopter flight in and out run?

I paid $75.00 one way back in 2001 for the helicopter.

I hiked down. It took me about 4 hours. The worst part is trying to walk in the loose sand.

The helicopter pilot just happened to be near the road whilst I was walking by and I asked him how much to fly me out and he told me $75.00.

I wasn't ready right then, but I caught the next flight (he was bringing in supplies and it takes several trips)

It was worth the $75.00 for the views you see from the helicopter, let alone not having that hike OUT of the canyon.

Keith

Does anyone have more specifics on the helicopters, i.e., who to call ahead to make arrangements. I'm thinking about mule one way and helicopter the other --- mules in and helicopter out?