2020 Step By Step Guide to Visiting Havasupai and Havasu Falls

by Benedict Dughoff

The 2020 Step by Step Guide to Visiting Havasupai and Havasu Falls is the most complete and up to date resource for visiting Havasupai and Havasu Falls. It is packed with essential information, insider tips, fascinating historical context and all the changes that are new for 2020. The Havasupai Native American Indians are original inhabitants of The Grand Canyon, which is recognized as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. For over 700 years the indigenous Havasupai farmed, cultivated and sustainably stewarded the Canyon’s South Rim natural settings. When president Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 “In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world”, this sentiment had a lot more to do with the Havasupai's impact on it than he may have realized. The Havasupai Tribe’s traditional territory stretched all the way from Havasu Canyon and its picturesque Waterfalls in the west, to Flagstaff’s mighty San Francisco Peaks in the south, and bordering fertile lands shared with the Hopi and Navajo in the east. The Havasupai are also the original Grand Canyon trail builders and explorers of some of the most astounding features of the Grand Canyon, and in particular some of its best springs and waterfalls. Their Canyon enhancing legacy can still be enjoyed today in the form of Bright Angel Trail, the most traveled trail down in the Grand Canyon. They built its original version to be able to spend time at their homes down at “Indian Garden” (and also up on the Rim), in what is now part of the main tourist destinations in the Grand Canyon National Park. Later, tourism entrepreneurs and the National Park Service expanded on the original Havasupai trails and opened up the unparalleled wonders of hiking the Grand Canyon to the rest of the world. For dozens of generations the Havasupai spent their winters living and hunting up on the South Rim plateau, and summers farming below the Rim, primarily in the area around which is now Supai Village. They were self-sufficient and cultivated rich traditions and a vibrant trading culture. Encounters with Euro-American “outsiders” over the past 150 years have drastically impacted their territory (it is now a fraction of its previous size) and way of life, and nowadays their primary source of income is tourism, mainly by making their world famous waterfalls available for public visiting. In 2019, over 200,000 people from all over the world attempted to make a reservation to visit Havasupai/Havasu Falls, with over 95% of those trying to make a reservation attempting to obtain one on the first day campground reservations opened up for the year. Only a fraction of them were able to obtain a permit, mainly because the Havasupai have strict daily limits on campground spots and on the number of visitors that are permitted to be on the Reservation at any one time. Day trips are not allowed. Visitors must either obtain an overnight camping, or lodge reservation in order to visit and recreate at Havasupai. It takes determination, thorough preparation, good health and fitness, patience and flexibility, and maybe most importantly, being a good and respectful guest of the Havasupai people when granted the honor and permission to spend a few days in the heart of the Grand Canyon and at one of the most beautiful places on earth! This guide is part of the Grand Canyon Guidebook series; written, compiled and edited by Benedict Dughoff. Benedict Dughoff is the Executive Director of the Grand Canyon Trails Association (GCTA) and co-founder of the largest group of online Grand Canyon communities in the world.

659 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 29, 2020