My Havasupai Falls Hike in 2011, The Aventure of a Lifetime

Most avid hikers have put hiking Havasupai Falls in Supai Village on their bucket lists. I hiked down to these Falls in 2011, and had planned to hike this magical paradise again in 2020 with three friends, however our reservations were canceled two weeks prior to our departure date due to Covid.

I thought I would document my experience in 2011 so I can compare it to my experience in 2021 or 2022, or whenever Supai Village opens up again.

I planned the 2011 trip with my Aunt who lives in Denver, CO. She was one of the few people I knew at the time that had heard about Havasupai Falls and was up for an adventure.

I was able to get a reservation at the Lodge after calling on my second attempt ( unlike in later years where many called over 100 times before anyone answered the phone). The rate at that time was $140 per night per room which was significantly cheaper than today’s rate of $660 a night with a required three night minimum stay.

We decided to stay for two nights as we had read about other lesser known waterfalls in the area that we wanted to explore while we were there.

We made the four hour drive from Glendale, AZ to Seligman and stayed one night at the Historic Route 66 Motel which provided clean accommodations. We also frequented a couple dive bars in this historic town, and enjoyed several draft beers while watching NFL football with the locals. Seligman is about two hours from the Trailhead.

We arrived at the Trailhead the following day around mid morning and made the eight mile hike down to the Havasupai Lodge. The hike down was relatively easy and the scenery was spectacular, but we found the last mile or so a little difficult hiking through thick sand.

We found the lodge to be very clean and the beds were extremely comfortable. We decided to rest for an hour before we hiked the two miles to Havasupai Falls.

Locals delivering supplies to Supai Village

Me standing in front of Havasupai Falls

The Falls were more beautiful than advertised and we stayed there for about an hour swimming and talking to other hikers before hiking to the other nearby Falls. We then hiked back to the Lodge and had a burrito at the local cafe, and played cards with fellow hikers. One of the highlights of our trip was meeting so many other fellow hikers, as many were college students from Northern Arizona University.

Little Navajo Falls

We hiked back to Havasupai Falls the next day and also explored Little Navajo Falls. We were in heaven as we spent the day swimming and hiking throughout the village. We decided not to explore Mooney Falls because we were having such a wonderful time swimming and because we were still a little tired from the hike down the previous day.

We got up early the next morning to hike the eight miles up the Trail back to our car.

The hike back was not difficult until the last couple miles which were pretty much straight up. However, if you are an avid hiker and rest often, you will have little trouble with the hike out.

We made the eight mile hike back !

We were pretty exhausted after hiking back up to the Trailhead and looked forward to rewarding ourselves with a huge breakfast. We drove the couple hours back to Seligman and enjoyed a huge breakfast at Westside Lo Lo’s.

Fast forward almost 10 years, I still enjoy hiking the magnificent trails around Arizona, and am looking forward to Supai Village opening up again soon. I was relieved to read recent reports from Supai Village that their residents have not tested positive for covid.

When I go again, I will bring more of my own food supplies as I found the local store to be a little pricey and I recall being constantly hungry. I will also bring instant coffee as the cafe at the village did not always open during advertised hours and I recall struggling a couple mornings without having my caffeine fix. And I will also take more pictures as the two dozen or so pictures we took in 2011 didn’t do justice to capturing our magnificent experience.

I plan to update this blog after my next Havasupai Falls hike and am hoping my next experience will be as wonderful as my first!

Kristi Pease is an active hiker and founder of Kristis Klimbers, a 501c3 non profit dedicated to supporting the cancer community. To view future blogs on hiking, please like and follow us on our facebook page, facebook.com/KristisKlimbers.