supai arizona

[BEAR]

Supai Arizona is the base camp to get into the Havasu falls. one of the most beautiful places i've seen in a magazine. Wikipedia says that it is the most remote place in the lower 48 states. they still get their mail by mule. and there are no paved roads. in fact you have to hike 8 miles to get into it. i say we find a way to drive. i've been looking at google earth and find some trails that looks like a 4x4 could make it down but some places get dark and its hard to make out the altitudes. but if all fails we could use our boots.

[Disco2Guy]

That looks crazy!! Here's a topo view from Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=supai+arizona&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=49.891082,113.642578&ie=UTF8&ll=36.238908,-112.683721&spn=0.025026,0.05549&t=p&z=15&iwloc=addr).

[HMBRover]

We did a Colorado River rafting trip in September and Havasu Falls is one of the places we didn't stop. I was really looking forward to it but it wasn't to be.

Havasu Falls and Supai are on reservation land - the Havasupai Indian Reservation. There appear to be three routes into the area. One on Long Mesa from the south that gets within about 2 miles from the falls. Unfortunately it's about 1500 feet from the top of the mesa to Havasu Creek level and no apparent routes down. The another way is from the east towards Havasu Springs but again it's on a mesa top and about 1500 ft to the creek. Third, the only road into the canyon is from the south to Hualapai Hilltop and then a trail which looks to be about 8-10 miles to Supai and another 2 miles to Havasu Falls.

But the real problem is getting permission to go in there at all other than the road to Hualapai Hilltop. Since it is reservation land the Havasupai get to decide what happens there. I've heard they are very protective of the area and of intrusions into their culture. Plus they gain revenue from visitors so they are probably not just let visitor wander around unsupervised.

Elderhostel runs a trip into Supai but you hike in and your luggage goes in by pack horse.

There is a motel and campground at Supai and a link to their website is HERE. (http://www.havasupaitribe.com) According to the website you have to pay an entrance fee per person plus camping or motel rates. Their access route is to drive to Hualapai Hilltop and hike in. Oh, and it's closed until spring 2009 due to a big flood they had in August.

I'm interested in such an excursion but I think it would be a mistake to violate any of the tribal restrictions on access or land use. Sounds like fun and it's one of my favorite parts of the planet.

[BEAR]

it would be a mistake to violate any of the tribal restrictions on access or land use. Sounds like fun and it's one of my favorite parts of the planet.[/QUOTE]

yeah i didnt realize it was a native american reservation. so that would be bad to bring in a bunch of LR's. and its an 8 mile hike to the town and 2 miles to the falls from there.

[HMBRover]

Reading more of their website, it sounds like they have even the hiking trails pretty restricted and limit the number of visitors at any one time. It's really doubtful they would allow a group to use any of the roads found on topo maps. Wouldn't hurt to ask, though.

That said, the hike in doesn't sound too bad. It's 8 miles to the village from Hilltop and per the topo maps, it looks like about a 700 ft drop from Hilltop in a half mile and then a fairly gradual hike the rest of the way down Hualapai Canyon. Coming out would be tougher since the steep ascent would be at the end of the eight miles. A day in and a day out and a day there to hike around and see the sights. Pretty much like the hike into Keet Seel in Navajo National Monument.

There are a few other interesting 4x4 trails in the area. One from the South Rim to a place called the South Bass trail head and the trail to the Colorado River down Bass Canyon. That one you cross Havasupai reservation land and may have to pay the fee but then it goes back into park land. I assume you can camp there but don't know if you need a park permit or not.

The others are on the North Rim. Toroweap Overlook trail from around Pipe Spring National Monument is a 60 mile or so pretty good graded dirt track. You wind up in the area above Lava Falls, one of the largest rapids on the river. The other one is Point Sublime which is off the North Rim access road. You can camp at Point Sublime but you need a backcountry permit from Grand Canyon National Park. I've been to both of those places and they are outstanding.