Well, this is one of the most fascinating hikes I have ever done. Supai village sits 8 miles from the trailhead in the Grand Canyon. It is a working village where people live year round. The Havasupai tribe has about 650 registered members and 450 of them live in the village. Most of them earn their money by packing in supplies for the village and guiding tours around the area. If you go to the village, you have two options for lodging. I wouldn't recommend a day trip, because to see the sights you need at least one day. Either way you choose, you have to make reservations, and I can provide the numbers if you need them. The village has a lodge with 24 rooms and AIR CONDITIONING, or you can camp at the camp ground 2 miles past the village, with no A/C. We went in August, and it was around 105 degrees in the canyon, so the A/C felt nice. The campground can accommodate probably 40 sites. They are spread out too, not like a KOA.
The first thing that surprises you is the remoteness of the trailhead. It is about 65 miles from civilization, and that town is Peach Springs. The closest REAL town to the trailhead is Kingman, AZ, about 120 miles away. The trailhead sits out in the open and is just as hot as everything else around it. People constantly come and go, whether it be the Indians or tourists. The Havasupai people are quite friendly and welcome people to stay with them. The town in itself is a marvel, just seeing all the things they have brought into the canyon. Anyway, about the trip.
Once you start on the trail, follow it down, and I mean down for about 1.5 miles. This gets you close to the bottom of the canyon. Coming back this way makes up for your easy start. Once you stop descending rapidly, continue on the trail, actually an old dried up river, for another 6.5 miles to the village. There is only one way to get lost, so it is real easy to follow. When you get to a junction on the trail, you can go into two canyons, left or right, make sure you go left. After this junction you can see the creek running down.
Now that you are in the village, what else is there to do? Well, you are about 2 miles from the closest attraction, but it is worth the extra mileage. Continue on the trail for 2 miles to Navajo Falls. This set of falls is set back from the trail and you have to traverse the creek to get to it. The creek is blue-green in color due to the heavy concentration of limestone it contains. The water is like nothing that I have ever seen!
Two tenths of a mile past Navajo falls sits Havasu Falls. This is the first dramatic set of falls that you will see. It plunges around 250 feet and has a large pool at the bottom (make sure to take your swimming suit). The falls are gorgeous and you approach them from the top and go down around them to the bottom.
After Havasu falls, you pass through the campground and go another 0.8 miles to the top of Mooney Falls. This set of falls is just as dramatic as Havasu and plunges just as far. Seeing this set of falls is easy, getting to the bottom of it is dangerous! The trail winds down the mountainside very steeply, and I wouldn't recommend going much farther than you have to. There used to be another set of falls named Beaver Falls 1.5 miles past Mooney, but the flood in 1990 virtually destroyed the creek that low in the canyon, thus, no more Beaver Falls.
The only other attraction past Mooney Falls is the Colorado River, but that is 6 miles past the falls, 9 from the village. Plus, the farther into the canyon you get, the hotter it gets.
The falls alone are enough to make you want to go to Supai, plus just seeing the way these people live. The have everything they need in the village, and are content with not having some of the modern day conveniences. The whole experience is exhilerating. One added feature that I didn't mention is the dogs running around the canyon. They really don't seem to belong to anyone, and roam around at will. We had one follow us up from the village for about 4 miles. If you have a dog around and don't know whether to cross the canyon or go up the rocks in front of you, follow the dog! They know the way better than anyone else could.
