Travelers Are Trekking 10 Miles To See The Instagram-Worthy Waterfall Deep In The Grand Canyon

You've hiked 10 hot, dusty miles to see this vision unfold: A foamy white bridal veil jets out from vermillion cliffs, plunging into turquoise waters so vivid they seem to belong in an impressionist painting. Ringed by the leafy trees, mosses, and wildflowers of a desert oasis so seductively welcoming, you can understand why the tribes native to this region of the Grand Canyon consider Havasu Falls sacred.

The Havasupai Tribe in charge of this wonder has come up with a management method for ensuring that your backpacking trip to Havasu Falls remains a hallowed pilgrimage, and not a frantic free-for-all, while providing income for the 600-plus inhabitants of historic Supai, the 1,000-year-old tribal village nestled in Havasupai Canyon. To visit, you'll need to make a camping reservation up to a year in advance, and all are for four days and three nights — no more, no less — so you're really making a commitment to slow down and smell the sagebrush. For the privilege you'll pay over $400 per person as of this writing. (If you really want to make this trip an overnight, you can opt to stay at the Supai Lodge instead of camping, and even helicopter in and out, but that's another kind of trip entirely.)

If the high price of admission has you expecting a glampground at trail's end, think again. This is basic camping, with water and composting toilets available, and some but not all campsites may have picnic tables. Pack mules are available to help shlep your stuff down to the campground, but the price for those is dear, too, so we recommend treating this like a true backpacking trip and going minimalist. There's more than enough scenery to entertain you while you're here.

Although this is a canyon hike, don't think it's an easy downhill stroll — you'll actually gain over 2,000 feet in elevation along the way. Most of that is at the very beginning, so an early start in the cool part of the day is a good idea. After 8 miles of switchbacks and canyon views, you'll reach the village of Supai, where you'll find a small cafe and store. Order up a burger and fries or a taco served on frybread, or pick up (expensive) Gatorade and canned goods. Pro tip: You want to get an early start, so you can get to the village before they tragically run out of fry bread. Everything you're eating will be as expensive as if you were in Hawaii, since ingredients are brought in by mule or helicopter, and if you mail a postcard home from the post office in Supai, it'll be carried out by mule.

Being an earlybird will also help you snag a prime riverside campsite where the sound of the creek can lull you to sleep at night. But take the time for a short detour to visit Navajo Falls, a mossy, peaceful spot many visitors miss out on. From here, you will have to wade in chilly waters to get to Fifty Foot Falls, but it's worth it for the peaceful solitude of this hidden gem some consider to be the most magical falls of all. 

Scramble down below Navajo Falls, and you'll find a red sand swim beach where you can stand under the falls for a natural shower after your hot, sweaty hike. You'll get why Havasu Falls is widely considered one of the most incredible swimming holes in the world.

Between frolicking in the turquoise waters, hiking falls to falls, and lounging and basking in the sunshine and scenery at your campsite, you won't run out of oasis idylls here. "Next best place to heaven," writes one Tripadvisor visitor. "So bring a hammock, a sleeping bag, a campstove with a few Mountain House yummy freeze-dried meals and you will never want to leave."

The very first thing you should do on day two is rouse yourself out of your tent before dawn, to see the sunrise light up the red rock cliffs around the falls. You'll have more solitude than at any other time of day, too. And since alcohol is strictly forbidden on the premises, you should be in fine shape for an early morning.

If you're looking to get your hiking miles in and see waterfalls, there's plenty of opportunity. From the campground, you can hike down alongside Mooney Falls, a precipitous descent that involves ladders and chains to hold onto (pictured) — thrilling or scary, depending on your mettle. If it's a warm day, you'll be grateful for the mist from the falls cooling you along your way. Keep going, criss-crossing the creek through a leafy glen, and you'll find Beaver Falls, with several levels of pools in shades of jade and turquoise. Continue on, and you can make this day into a rigorous hike all the way to the confluence with the Colorado River, just bear in mind you'll need to come back up the same way you went down. While a rim-to-rim Grand Canyon hike is more strenuous, this less groomed terrain is arguably more treacherous — so maybe stick to chasing waterfalls on this trip.