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How Much Does it Cost to Backpack Havasu Falls?
Backpacking to Havasu Falls on the Havasupai Indian Reservation is a bucket list that comes with a pricey price tag compared to other backpacking trips. The permits alone were more than my flight to and from Seattle to get there. However, it is going to be one of the most memorable backpacking trips you ever do. Just requires some saving, is all!
Havasu Falls is located in Northern Arizona on the Havasupai Reservation. The falls are known for their vibrant blue-green color. This is where the Havasupai Tribe gets their name: people of the blue-green water.
In total, my four-day backpacking trip to Havasu Falls cost $2,117 for two people. There are some things that could have made the trip a little bit cheaper, but overall, the total cost of my trip was the minimum that someone flying into Arizona would have to pay if they had all the needed gear to complete this strenuous hike.
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Inside Havasu Canyon is one of the most iconic Waterfalls in Southwest America is the fifty foot falls, Havasu Falls. Fed by Havasu Creek, the canyon winds through the sculpted canyon to the Colorado River.
Campground reservations are hard to come by with an expensive price tag, but that doesn’t mean every aspect of the trip will be expensive. Here are some quick links you can use to book the other portions of your trip!
Quick Links
Flights: Catch your affordable flight to Las Vegas here!
Hotels: Find deals on Hotels in Las Vegas here!
Car Rental: Reserve your rental car here ahead of time!
Travel Insurance: Purchase travel insurance for peace of mind!
The reservation highly recommends you purchase travel insurance.
Havasu Campground Reservations: Head to the Havasu Reservation page to lock down your campground reservation!
Backpacking to Havasu Falls
If you’re not sure what Havasu Falls is, maybe your friend roped you into the trek, and you’re trying to learn WHY this backpacking trip is so expensive, don’t skip this section! I’ll answer some of your burning questions about the Havasu Falls hike, community, and pre-planning information.
What is Havasu Falls?
Havasu Falls is a gorgeous waterfall at the bottom of the Grand Canyon on the current and ancestral lands of the Havasupai People, just outside the Grand Canyon National Park. This beautiful blue-green cascading waterfall is contrasted against the bright orange rock surrounding the falls.
Getting to the falls includes a 10-mile hike into the canyon, where you can spend three nights sleeping under the stars and enjoying more waterfalls further into the canyon!
There are four major waterfalls along the route: Lower Navajo Falls, Havasupai Falls, Beaver Falls, and Mooney Falls.
When to go to Havasu Falls?
The trek into Havasu Falls is available between February and November! Depending on the type of weather and hiking conditions you wish to encounter. The water is around 71 degrees year-round! I thought they felt perfect on a sunny 70-degree day in March!
Spring Months: Cooler during the day and evening. Sunny with a chance of rain (or snow!). This backpacking route makes for an amazing early spring trip. April is the best time of year to complete the trip, in my opinion.
Summer Months: Hot! Trips get canceled when temperatures reach 103 Degrees. Monsoon Season can cause seasonal flash floods as well.
Fall Months: Warm days with cool evenings. Little precipitation.
Winter Months: The route is closed from December to February 1st.
Your best chance of completing the entirety of the hike without extreme temperatures and bad weather is during the spring months. The water temperature of the falls remains around 70 Degrees Fahrenheit year round!
How to get to Havasu Falls?
Before you make your way to Arizona for your trek, there are a couple of options on HOW to get to the falls from the parking lot. This decision needs to be made prior to your hike because they require reservations.
Backpacking
If you’re going to be carrying all of your own gear into the canyon yourself, you do not need to make additional reservations, and this will not cost any additional funds.
Hiking with Pack Mules
With a prior reservation, you can reserve pack animals that will carry your gear into the canyon. You will still need to hike from the Hualapai Hilltop parking lot to the Havasu campground and then back yourself. However, if you’re new to backpacking or just don’t want to carry your gear, packing horses are available for $400 round trip.
Per your reservation, you will have one packing horse that can carry no more than 120 lbs, distributed between four duffles.
For more information, read here.
Helicopter
The last option is to take a helicopter into Supai, Arizona which is two miles from the Havasu campground. For helicopter reservations, you will need to contact Airwest Helicopter.
Basic Expenses for Backpacking to Havasu Falls
The basics include necessary purchases for your trip to Havasu Falls. The major expenses of the trip come from permits, flights, and sleeping arrangements. Some can be split amongst multiple people, such as sleeping arrangements and rental cars!
Basic expenses cost $585 per person.
Flights
My flight to Las Vegas, Nevada, cost $505 on Alaska Airlines for my partner and me on a round trip. With a checked bag, $35 each way. There are two large airports that you can fly into for this hike: Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona. Depending on flight costs or what you would like to do before or after your flight will guide your decision between the two options. Flights were cheaper for me to fly into Las Vegas!
Hotel Before & After Trek
For two nights in hotels in Las Vegas, I paid $344.
I wasn’t originally planning on staying in a hotel at the end of my trek! Originally I had an 8pm flight out of Las Vegas the day that we were going to hike out. However, due to inclement weather on that day, we decided to hike out a day early and got a hotel room.
It was honestly the move. With how tired (and stinky) we were after our hike, it was nice to be able to shower, relax, and reorganize our gear prior to the flight. So I would highly suggest booking a hotel room before and after your trek.
Consider booking a hotel room the night before in Peach Springs. Staying close to the permit pick-up location will ensure you get an early start on the trail.
After your trek, it is up to you! You might want to stay in Peach Springs again just to avoid doing a 3.5-hour drive right after a ten-mile difficult hike. Just means you’ll have a 3.5-hour drive to the airport the next day!
Car Rental
While it did feel silly to rent a car for five days that I would only be driving for a total of 8 hours and some change, that was the route we took. I rented a Toyota Camry, and it worked great. You absolutely do not need to rent a large SUV unless you want to. A small four-door managed the roads great!
The car rental in total cost $202.
Food
For this trip, I made all backpacking breakfasts and dinners from scratch. For lunches, we ate ramen, dehydrated potatoes, and various snacks. You should consider bringing some sort of Electrolyte Drink Mix, like Nuun, to stay hydrated on the trail. I used an entire 10-serving pack during my three days.
In total, I spent around $50 on groceries, with some leftover ingredients for future backpacking meals.
Permits
The permits were the most expensive part of the trek.
At $455 a permit, this was an expensive four-day, three-night campsite! But it was beautiful!
The Havasupai permit is sought out by a lot of people and is widely considered one of the best hiking trails in the United States. National Geographic even designated the trail is one of the top 100 Trails to Complete in Your Lifetime. For a complete list of the top 100, check out their book here!
How to Get Havasu Permits
You need permits in order to do this trek, and walk-up permits are not available.
If you’re not sure how the permit system works, here is a short overview, but I will go more in-depth on it in my comprehensive blog post about Havasu.
The Havasu Falls Permits are on a lottery system where you will fill out a reservation form and pay a $30 fee at HavasuReservation.com. You can select multiple start dates in order to increase your chances of reserving a site. Note that if you get to choose any of the dates, that is your only option.
The Havasupai Reservation Website has moved to a presale reservation system, so the opportunities to complete this epic trail increase significantly.
Winning the Havasu Lottery
If you win the permit lottery as the trip leader, you will be notified by email AND your card will automatically be charged for the permits.
In 2024, the reservation allowed winners to cancel over a couple-week time period. Outside of that time period, canceled reservations will not receive a refund.
Posted Lottery Permits
If you did not win the lottery for permits, there is still a chance you can go! Once the lottery winners have confirmed their permits online, a schedule will be available online for people to reserve permits that have been canceled.
You can check this regularly to try and snag your permits the second time around.
Gear
If you do not own backpacking gear, this might be the most expensive part of your trip. Gear can add up quickly if you’re purchasing it all at one time. Consider renting backpacking gear for the trip or buying a couple of things and renting the rest.
Since I owned all of my backpacking gear for this trip, the only thing I needed to purchase in terms of gear was fuel. For a complete list of backpacking essentials, here is my guide!
Fuel
You are not allowed to bring fuel on the plane, both in a carry-on or checked bag. So, when you are planning your trip, make time to stop at REI or a local store with an outdoor section for a fuel canister.
A small fuel canister at REI costs $5.95.
Toilet Paper
While there are bathrooms at the campground, you should bring your own toilet paper. Many of the bathrooms lacked toilet paper by midday due to heavy use. Your best chance of avoiding the letdown of sitting down just to realize there is no toilet paper is to bring a bathroom kit with you, always with hand sanitizer, toilet paper, wet wipes, and some plastic baggies.
For a list of EVERYTHING I brought to Backpack the Havasu Falls Trail, check out my complete guide!
Cash or Credit Card
For purchases in the Supai Village, it is best to bring both cash and a credit card. While most credit cards are accepted at the Havasupai Lodge and general store, you will need cash for the Fry Bread stand just outside of the village of Supai.
Consider bringing around $50 cash in small bills per person for the duration of your stay!
Pack It Up
In total, for a trip to Havasu Falls, I spent around $1,060. All things considered, I believe this is the cheapest I could have made the trip unless I did not spend an additional night in a hotel or if more people went with it would split the cost of the rental car and hotel rooms.
The cost will vary for everyone depending on where they’re traveling from and during what time of year.
If you have any questions about planning your own trip to Havasu Falls, leave a comment! I’d be happy to help!
Meet the Author -
Sarah Borgen
I am an Educator and outdoor Enthusiast based out of Seattle and writer of Exploren Borgen! My adventures consist of weekends spent in the woods, on a hike, car camping, and taking a deep breath of fresh air. When not on an adventure, you can find me in a classroom teaching high school science! I love having a job that allows me to the opportunity to discuss things like conservation, sustainability, and accessibility.
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Meet the author
Sarah Borgen, AKA your outdoor bestie
I’m an outdoorsy educator and adventure advocate, which is why I’m passionate about creating resources – like blogs, guides, and interactive maps – to simplify your travels. I’m eager to share some of Washington’s greatest destinations and hidden gems with you.
