Complete Guide to Visiting Havasupai with Kids

The day had finally come; I was at the Hualapai Hilltop trailhead getting ready to set out. I had left my group to use the outhouse and when I came out, a woman waiting in line started talking to me, “Did you see those people with the young kids? They have two little kids! They have like a backpack thing to carry them in and they’re going to bring them down with them. That’s totally bada$$! I can’t believe they’re bringing their kids, that’s so hardcore!”  I smiled sheepishly and responded, “…those are my kids.”

Are you planning a trip to Havasu with your kids or wondering whether or not to bring them along on this adventure? If you’ve never visited the land of blue-green water and endless waterfalls, then you are in for a treat! We were fortunate enough to visit Havasu twice before we had kids and just recently made the trip with our 4 (almost 5) year old son and 6 year old daughter. We went on this adventure with both sets of the kids’ grandparents and it was incredible! With the right preparation and considerations, making this trek with kids can be absolutely amazing!

Let’s look at some of the key things to consider when bringing your kids to Havasupai.

SHOULD WE BRING THE KIDS?
If you’re like us, you may have been asking yourself this question for a few years. The tribe recommends that you do not bring young children. Their website used to list 5 as the youngest acceptable age, but now they leave the interpretation of “young” up to you. For us, the timing felt right when the kids were 4 and 6. Each time we had considered the hike before this age, we didn’t quite feel right about it, but then the day came where we just felt excited about bringing the kids! There are families who have had amazing experiences with bringing younger kids to Havasu and many others who recommend waiting until they’re older – ultimately, you know your kids best and, with a few considerations, can make the best choice for your family. Here are two questions to consider that might help you in making this decision:

1. Can your kids walk for 10 miles or can you carry them?
If you and your kids are avid hikers, or if you are used to carrying them then this will be no problem. We hike quite a bit as a family, but we still had to train for this one! We went into the hike hoping that the kids would do a lot on their own, but we also brought our Deuter Kid Carrier II to give them a rest when they needed it. Our kids are incredibly light and we knew that in the absolute worst case scenario, we would be able to carry them the entire hike. Thankfully this wasn’t the case! The hike in took us 7 hours and we carried the kids for only 1-1.5 hours each.

2. Are you okay being 10 miles away from medical help?
There are no medical facilities in Supai and the only way to be evacuated quickly is by helicopter (which isn’t always available). If you have any medical concerns or aren’t willing to take this risk, then you may want to reconsider this trip. Our son has asthma; when he was 2 we had to take him to the ER a few times because he was having trouble breathing – Havasu was out of the question. Fast forward to now, his asthma is well-managed with puffers and his pediatrician had no concerns with us taking him. Many families take their children on backcountry hiking or canoeing trips where medical treatment is unavailable. Take precautions, bring a first aid kit and practice safety in all of your activities.

If you’re feeling good about bringing your kids, then it’s time to get planning! If you’re not quite there yet, don’t worry, revisit these questions in a year or two and see if the timing is right for you then.

GETTING PERMITS
To visit Havasu, you must have a permit. You can secure a permit by making a reservation at the Havasu campground (available online Feb 1st) or lodge in Supai (available by phone on Jun 1st). We have always stayed at the campground, but if camping isn’t your thing, the lodge looks pretty great too. I was going to write a full post about how to get permits for Havasu, but the information is so vast and ever changing that you really just need to set up an account online and read through the extensive information they have available there. If you are bringing kids 6 years or younger, I would suggest calling the office in Havasu to see if you need a permit for them (when we went in 2019, no permit was required for children 6 years or younger). It may take you 50-200 tries to reach someone in the office by phone, but I would suggest getting a verbal confirmation on this one.

TRAINING FOR HAVASU WITH KIDS
Here are some things you can do in the months leading up to your Havasupai trip to make sure you and your kids are physically prepared for your adventure

• • Get good shoes
    If your kids are going to be walking on their own, they’re going to need a pair of good hiking shoes. You’ll want to buy the shoes far enough ahead of time that your kids can break them in, but not so far ahead of time that their feet will grow into a new size before you go (a tricky balance!). We originally bought hiking boots for the kids on sale. These were good for our 4 year old, but our 6 year old started complaining on longer hikes that they were hurting her feet – definitively not something we want to be dealing with on the hike to Havasu! So, we went out and bought her some Merrell Trail Shoes. They are amazing!

• • Walk, walk and walk some more
    We decided the best way to prepare our kids for Havasu would be to practice! We wanted to walk often enough that long walks just became normal. Heading to Grandma & Grandpa’s? It’s only an hour, let’s walk! Walk around town, walk to school, hit the trails. Get in as many miles as you can. Break in those little shoes and strengthen those legs!

• • Get active
    If you’re not already active as a family, now’s your chance! I was doing some hill running as part of my training and brought the kids out with me a couple times. They had fun running down and around the hills. We also climb as a family (this came in handy making our way down to the bottom of Mooney Falls). Get out, try new things as a family and increase your endurance!

• Have your kids carry their gear.
  When you’re out on your hikes, preparing for Havasu, have your kids carry whatever gear you’re going to expect them to carry to Havasu. We had a lot of our gear taken to the campground by mule, so the amount we had with us on the hike was very reasonable. We decided that we would have the kids carry their water, a snack and their sweaters on the hike. Every time we went for a hike leading up to Havasu, we make sure the kids had their hydro packs on. We learned some things by testing this out ahead of time (eg. don’t let them drink all their water at once or they’ll need to stop for 80 pee breaks) and the kids got used to carrying the weight. If your kids are old enough to carry all of their gear into Havasu, you might want to practice with a full load only a couple times, but it would still be good to load up and try it out!

WHAT TO EXPECT

• On the hike in…
  

Make sure you get a good rest the night before you hike in. We have always stayed at the Hualapai Lodge and love it there! They have a nice pool if you arrive early enough to enjoy it and, for a small fee, they can have a bagged ‘hiker’s breakfast’ ready for you super early the day you hike out. Make sure you leave early in the morning. We were getting to the trail head just as the sun was coming up. It was still a bit cool, but perfect timing to be setting out in October. If you are hiking in summer months, you might want to leave before the sun is up to avoid the mid day heat. The trail starts with a section of switch backs; the first mile in is also one mile down. The path changes between sand, gravel, rock and dirt. The hike took us 7 hours in total – find a good balance between stopping for breaks/playing on the rocks along the way and keeping up a good enough pace to get to the campsite!

We packed our lunch and lots of snacks for the hike. We also decided to have the majority of our gear muled into the campground. Before going with kids, we had carried all our gear ourselves once and used the mules once. When we carried our gear in, we found it harder to enjoy the experience as we hiked in and we wanted to make it as enjoyable as possible while visiting with the kids.

[There is some controversy surrounding the treatment of animals on the reservation, but from what we have seen this has greatly improved in the past few years. The animals seemed healthy and did not appear to be overworked. There are very strict guidelines about how much they can carry (as a family we sent 2 duffel bags, 32lbs each) and this service provides income for the residents who make the runs.]

This is not a hard hike, it’s just long. After the switchbacks at the beginning you continue downhill gradually the entire time. Make sure you take time to enjoy the beautiful canyon as you go!

• At the campground…

There are no designated spots in this mile long campsite that stretches from Havasu Falls to Mooney Falls. There are many picnic tables throughout the area, so snag one of those if you can. The most spectacular camping spots are right along Havasu Creek. There are even some spots on gorgeous little islands where you can set up camp. We had a really hard time finding a spot this time; the campground was very full. They only let 350 people visit per day, but sometimes there’s overlap with people arriving early and others leaving later. With little kids, the thought of being camped out right beside a rushing river was something I had been dreading, but at this point, we just wanted anywhere to set up our tent. Eventually we ended up finding a spot near the entrance and it was absolutely perfect. We were about the 2^nd or 3^rd ‘site’ from the ranger station and were on the opposite side of the canyon from Havasu creek. There was a little creek flowing at the bottom of the canyon wall through our site, so the kids could play in the 6” stream without me worrying at all! There are 3 compostable toilet bathrooms in the camp (one at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end). These are surprisingly wonderful (for a remote bathroom in the middle of nowhere). We could see the bathroom from where we were which meant the kids could both go on their own – bonus!

• The waterfalls…

There are 5 main waterfalls that people visit in Havasu. You will pass 3 of them on your hike to the campground. Each time we’ve gone we have been able to explore more of them and on this last visit, with the kids, we were able to spend time at all 5. The main waterfall is Havasu. I have no words. I cried the first time we turned the corner and saw its magnificent beauty. This waterfall is located just a few minutes’ walk from the entrance of the campground. Havasu Falls is a great place to hang out with the kids, swim and explore.

The next two waterfalls (which are actually upstream, about ½ mile hike back towards Supai) are Little Navajo Falls and 50ft Falls. Little Navajo Falls is incredible and gets lots of sun all day. I wouldn’t want my kids playing right at the top of the falls as many adults do (with the buildup of sediment it’s actually relatively safe), but there are many cascading pools leading up to the falls that are amazing for swimming and playing in. It was a bit chilly in the water in October and our kids opted to just stay on the beach and had a great time playing in the sand!

If you explore upstream a bit from Little Navajo Falls, you will find 50ft Falls. You can access this falls by going through the creek, but there is also a small overgrown trail that leads right to the bottom of it… just keep going and you’ll find it. This falls was unbelievable! I definitely felt like I was somewhere tropical, not Arizona!

There are two main waterfalls past the campground, Mooney Falls and Beaver Falls. To get to these falls, you need to scale down the side of the cliff. It is doable, but super sketchy. I wrote more about this experience here if you’d like more information. Please take extra caution when deciding whether or not to bring your kids down here; if you’re not sure about it, spend some more time exploring the first 3 falls. Mooney Falls is 200ft tall (higher than Niagara Falls) and is absolutely beautiful.

As magnificent as Mooney is, my favorite part of making the climb down is exploring the creek downstream. Beaver Falls is another 2 miles past Mooney Falls and is my all time favorite hike. Make sure to wear your water shoes as the trail weaves in and out of the creek. We got the kids’ water shoes used and spent $10 on the water shoes for us adults – we wore them all day and they were great. There are a few different trail options on the way to Beaver Falls, but they’ll all get you where you’re going. You’ll pass over bridges, through the creek and even through what looks like a jungle! When you get to the palm tree against the canyon wall, stick to the right, under the branches and then you just have a few ladders up and then down to get to the falls. If hiking all the way to Beaver Falls sounds like too much to do with the kids after all the hiking you’ve already done, just spend some time playing in the creek downstream from Mooney Falls. The entire hike is just 2 miles of cascading waterfalls!

We visited Havasu, Little Navajo and 50ft Falls on our first full day in the canyon and then went to Mooney Falls and Beaver Falls on our second day. We were planning to take the helicopter out of the canyon, so it made sense for us to save the bigger hiking day for our second day there. If you are hiking out with your kids, you might want to explore the closer 3 falls the day before you hike out to rest up instead.

The falls are relatively safe if you use normal water safety. Keep an eye on your kids, don’t let them out of reach if they can’t swim, don’t swim behind the falls, don’t jump off the falls… you get it.

• The hike out…
  So as I’ve mentioned, we didn’t hike out, we took the helicopter! Sure, we could have done the hike, but we still had a long trip ahead of us with lots of hiking and a helicopter ride over Havasu canyon is awesome! If you are doing the hike out, make sure you start early – some campers leave as early as 2am in the hottest summer months. Keep your kids close, there are many creature out at night. The first mile of the hike is uphill, but then it levels off (a bit) until the end. The last mile of your hike will be the hardest, but just take it at a pace the kids can handle and you’ll get there! Have some water and a treat ready in your vehicle at the trailhead for something to look forward to. Good luck – you can let me know how it goes!

• The helicopter…
  The helicopter only runs a few days a week (less in the colder months) and is primarily for locals’ use. The helicopter will not fly if it is too windy. Even if you plan to take the helicopter, you need to be prepared to hike out, just in case. The helicopter system isn’t really well documented anywhere, so I’ll do my best to explain the process. Campers arrive early to the village (my parents and I left our campsite at 5:15am, Graham and his parents stayed to pack up and let the kids sleep longer). Campers start a lineup by the helicopter pad – be polite and fair. Somewhere between 8am-10am someone will come out with a clipboard and you sign up in the order you arrived. The fee in 2019 was $85/person (plus $10 if you were paying by credit instead of cash). Then you wait. You might be waiting for a while, so be patient. The way the lineup works is that the locals have first priority and then the campers. Any local who comes by gets to take the next helicopter out. The helicopter also does some cargo runs with no passengers. So, even if you are next in line, you could be waiting a while. There is a basketball court and a very small climbing structure, so our kids had somewhere to run around and play. There were many other campers around and we were able to have some great conversations with other people visiting the canyon. We were about 12 people back in line and were able to get a ride out before noon. Flying over the canyon is an amazing experience. You can see the path that you hike in on and tiny little hikers below. I believe you can also arrange a helicopter ride in to the village, but I don’t have any details about this and would highly recommend you do the hike at least on the way in if you can as it is absolutely amazing. Some people say if you don’t hike in and out carrying your own gear, you haven’t done Havasu right, I say do what works best for you and your family!

  

• Wildlife
  There is some fun wildlife to see in Havasu Canyon (big horned sheep!) and some not so fun wildlife (tarantulas). The canyon does have tarantulas and scorpions, but they are mainly out only after dark, so don’t worry. Do shake your shoes out in the morning though, just to be sure! We saw many big horned sheep on our hike to Beaver Falls, so keep a look out for them on the cliff walls and in the bushes. The most unexpected animal we saw was a…. mountain lion!!! It was on our last day, while I was hiking back to the village with my parents before sun rise. We saw the eyes up in the bushes ahead and made loud noises and walked tall as we passed by. The eyes followed us as we walked by, but it didn’t move at all. My dad and I picked up large rocks and didn’t set them down again until we reached the village. I was happy knowing that the kids would be hiking that stretch in day light. I have heard of other mountain lion sightings, but again, you just need to be cautious. Don’t let your kids get too far away from you on the trail, don’t hike alone at night and don’t run away if you see a mountain lion. The most intrusive animals in the canyon are the squirrels and the raccoons. If you are not incredibly diligent, they will eat through everything and get your food! The first year we camped in Havasu, we accidentally left a bag of trail mix in our tent overnight and the critters chewed through our tent and ate some of the mix. You need to find a good way to store your food and any other scented items (including toothpaste, lotion, etc.). You can buy Rat Sacks and hang them, bring in a bear canister or hope that there are buckets available at the campsite. We chose to put all of our food in big Ziplock bags and try to find buckets at the campsite. We found one bucket at the ranger station and then I scoured the campground and found two more. We stuffed all of our food and scented items in these buckets and then wedged them under the seats of our picnic table. I couldn’t even get them out on my own! There were people camping near us that were not so fortunate, so be diligent with food storage.

• Other campers…
  I would say 99.8% of the other visitors in the canyon responded positively to us having young kids there (there was just one grumpy old man). Our kids aren’t babies who cry all night anymore, but I mean, they are kids and kids sometimes play loudly and run around. We met so many amazing people on our short 4 day adventure here. The lady who first spoke to me at the outhouse ended up being our best friend on the hike in. The kids would give her high fives whenever we passed each other and they loved running into her around the campground. Her whole group got to know our kids and got in on the high five game! Our neighbors in the campground were friendly, as were those we met along the trails and at the different falls. Our son, Lincoln,  filled his hat with caterpillars and would show his collection to anyone who walked by our site (there’s another animal to add to the wildlife list – there were hundreds of them). At one point, a group walked by and someone said, “Hi Lincoln!” None of us knew these people, but somehow they knew Lincoln! We were always respectful, made sure our kids kept off of other campers’ sites, didn’t let them get too loud and would always call them back from hanging out with other campers unless the response was, “Oh, we don’t mind!” I love seeing my kids get to know such wonderful people, it adds so much to their experience! We saw two other families with kids (ages 8-12) while we were visiting Havasu.

  

PACKING
Whether you’re hiking your gear in on your back, using a mule or taking the helicopter, you will want to pack as light as possible. Leave all your luxuries at home, you won’t need them and the kids won’t need any toys. We went in October and weren’t sure what the weather would be like. If you are traveling in a different season, adjust your list accordingly.

Here is a list of all of the things we brought for our kids to Havasupai.

Clothing:
– shorts (2)
– T shirts/tank tops (3)
– pants (1)
– fleece sweater (1)
– socks (1 wool, 1 cotton)
– underwear (4)
– pajamas (track pants and long sleeved shirt – we brought day clothes to wear as pjs in case they needed to wear them during the day too)
– hat
– bathing suit
– hiking shoes
– water shoes (these are a must – we brought closed toed water shoes and hiked in them all day down in the canyon)
– flip flops (we were glad we brought them and wore them around our campsite, but they could be cut if you don’t have the space)
– coat (optional – we didn’t bring coats, but we were prepared to if it was super cold at the trail head)

Camping Gear:
This is not an exhaustive list of camping gear, but rather a list of what you will need to bring for your kids in addition to what you would normally bring for yourself (eg. you will still need a tent, stove, etc.).
– sleeping bags (we didn’t bring sleeping pads for the kids, but we did for ourselves)
– pillows (lightweight compressible pillow – optional)
– headlamp (we brought 2 for the 4 of us)
– microfiber towels
– hydro pack backpack
– bowl or plate (we brought 1 bowl each and used it for every meal)
– spork
– water bottle
– mug (optional – it was October, so we brought hot chocolate for the kids)
– first aid kit (including lots of band aids and any medicine you might need for your kids – we brought kid’s chewable Tylenol tablets).
– puddle jumper (totally optional – our kids are still learning to swim and I’m a little nervous with them around water. Since we had our gear muled in, we were more concerned with weight than space and so it was no problem to bring these. You are not allowed to bring floating devices such as tubes, but we had no problem bringing these. If the kids were a bit older and confident swimmers, flotation devices wouldn’t be necessary).

Toiletries
You can all get away without showering for 3 days, but you’ll still want some basic toiletries for your kids.
– toothbrush
– toothpaste (we put some toothpaste in a small container to save space/weight)
– hair brush & elastics (might not be necessary, we have really long hair thought so we got a tiny lightweight brush to bring)
– Kleenex/toilet paper (the bathrooms are usually well stocked, but we brought a small roll just in case)
– lip chap (if you’re not used to Arizona, it is super dry!)
– hand lotion (I didn’t bring any, but used my mom’s and wish I had brought some)

Food
For breakfast and supper we mainly brought dehydrated meals. They’re lightweight and easy to prepare. The brands we ate were Mountain House, Backpacker’s Pantry and Alpineaire. We made sure that all of the meals we brought could be made in their bags (less cleanup and you can be boiling water for coffee while your meal re-hydrates).

• Breakfast
  – instant oatmeal packs (we counted on 2 pack each for two meals = 16 packs)
  – Mountain House Breakfast Skillet x2 (so stinkin’ delicious!)
• Supper
  – Dehydrated Meals (we brought two different dehydrated meals for each supper, this was enough for our family. We also brought one dehydrated dessert, cinnamon apple crisp – mmmmmm.)
• Lunch/Snacks (these were fairly interchangeable)
  – pitas (bagels or wraps would work well too)
  – packs of honey & peanut butter
  – dehydrated guacamole
  – pepperette sticks
  – beef jerky
  – granola bars
  – trail mix (we made our own mix with ingredients from the bulk store & included some M&Ms)
  – a little bit of candy (a nice treat for the kids on the trail)
• Drinks
  – water (bring enough for the trail, there is no water for 8 miles. At the campsite there is a spring you can use, we chose to still filter this water using our gravity filter.)
  – hot chocolate (for the kids)

So, there you have it! Hopefully you feel more prepared to visit Havasu with your kids. If you have any questions, we’d be happy to help… I could talk about this place all day long. Enjoy!