Supai - Havasu Falls (Page: renting, how much, camp)

[kdog]

Originally Posted by warm heatherette

Wow, awesome pic. We have to hike down there!?! I can hear my husband groaning now . Just curious - why would you drive 60 miles on a dead-end (dirt?) road just to look over the edge?

You're joking, right? Thousands of people do this every week just up the street at a place you may have heard of. The Grand Canyon.

Seriously the road is paved until a short dirt section at the very end, and the view there makes it worthwhile. But then again, I'm known to travel that far on all dirt roads, just to get a shot at a sunset. If you want to see a sample of my work, see this thread: http://www.city-data.com/forum/photo...pictorial.html

Oh, and yes. The hike down to Havasupai and back is very challenging.

[rambrush]

I was given a phone number to the village but so far no response back. maybe a bad #
Don't forget there is a helicopter parked up on top. some hike down and ride the chopper out.
Yes Kdog does get extreme jumps in his vehicle and off to Alamo lake mid afternoon. (Long dirt road there)

[warm heatherette]

Rambush, we are planning to hike in and copter out.
Kdog, those are beautiful pics. I'm truly impressed.
We too like to find places off the beaten track for a view or a sunset or a ghost town or a natural hot spring. Perhaps you could give us some pointers on places we should visit, aside from the obvious GC. This is our first visit to AZ. We're planning an 18 day road trip, landing in Phoenix on April 8. Rough itinerary:

Phoenix to Verde & Mogollon Rim area - 2 days
Tonto Natural Bridge down to Tucson, ghost town areas & Huachuca Mtns (Ramsey Canyon) - 2 days
Bisbee to Chirichuca, then up thru Safford, Morenci to White Mountains - 3 days
Painted Dessert & Petrified Forest (& Canyon de Chelly if we have time) - 1 day
Flagstaff to Grand Canyon to Supai - 5 days
Kingman to Willow Beach (hot springs below Hoover Dam) (& to Lake Havasu, time permitting) - 3 days
Sedona area & back to Phoenix - 2 days

Looking at it now, this looks rather ambitious within a limited timeframe. I wonder whether we can fit it all in. Any advice.

[motormaker]

I think this would be a tough see in 1 day especially Canyon de Chelly. Just too much to see IMO.

Sounds like a good trip, enjoy.

Painted Dessert & Petrified Forest (& Canyon de Chelly if we have time) - 1 day

[kdog]

Hmm, you have five days allotted for Flag/GC/Supai. And three days for Kingman, Willow Beach/HD/Hot-springs (I'm impressed you know about this). I might suggest pinching a day or two from the GC and WB/HD legs and throw in Page, AZ as well. Maybe trade that for CdC. Page is my favorite area in AZ. You have the slot canyons, Glen Canyon dam and Lake Powell, Coyote Buttes, Horseshoe Bend, and Toad Stools to name a few.

Glen Canyon Dam


Slot Canyons


Horseshoe Bend


Coyote Buttes

[warm heatherette]

More great pics! Slot Canyon looks similar to a canyon we went through in Death Valley, CA last year (Marble Cnyn?, Mosaic Cnyn?). I'll add Page & vicinity to the itinerary, and try to work in more time, 'cause you make it sound worth the stop. I think I agree that we will have to eliminate CdC - it's rather out of our way, and as Motormaker suggested, we would probably need a full day there. I thought we would need at least two nights in Supai - one for the hike and another full day to explore the falls & canyon. We're bringing our camping gear, so we thought we might rent kayaks at Willow Beach and overnight in the hot spring zone along the river - thus the extra days there.

We like natural, undeveloped hot springs. On vacations to CA and British Columbia we've sought them out. So I did a little investigative work for HS's in AZ. In addition to the springs below Hoover Dam, we plan to visit HS's in Verde and in the Safford, Morenci area. Most travel guides or books never mention them - I'm guessing the locals would like to keep them unspoiled and off the tourist radar, & I wouldn't blame them. In CA & BC we found some that had been closed or dismantled due to disrespectful 'people' (partiers, punks, delinquents, rednecks, etc.) who don't know how to pack out trash or think its fun to break beer bottles in them >sigh<

Anyway, thanks for the tips. Any & all advice is appreciated.

[rambrush]

As for the hot Hot Springs there is one (beleive its a hot spring not sure though) on the nevada side that has been closed because of the hwy construction. The Arizona hot springs is pretty neat but the park service was taking down the rock dams that formed the pools to sit in. There is a pretty neat ladder attached to the wall to get you from the lower to upper pools. The area gets a lot of use from the river traffic thus it can be crowded.
When you leave the parking area you hike down a huge wash walled in by rock sides. then when you get to the river hook a left and over to the springs. Coming out is all up hill in a sandy wash. We ran out of water coming out and it was not good..
Aggree with Kdog Page has some great things to offer the North Rim of the canyon is the best side in my opinion and you can circle around and back to vegas.

[kdog]

Why are you thinking the hot springs on the Nevada side are closed because of the highway construction, Rambush? They were open when I was by there last January in a boat.

Here's the Arizona hot springs with the ladder.


Once you get to the top of the ladder, you're in a chamber with a dammed pool.


We were there on a Friday and had the place to ourselves.

[rambrush]

See I cannot compete with Kdog he has a boat to gain access to remote sites.
The nevada side was closed because the access to the trail was blocked because of heavy equipment putting in that section on the nevada side.
Maybe its open now?

[kdog]

Actually it was RENTED boat, out of Willow Beach. Pretty fun way to spend a day. I wouldn't mind having a boat. But the wife in all her wisdom thinks it's cheaper just to rent one for the few times a year we'd use it. She's got a point there I guess.

So yeah, not sure about the trail on the Nevada side. But the OP should be fine kayaking in -- assuming they can make it upstream.