Havasupai, Supai, Havasu Falls: mention any of these words to an avid backpacker and their eyes instantly light up. Twice per year, tens of thousands of people from all around the world anxiously await their chance at obtaining a permit from the Havasupai tribe to visit their iconic blue-green waterfalls just outside of Grand Canyon National Park on the Havasupai Reservation in Supai, Arizona. Since the tribe limits the amount of visitors allowed on-site each day, permits sell out extremely quickly. If you are reading this, chances are, you probably know all of that already. Luckily, we have been through the process and (successfully!) scored permits both years we have tried. We have some tips we would like to share that will hopefully help you!
1. Plan Ahead. Obtaining lodge reservations and camping reservations are two completely different systems. Have an idea of what you want out of your trip and start researching accordingly. Visit the Havasupai Tribe Website for the latest information, talk to the people you plan on going with, and have an idea of how many people you are booking for, the dates, and the total cost of your reservation. Payment is due at the time of the booking for both the lodge (deposit) and camping (pay-in-full)!
Permits for the lodge go on sale at 8am Arizona time on June 1st for the following year and are available by phone only. This means, if you are planning on staying in the lodge, you will need to obtain permits at least 6 months in advance of your trip. Lodge reservations, like camping reservations, include all permits and fees to explore in the permitted areas of Havasupai and each room can accommodate up to four guests. However, unlike camping reservations, lodge reservations can be canceled for a refund given the proper notice listed on their website (and is subject to change at any time). The lodge at Havasupai is open year-round with some exceptions.
Permits for the campground are available on February 1st at 8am Arizona time via the Havasupai Reservations Website. When booking a camping reservation, you are making that reservation for that same year (the campground is open February through November). There is no limit on the amount of people under one reservation and all reservation fees are due at the time of booking. Additionally, one person must be named the "primary permit holder" on the reservation and, new in 2018, you are allowed a "secondary permit holder" to be named on the reservation in the case that the primary reservation holder is not able to be present at the time of check-in. If both the primary and the secondary permit holders are not present at check-in, the entire reservation is forfeited. This means that if you book for a group and both primary and secondary permit holders aren't there, the rest of the group will not be able to go! The tribe does not allow cancellations, transfers, or refunds on camping permits so choose your permit holders wisely!
2. Be Flexible. Dates, dates, dates! The more flexible you are on your dates, the better chance you will have at booking. This gets more difficult the larger of a group that you have (I'll touch more on this later). In any case, you should always have a 1st choice date, 2nd choice date, and a last-ditch-effort date (hint: it's usually easiest to get camping reservations during week days in February and for colder months in general).
3. Recruit Help. I can't stress this enough - the more people you have helping you, the better chances you have at scoring a reservation!
When booking the lodge, your best bet is to have every person in your group calling a different phone line until someone gets through. Pro tip: download an auto-dialer app on your cell phone that will redial for you until someone picks up.
When booking the campground via their website, if your reservation is available and you select it, the site will hold it for up to 8 minutes. This gives you 8 minutes to coordinate with your people on who is going to actually pay, enter your information, and check out.
Remember earlier when I said that booking gets more difficult the larger of a group that you have? There are several ways to increase your chances of securing a permit for a larger group and they all involve recruiting more people to help you!
One way to increase your chances of booking a large group is, instead of having one person booking for the entire group, have every person in the group on the reservation site trying to book right when the website goes live. This increases your odds that someone in the group will be fast-fingers-malone and secure the reservation for everyone. Since you have 8 minutes to check out while the site holds your reservation, your group has a few short minutes to figure out who is going to be the one to actually complete the registration process so that you don't double-book. Pro-tip: have a couple of people in the group trying for different dates in case your first-choice isn't available.
Another way is to split your group into "teams" (the smaller the "team", the better) and designate a "leader" on each team. Each team should be split in terms of familiarity in the case any team books a separate date from the rest, they would still be happy going as their own small group. Have each team trying for their own reservations.
4. Be Prepared. Set calendar reminders and alarms prior-to and the day that the site/phones go live. Have your payment information ready and make sure any people that you have recruited to help you are ready to go! Make sure you are on the site exactly at 8am on the dot (Arizona time - remember, Arizona does not observe daylight savings time so in the winter - when you book - Arizona is on Mountain Time with Salt Lake City and in the summer, Arizona is on Pacific Time with Los Angeles). When booking from the website, try clearing your cookies before the site goes live so that you don't get a cached version of the site when it's time to make your reservation.
5. Don't give up! If you follow every single one of these tips, there is still a chance you won't score and that's okay! There are other ways of getting to Paradise!
Guided permits are available through companies like Wildland Trekking Company that will take care of all of your camping necessities for you (including tents, food, etc.), set it all up, and be there as knowledgeable guides in the case you want to do a certain hike and aren't sure where to go. It's a bit costly but totally worth it if this is a bucket list trip.
If you're not looking for a guided trip, you might want to try joining the Havasupai and Havasu Falls Facebook Group. This group is an awesome resource for anyone looking to hike Havasupai and, from time-to-time, people will have extra slots available in their reservation and seek group members to join them. Now, you can't up-sell your reservation for more than you paid for it (if you're caught, the tribe can cancel your reservation and ban you from future trips) but you can invite others to join you and pay you for the cost of that permit.
Keep calling! We've heard of people scoring reservations later in the year just by calling and asking... it's totally worth a shot! If you don't get through the first time, try-try again!
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| Beaver Falls in September 2017... totally worth the work to get there, right?! |
So let's recap; our five top tips to score a permit to hike Havasupai are:
1. Plan Ahead
2. Be Flexible
3. Recruit Help
4. Be Prepared
5. Don't Give Up!
We hope this helps you score! And for those of you who have scored, what would you add that we may have missed? Leave your ideas in the comments!
Happy Hiking!
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