Havasu Waterfalls (Arizona)

Havasu Waterfalls of Arizona is also called Waterfalls of Havusupai. It is located Supai, Havasupai Reservation, Grand Canyon National Park, Coconimo Country. It takes a good deal of effort to get there but the reward is worth it. 

The hike to Havasu Falls begins at Hualapai Hilltop, about 100 miles from Seligman, the nearest town. Many people stay at Seligman the night before hiking into Havasu, then get up early and drive to the hilltop. We stayed at Sedona, a 3 hour drive away (it was free for us, to stay with my parents there). The first 1.5 miles of the hike is a steep descent down to the bottom of Hualapai Canyon (1000 ft. elevation loss). Remember this descent because you will have to go back up it when you climb back out of the canyon (at the end of a long 10 mile hike). The rest of the hike is mostly flat (6.5 miles to the village, or 8.5 miles to the campground). It is an absolutely beautiful hike along the bottom of Hualapai Canyon, an amazing experience hiking through a steep canyon with the cliffs towering above you. But it is also a long hike. It seemed that the canyon was never-ending. We kept looking around the next corner for the end of the canyon, where it finally joined up with Havasu Canyon and creek, but it never seemed to come. Eventually though, you will reach Havasu Creek. From there it is about a 1.5 mile hike to the village of Supai, as you hike through Havasu Canyon now, along Havasu Creek. Havasu Creek is one of the most beautiful creeks we have ever seen, with amazingly clear blue-green waters. 

The name "Havasupai" means "people of the blue-green waters", and it is easy to see where this name comes from.

The water temperature of about 70 degrees remains relatively constant throughout the year. It's high mineral content and carbonate precipitate account for the pools and natural dams. The in-frequent floods repeatedly destroy many of these natural dams, but day by day and year by year they are constantly being reformed.

When water percolates through the limestone layer it picks up high concentrations of carbon dioxide. This, in turn, can dissolve carbonate rocks in the groundwater. Once out of the ground and the water is not longer pressurized, the carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, allowing the dissolved calcium carbonate to precipitate to form striking travertine benches.

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