Total Isolation
Arizona, USA
The most remote community in the contiguous United States. You reach it by hiking, mule, or helicopter.
The Forgotten Atlas — Field Report
The most remote community in the contiguous United States. You reach it by hiking, mule, or helicopter.
Supai is the village of the Havasupai people, located in the Havasupai Canyon — a side canyon of the Grand Canyon — at 1,000 metres below the canyon rim. The 450 residents are the Havasupai, whose name translates as "people of the blue-green water." The water is the reason: Havasu Creek runs through the canyon past the village and over a series of waterfalls — Navajo Falls, Havasu Falls, Mooney Falls — before joining the Colorado River. The creek gets its extraordinary turquoise colour from the calcium carbonate in the water. The falls are among the most beautiful in North America.
You hike ten miles to reach Supai. The first view of Havasu Falls — turquoise water falling into a turquoise pool surrounded by red canyon walls — is the most dramatic single image I have encountered in the American West.
The Forgotten Atlas
Supai has no roads connecting it to the outside world. Mail, supplies, and visitors arrive by foot, mule, or helicopter. The 10-mile trail from the Hualapai Hilltop trailhead is the only ground route in. The Havasupai tribe operates a campground and a lodge in the canyon and manages all tourism on their land. They have done so with increasing care for the fragile environment — floods in recent years have altered some of the falls, and the tribe has periodically closed the canyon for ecological recovery. Check access status before planning.
Havasu Falls, a kilometre downstream from the village, is the iconic image — a 24-metre drop into a turquoise pool large enough to swim in, surrounded by red sandstone walls. Mooney Falls, another kilometre further, is 45 metres — the tallest in the canyon — accessed by a vertigo-inducing descent through a tunnel and down a cliff face with chains and footholds. The pools at the base are extraordinary. The further you walk downstream the fewer people you encounter and the more spectacular the canyon becomes.
Permits are required and limited. Book through the Havasupai Tribe tourism office — they open reservations months in advance and sell out within hours. Pack everything in and out.
The tribe's community. The store, the tourist lodge, and the starting point for the falls trail. Treat it as a community you are visiting, not an attraction.
The iconic waterfall. Reach it 1km past the village. The swimming here is extraordinary.
The tallest fall in the canyon. The descent to the base requires nerve. The reward is a pool and a canyon almost entirely to yourself.
5km downstream from Mooney Falls. Almost no visitors reach it. The most beautiful and least photographed section of the canyon.
The only restaurant in the canyon. Navajo tacos and basic American food. Open for limited hours. Eat before you leave the rim.
The campground has no food facilities. Pack everything you need for your stay. The weight going in is the only logistical challenge.
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