This is the Hopi Salt Trail, a hidden aqua blue oasis deep in the eastern side of the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is one of the natural wonders of the world and it is a mild deep 277 miles long, 18 miles wide and it is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. In this video I'm going to tell you everything you need to know to find, hike, and visit the beautiful oasis that is the Hopi Salt Trail to the little Colorado River. If you've seen photos of aqua blue water beneath staggering canyon walls it was likely to have a soupi which is a very popular and commercial travel destination. However, this hiking trail that I'm going to be going over in this video is over 50 miles east of Havasupai and it's really off the beaten path making it a great place to add to your hiking and travel bucket list.

This is the perfect day hike or backpacking trip from Page Arizona. Page is an absolute hub for adventure. There's so much to do and see here including Lake Powell, Horseshoe Bend, Analop Canyon, Toadstool Houdus, and more. From Page, the Hopi Salt Trail is a 90 minute drive. You're going to drive about 45 minutes south of Page and then just a few miles north of Willow Springs you're going to turn west onto a dirt road. You'll then drive this dirt road for about 15 miles until you reach the Salt Canyon Trailhead. Maps are definitely wrong a little bit on here so it is good to use the offline maps but it's very easy to get lost as there's a handful of side dirt roads with no signs or guidance so we were kind of cross-checking our Google Maps and our all trails maps. To hike this trail you're going to need a permit which is $12 per person per day.

You can contact the Navajo Nation at the little Colorado River Tribal Park. The phone number two obtained a permit is 928679-2303. They make it extremely easy. I believe you can get a permit online but both times we've done this trail we did it over the phone which is great because you can ask them any questions you need prior to doing this trail. For example you can ask them about the water conditions and if the water is actually blue because the first time we did this trail it was during the spring runoff and it was the one week of the entire year where the water color was mud-brown and it's brown. This is the bust you're never going to see this footage anyways. What the fuck? So yeah definitely good to ask this while you're making your permit. You do need to print your permit which we did at the page library for like two dollars since obviously we don't travel with the printer.

You should have two paper copies print one for your car and print one to have with you in your backpack. The trail is accessible 24-7. There's no gates or anything however I would not recommend hiking at night but I also wouldn't recommend hiking mid-day. I think the best time to hike in is in the early morning around sunrise and the best time to hike out is a few hours before sunset or if you overnight camp then early the next morning. And if you are going to make the tough journey down to the little Colorado River you might as well camp overnight because this has to be one of the coolest places I've ever camped. This is such an awesome place we just really didn't want to be limited to one single day so we made the call to bring all of our stuff even though that meant having 55 pound bags between all of our camera gear, food and water and all of our camping gear.

And I will also add that this is a trail probably better visited in the spring or fall. Summer I think would just be way too brutal. We did this both times in the spring. First things first this is on Navajo Nation land and this is an extremely sacred place to the Hopi tribe. It goes without saying you need to visit with the utmost respect to the locals. This is their land and we are just visiting so we made sure while we visited that we practiced leave no trace please leave no trace and respect this trail to help preserve the pristine waters and environment and do not abandon your trash. Everything you pack in needs to be packed out and do not use any bug sprays or sunscreen that can contaminate the water. We use sunscreen on our faces and shoulders but we never swam more than knee deep and also there are no drones allowed.

You are actually outside of the National Park boundary by a few miles but you are still on Navajo land and there are no drones allowed on Navajo land so please respect this. Both times we've done this trail we drove my Toyota Corolla and it was fine both times. That is until our second drive out where we hit a rock that was much taller than it looked. It really messed up my car and smashed something underneath but we were able to snail our way back to page where thankfully it was just a $100 fix. I thought my car had a really big problem but thankfully there was just something that got smashed and it just need to be restrained out and that's what was causing the issues. This was totally my mistake thinking the rock was smaller than it was. It's a pretty manageable drive. It's just very very long on a dirt and gravel road but any car can make it.

But I will say it would be safe to pack a few extra jugs of water, snacks and a spare tire if you want to be extra safe. So all trails has this hike at 8.4 miles round trip with 2755 feet of elevation gain but I would take that with a grain of salt. When we did it we recorded on all trails and gravel and both times the specs fluctuated more than they have for any other trail we've done so I would plan for 8 to 11 miles round trip and I'd say the elevation gain is appropriate but it is very difficult trail. You will drop into the canyon first descending all the way to the river and then hike the elevation gain when you're returning back to your car. Although the trail is not well defined there's a lot of route finding and navigation issues and there's a bunch of rocks scrambling including class 3 and class 4 climbing so the trail takes much longer than your typical 9 mile hike.

It's very easy to get lost on this trail and in many places it's very exposed with huge drop offs and loose rocks everywhere. It's a difficult hike and I don't say it lightly when I say it's probably not for the casual hiker. It's a better fit for those with more backcountry experience and route finding skills. It is 100% worth it. I just want to give everyone a heads up because we severely underestimated this hike the first time we did it. At the bottom of the canyon the little Colorado River meets the Colorado River around 10 miles west of where we camped and this is called the Confluence where the two rivers meet. We did not make it over there but I'm sure it's amazing and this is just around the border of the Grand Canyon National Park. Also once you're out exploring the river getting in the water and just hiking around watch out for quick sand like mud.

It's very easy to get stuck. I only had flip-flops and it was a bad move on my part and there was even one point where my foot sunk in almost 10 inches. Beware I just went in like a foot. I had flip-flops and it was a bad move on my part and there was even one point where my foot sunk in almost 10 inches. Beware I just went in like a foot. Here's what you should have while hiking this trail. The first aid kit, sunscreen and bug spray that can't contaminate the water or just don't use it if you're planning on swimming. Shoes with good traction for the difficult trail and the rocks scramble in your own counter. Water shoes if you have them, hiking poles, sunglasses, a hat, lots of snacks at least three liters of water and you must must must have a water filter. However much water you think you're going to need for this trail, you should double it and if you're backpacking it's going to be a non-negotiable that you have a water filter.

We use the cadet in filter just a heads up though. The water is pretty gross. Honestly some of the grossest filtered water I've ever drank and when we went it was hot water so just be ready for that but definitely don't want to drink this unless you have a water filter. And most importantly tell someone where you're hiking, send them the trail info and tell them when you'll be back. I would highly recommend taking some sort of GPS tracking device with an SOS feature. We use the Garmin Inreach. To help honor the local Hopi Tribe you can donate to a local Hopi Focus Community Preservation or Enrichment project, Hopi Charity events or consciously shop at local Hopi owned businesses. Please respect this land. It is sacred for native indigenous peoples. To help preserve this special land you can sign a petition at SaveTheCompluence.com and this will help say no to some of the Hydro Storage projects that are being proposed.

Anyways guys thank you so much for watching. I hope you liked this video. If you have any questions please leave them down below and if you like this video please subscribe to the channel and check out my other travel guides.