Off the beaten path

Roughly 5.5 million tourists visit the Grand Canyon each year, but few realise that this vast abyss is home to a tiny village hidden 3,000ft in its depths: Supai, Arizona. Located eight miles from the nearest road and tucked deep inside a valley at the bottom of Havasu Canyon, Supai is the most remote village in the US’ 48 contiguous states.

The only way to reach Supai is by helicopter, mule or an eight-mile hike through dizzying switchbacks, soaring sandstone pinnacles and sheer cliff drops. In fact, the village is so isolated that it’s the last official place in the US where the post is still delivered by a train of mules each day.

But for those willing to veer off Route 66 in Peach Springs, follow a desolate road 67 miles to the Hualapai Hilltop and walk down a cliff, you’ll discover one of the Grand Canyon’s most sublime secrets: a stunning oasis of five spring-fed waterfalls set against a nearly two-billion-year-old backdrop. Shangri-La? No, this is the ancient home of the Havasupai Native American tribe, which has been quietly living inside one of the world’s seven natural wonders for more than 1,000 years.