An old railroad and lumber-mill town given a new lease on life by an influx of students at Northern Arizona University, and by the usual array of ski bums and mountain bikers attracted by the surrounding high mountain wilderness, Flagstaff (pop. 52,894) is an enjoyable, energetic town high up on the Coconino Plateau. The natural beauty of its forested location has meant that, compared to other Route 66 towns, Flagstaff was less affected by the demise of the old road. That said, it still takes pride in the past, notably in the form of the Museum Club (928/526-9434), at 3404 E. Route 66, an old roadhouse brought back to life as a country-western nightclub and ad-hoc nostalgia museum. There are also dozens of vintage neon signs along the old Route 66 alignment: Check out the Western Hills Motel and the Grand Canyon Cafe downtown, and the Flamingo Motel five blocks west. (The Flamingo has been known as the Flaming Motel since the “o” burned out on the sign.)
Flagstaff also has a pair of non-Route 66 related attractions. First and foremost of these stands on a hill at the west end of Flagstaff, reachable from the west end of Santa Fe Avenue (old Route 66): the Lowell Observatory, established in 1894 by Percival Lowell and best known as the place where, in 1930, the planet Pluto was discovered. A visitors center (daily in summer, shorter hours rest of the year; $4; 928/774-2096) has descriptions of the science behind what goes on here—spectroscopy, red shifts, and expanding universes, for example—and the old telescope, a 24-inch refractor, is open for viewings 8–10 pm most nights in summer.
The other main draw, the Museum of Northern Arizona (daily; $5; 928/774-5213), perches at the edge of a pine-forested canyon three miles northwest of downtown via US-180, the main road to the Grand Canyon; extensive exhibits detail the vibrant cultures of northern Arizona, from prehistoric Puebloans to contemporary Hopi, Navajo, and Zuni.
Downtown Flagstaff has more than enough espresso bars—probably a dozen within a two-block radius of the train station—to satisfy its many multiply pierced, twenty-something residents. There are also ethnic restaurants specializing in Greek, Thai, German, or Indian cuisine, so finding suitable places to eat and drink will not be a problem. For breakfast and lunch, it’s hard to beat Kathy’s (928/774-1951), a cozy café at 7 N. San Francisco Street.
Accommodations, too, are plentiful, and you can pick either the motel with the most appealing sign or step back into an earlier time and stay at the classy old Hotel Monte Vista ($50–70; 928/779-6971 or 800/545-3068), right off old Route 66 at 100 N. San Francisco Street. It was good enough for Gary Cooper and has been restored to its Roaring Twenties splendor.
For more-complete listings or other information, contact the visitors center (928/774-9541 or 800/842-7293), right downtown at 1 E. Route 66.
