Flagstaff, Arizona: energetic and epicentric

You’re confronting that odd intersection on the map where California, Nevada and Arizona all scrunch up together, trying to shape a travel plan. So what do you do?

Las Vegas is a mythological American city which exists to separate you from your money as efficiently as possible. Hotel rooms are designed to be uncomfortable enough to motivate you to flee downstairs to the casino to gamble your savings away. A glitzy, showy and expensive place, you’ll find the cash machines dispense only $100 bills. It’s an oasis of manufactured distractions, noise and illusion on a grand scale. People go there to misbehave.

Lodgings at the nearby Grand Canyon compare to shoeboxes with revolving doors, rudimentary enough to allow a decent night’s sleep, but only temporary portals to the range of organized activities available at the overtouristed national monument. You will find heritage inns within the park, and nearby big-brand hotels which could easily be in Cleveland or Tampa or Philadelphia—the cookie-cutter theory of accommodation. You don’t go to the Grand Canyon for luxury spas or fine dining. You go to hike and to gawk.

But a few hours southeast you’ll find Flagstaff, an old community (est. 1881, population 76,000), which sits 7,000 ft above sea level at the base of the Ponderosa-forested San Francisco Mountains. It’s an easy half-day drive from Vegas and an altogether different and infinitely more satisfying cultural experience. Freight trains still rumble through the centre of town. It has elements of a college town, a western movie set, a hippie enclave, a lumber camp, a railroad town, or a latter-day Indian trading post. It’s situated at the western frontier of Navajo lands, close to many natural attractions. Home of the sprawling and modern Northern Arizona University campus, it appears to be a world capital for tattoos and piercings and a stronghold of counterculture.

‘Flag’—in the local parlance—is experiencing a revival as the city works to reinvent itself as a culinary destination. It’s still possible to live like a cowboy and locate a hearty ribeye and fries and wash it down with a local microbrew at the Northern Pines Steakhouse. Vintage shops and boutique coffee brands abound. Ancient signage, second-hand stores and heritage buildings can be found in the very interesting old town area which straddles the railroad tracks parallel to historic Route 66. Every Sunday morning an outdoor farmers’ market next to the hypermodern city hall attracts a colourful crowd, where you’re advised to seek out Adam Arp’s distinctive mesquite honey or nibble on snacks from a wealth of esoteric food stands.

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Hungry cowboys order a ribeye and fries at Northern Pines
 

The Flagstaff farmers market happens every Sunday morning next to the City Hall
 

Old ‘Flag’ has a rich mix of vintage signage and architecture
 

Classic roadside motor court, still in operation
 

Abandoned Georgian style mansion in old Flagstaff
 

Enlightened sentiments in a coffee house

 

Lodging in Flagstaff presents few interesting options. While there’s an historic hotel in the old town, its website admits the rooms can get noisy most nights owing to the adjacency of popular honkytonks. The commodified chains have mid-range locations, nothing to get excited about.

But High Country Motor Lodge, a recent renovation of a classic Howard Johnson motor inn, has a lot to offer the intrepid traveller stopping over for a short stay. First, it doesn’t feel like 123 rooms surrounding a central court with a swimming pool. Lucire prefers smaller getaways—during our visit, the fully occupied property didn’t feel crowded at all, even with a wedding party celebrating in the bar, game room and side dining room. We took happy note of three free-standing Cosmic Cottages, which feature a queen bed and a more spacious, modern bathroom. There are also two king bed suites on offer. The renovation, rendered in dark wood and forest green tones evokes the feel of a lumber camp, with subtle and relaxing colours. Inviting public spaces boast lots of comfy seating inside, and very cozy firepits off the bar area. A super-friendly and helpful team keep the place humming, and a no-nametag policy invites introducing yourself to them. It’s always good to be known at a place—and to be able to ask a new friend for directions, recommendations, or the loan of a throw blanket for the chilly night air is a huge plus. This is a property set up to bring people together, safe for women travellers, ideal for solo travellers, and pet-friendly. Adventurers, ramblers and those with a passion for the outdoors will appreciate the youthful and slightly irreverent vibe.

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The courtyard of High Country Motor Lodge has a view of Ponderosa forest
 

Three Cosmic Cottages are the most desirable lodgings
 

Watercolour of a Cosmic Cottage
 

A strange, unrelated modern residence overlooks the pool
 

The General Store has grab and go items, drinks and lots of groovy merch
 

Lobby area
 

High Country’s very large pool


Isolated waiting area for the saunas, with outdoor shower


A rum scented soap? You have to try it!

 

High Country’s season goes from April to October. You might stumble upon a curated cultural event like a book launch, or live music, often offered in partnership with local nonprofits. If you’re feeling peckish, visit the General Store, with its over-the-counter menu, which includes meal items and tasty pastries from its own dedicated bake chef. True to its concept of shopping plus dining, a cleverly curated display has items to eat, branded accessories, or merchandise to score as gifts. While in-room amenities are scant (there’s no mini-bar, no robe or slippers, no basket of addictive overpriced munchies, but plenty of fluffy towels), there’s free bottled water and Malin & Goetz toiletries. The rum-scented soap bar is a very pleasant surprise, as are the camp-style enamelled tin mugs rather than ugly glassware. And kudos for the Vietnamese coffee packets and sweet condensed milk sachets instead of kitschy instant coffee and chemical creamer powders.

If your day in the wilds has been a strenuous one, High Country has a spa experience to soothe your aching bones: private saunas, with cold outdoor showers—whoo! You get an hour of comfort (weekdays US$50 per hour; weekends US$75 per hour) which includes chilly electrolytes and waters, robes, back rests and abundant towels. •

 

Author’s notebook: Flagstaff is a great starting-off point for the Sunset Crater and Wupatki Ruin monuments and the famous Meteor Crater, all of which can be visited in a day. Picturesque Walnut Canyon is easily accessed. You’re only an hour north of woo-woo overdeveloped Sedona, where enlightenment is on sale in every known form, where expensive crystals and western swag can be found at astronomical prices. Phoenix lies about two hours south via a modern superhighway.

 

Stanley Moss is travel editor of Lucire.

 

 

 

 

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