Flagstaff: The Town
Flagstaff's appealing downtown stretches for a few redbrick blocks north of the railroad. Filled with cafés, bars, and stores selling Route 66 souvenirs and Indian crafts, it's a fun place to stroll around, even if it holds no significant tourist attractions or historic buildings. Your most lasting impression is likely to be of the magnificent San Francisco Peaks, rising smoothly from the plains on the northern horizon, and topped by a jagged ridge.The exceptional Museum of Northern Arizona , however, three miles northwest of downtown on US-180, rivals Phoenix's Heard Museum as the best museum in the state (daily 9am-5pm; $5). Its main emphasis is on documenting Native American life, with an excellent run-through of the Ancestral Puebloan past and contemporary Navajo, Havasupai and Hopi cultures, and also actively encourages the development of traditional and even new skills among Native American craftworkers. The exquisite inlaid silver jewelry now made by the Hopi, for example, is the result of a museum-backed program to find work for Hopi servicemen returning from World War II. At all times, marvellous pots, rugs and kachina dolls are on display - a pleasant surprise after the low standards often seen elsewhere - but the time to come is for one of the Indian Craftsmen Exhibitions each summer. The Zuni show lasts for five days around Memorial Day weekend in late May; the Hopi show is on the weekend closest to July 4; and the nine-day Navajo event is at the end of July and the start of August, with every item for sale.
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