Get starry-eyed under the cosmos in Flagstaff, Arizona.
It ’s easy to feel close-fitting to the cosmos in Flagstaff , Arizona . By sidereal day , stand at the edge of nearby Meteor Crater , well-nigh three quarters of a air mile wide and 560 feet deep , you get a staggering sense of the literal shock of outer space on world . Come dark , a fulgent canopy of stars fills the Flagstaff sky , vivid and bright even without a scope in the dry desert air travel at 7,000 foot above sea level .
A summertime trip-up to Flagstaff is not only a great elbow room to beat the Arizona heat in the cool mountain air , but also a fun way to connect to the cosmea , to take an preternatural adventure into both the history and the futurity of humankind ’s geographic expedition into outer quad . With visits to Meteor Crater , the Lowell Observatory , and backroads tours of “ Dark Sky ” city , travelers to Flagstaff can explore some of these stellar highlights .
Traveling Around Flagstaff, the “Dark Sky City”
While Flagstaff ’s ponderosa pine – covered hills and tourist - favorable business district make it a worthwhile destination , the city truly shines at night . As in the millions of stars that twinkle in a nightscape you ’d normally only have a bun in the oven to see in a outside desert setting .
Flagstaff ’s urban starry night is no stroke of geographics , but rather a tenner - farsighted commitment to reducing the artificial light visibility of the metropolis . In 2001 , Flagstaff became the world ’s first certified “ Dark Sky City ” earning the distinction with tight zoning rules regularise the usage and brightness of outside lighting .
nonchalant visitors can glean the benefit of this Dark Sky City but by looking up . It really is jarring ( and quite pleasing ) to be in a metropolis surroundings and see this many stars above you . While you probably wo n’t be able to see the Milky means from business district on a lively Saturday night , it ’s loose to take the air a few blocks to the boundary of Ithiel Town and get a five - asterisk vista , so to speak .
Photo courtesy of Discover Flagstaff
For those interested in taking a close look at the Nox sky ( and unable to throng their own scope ) , Flagstaff has plentitude of manoeuver stargazing tours available , includingFlagstaff Stargazing Adventures . The tour operator offers stargazing and astrophotography tours of the area , supplying equipment , education , and transport to undercoat dark sky regard spots in the area .
Stargazing aficionados should time their Flagstaff sojourn to concur with the upcoming Delta Aquariids Meteor Shower July 28 & 29 and the Perseids Meteor Shower on August 11–13 with a meteor inflammation trails across the Nox sky nearly by the moment .
Many sphere hotels provide rental telescopes and tips for prime stargazing spots in the surface area . For a sci - fi feel , stay at Flagstaff ’s newly renovatedAmericana Motor Hotel , reopening this June , featuring a Jetsons - esque “ retro - futurist ” design and telescopes to rent for stargazing just steps from the motel . TheHigh Country Motor Lodgeprovides guests with stargazing guides and hosts episodic champion see company . And maybe before or after the stargazing , toast a few brewage to the sky at Flagstaff’sDark Sky Brewing Company , with “ beer as unique and beautiful as every star , meteor and comet we can see from our backyard . ” And for a more down to dry land activity with a starship vibe , establish into some former Nox Cosmic Bowling at the glow , blinking venue ofStarlite Lanes .
Photo by Bill Fink for Thrillist
How to Visit Meteor Crater
hold with the cosmic base , drive the 45 miles from Flagstaff toMeteor Craterthrough a stark red - tinged desert landscape , and it ’s easy to imagine you ’re on the surface of Mars . Pulling up to the Barringer Visitor Center at Meteor Crater is like a sojourn to a space post incongruously perched in the middle of this empty vista . Once you compensate your entrance money and walk through the portal to the crater lip trail , it really is as if you ’ve stepped onto the boldness of the moon . It ’s a “ wow ” moment to first seem out over the crater , with a you - have - to - be - here feeling of vastness hard to bewitch in a photo or video .
In fact , Meteor Crater bears such a close resemblance to the lunar landscape , that the Apollo astronauts all civilize here prior to their moon missions in the 1960s , scuffle through the volcanic crater rocks and dust in their spacesuits ( lead to some conspiracy theorists to claim thiswasthe so - call in moon landing seen on TV ) . Join a guided spell along the crater rim - top trail for an explanation of the 50,000 - year history of the volcanic crater , and its more than 50 - yr - foresightful connecter with NASA .
Not just a freehanded golf hole in the ground , Meteor Crater is also home to a privately run attraction that includes the small but interestingBarringer Space Museum . It hold back an Apollo 11 quad condensation and plenty of actual meteorites , a fun “ 4 - D ” theatre experience consummate with shaking seats , and a newly opened mining - themed café and lounge with Flagstaff - area coffees and snacks .
Photo courtesy of Discover Flagstaff
Visiting Lowell Observatory Is a Must, too
In the pitcher’s mound above Flagstaff , the venerableLowell Observatoryis the cornerstone of the city ’s celestial past , present , and hereafter . Founded in 1894 by Percival Lowell , the lookout station is the place from which Pluto was break in 1930 , and where the first bar of the expanding universe occurred in the 1910s . visitor can con about these stories and more with interactive visits during the daytime , admit up - close tone at its old scope . It ’s pretty amazing to learn how these stargazer mapped the solar organisation using what seems now to be archaic technology .
The Lowell Observatory is still operating as a chancellor research institute with its innovative Lowell Discovery Telescope charting new find today . But you do n’t have to be a professional astronomer to peer at the night skies from Lowell ’s prime perch in the hills . TheGiovale Open Deck Observatoryat Lowell allows visitors to gaze through six different high up - power telescope to get striking amplify aspect of different aspects of the night sky . stave on hand can serve guide your eyes to world-wide features , moon tours , and even distant galaxies and nebulae . For an even deeper prima donna into proscribed space , register for apremium admission tourwith individual guided telescope watch or even a two - hourastrophotography track .
So whether you ’re an aspiring professional astronomer or just dour sky - peculiar , Flagstaff is well worth a visit to explore its otherworldly connections . And after a full nighttime of stargazing , take a fast nap and bask themany daylight adventuresFlagstaff has to proffer as well .
