What's on in Flagstaff, United States through the year

Peak crowds — Arizona Snowbowl season, Winter / Christmas break in United States

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Arizona Snowbowl season (15 Nov – 10 Apr (usually))

Busy — Arizona Snowbowl season

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Arizona Snowbowl season (15 Nov – 10 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Arizona Snowbowl season, Spring break in United States

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Arizona Snowbowl season (15 Nov – 10 Apr (usually))

Busy — Arizona Snowbowl season

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Arizona Snowbowl season (15 Nov – 10 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Hazard

  Fire restrictions and smoke

  1 May – 10 Jul · usuallySmoke seasonClosures

  The dry weeks before the rains arrive are when the Coconino forest goes to stage restrictions and sometimes shuts entirely — no campfires, and in a bad year no access. Smoke from prescribed burns and from fires in the ponderosa sits in the basin. Source ↗

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Southwest monsoon

  15 Jun – 30 SepRisk

  Storms build over the Peaks most afternoons from early July, drop hard for an hour and clear, and the burn scars above town flood downhill when they do. It is the greenest and the most dramatic the high desert gets. Source ↗

Still on: Fire restrictions and smoke (1 May – 10 Jul (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Fire restrictions and smoke (1 May – 10 Jul (usually)), Southwest monsoon (15 Jun – 30 Sep)

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Southwest monsoon (15 Jun – 30 Sep)

Peak crowds — Aspen colour on the Peaks, Summer break in United States

• Nature

  Aspen colour on the Peaks

  20 Sep – 15 Oct · usuallyAutumn colourCrowded

  The stands in the Inner Basin and along Hart Prairie turn gold for about a fortnight, starting high and working down. The Lockett Meadow road is single track and the car park is full by nine on an October weekend. Source ↗

• Festival

  Flagstaff Festival of Science

  25 Sep – 4 OctMajor festival

  Ten days of free talks, observatory openings and field trips run by a town that has an astronomy observatory, a university and the US Geological Survey in it. Everything is free and most of it books out. Source ↗

• Festival

  Flagstaff Star Party

  1–3 OctDark-sky season

  Telescopes out in Buffalo Park for three nights in the world's first dark sky city, which has been running amber street lighting since 2001. Bring more layers than the daytime suggests. Source ↗

Still on: Southwest monsoon (15 Jun – 30 Sep)

Busy — Aspen colour on the Peaks

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Aspen colour on the Peaks (20 Sep – 15 Oct (usually)), Flagstaff Festival of Science (25 Sep – 4 Oct), Flagstaff Star Party (1–3 Oct)

Peak crowds — Arizona Snowbowl season, Thanksgiving break in United States

• Opening

  Arizona Snowbowl season

  15 Nov – 10 Apr · usuallySki seasonCrowded

  Skiing above 9,000 feet an hour and a half from Phoenix, opening when the snowmaking allows rather than on a fixed date. The access road queues on a powder Saturday, and the resort runs the gondola for sightseeing at weekends in autumn. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Arizona Snowbowl season, Winter / Christmas break in United States

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Arizona Snowbowl season (15 Nov – 10 Apr (usually))