Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello, i am doing my yearly trip to AZ. One of my stops on my journey to photgraph herps i will be in Flagstaff. i was wondering if anyone knows of any motels/hotels in the desert or remote area in flagstaff that is away from the busy city area, where i can stay and do some herping around the area. preferably not too far out of the way of rte 66. any info would be greatly appreciated, dave

Well, your going to have a hard time finding a motel in the desert in Flag, LOL. We are in Ponderosa pine forest at 7000 ft. Flagstaff is very small and loaded with hotels and motels because of the winter ski business and summer Grand Canyon traffic. Wherever you stay it will only take a few minutes to get out of town. When do you plan on being in Flagstaff? You are not going to see much in the way of reptiles here until May. You can see chorus frogs in Feb and March when the snow starts melting. You might see a wandering garter snake and some fence lizards by April. The month of April is a great time to be herping the lower elevations near Phoenix or Tucson. Mid elevations (4000-5000) such as the Kingman or Camp Verde area may or may not be productive depending on the temps.

thanks for taking the time to respond to my post. i am heading out in the last week of may/fisrt week in june. i am going to Phoenix/tucson/nogales first, then heading up to flagstaff. i usually go out there every year during mid-jun/july. however, havent hit flagstaff yet. the furthest north i've been was Sedona. are the temps in flagstaff the same as sedonaor a little cooler? thanks again dave

Daytime highs in June are usually around 85F. Last year ran about ten degrees warmer so I don't know what to predict for this year.