Winter is the quiet season in downtown Flagstaff. The streets empty out and the stories carry, and Sundays are the quietest day of the week. Here is a Sunday built around two things that happen beside each other on West Aspen Avenue from November through April: a free morning market in the City Hall parking lot, and our 7 PM ghost tour from Wheeler Park, which meets next to that lot every night of the year.
Morning: the Sunday market in the City Hall lot
The Flagstaff Mountain-Town Market's Sunday edition fills the Flagstaff City Hall parking lot at 211 W Aspen Ave every Sunday from November through April. Hours are 9 AM to 1 PM, shifting to 10 AM to 2 PM in December, January and February, when the light comes later. Admission is free and leashed dogs are welcome. The market is an independent business, Indigenous-woman-owned, founded in April 2024 and run by Meg Kabotie Adakai, and it sets up beside the spot where our guests meet us.
What you find there changes with the cold. In November, and again as spring comes on, the lot holds a full market: local farmers, heritage-grain bread and pasta, honey and prepared food, Native and local artisans and makers, community tables and live music. In the deepest winter weeks it runs as what the founder calls an accordion market, one or two concentrated booths carrying the partner farms' and makers' goods plus a small number of cold-hardy vendors, expanding again as the weather and the crowds allow. The 2026 dates are November 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29, then December 13, 20 and 27; the winter and spring run continues in the new year. Weather cancellations are posted on the market's Instagram, @flagstaffmountaintownmarket, so check it on a snowy morning before you drive in.
Midday: the rest of downtown on foot
The City Hall lot sits at the west end of the historic core, and everything else is a walk. Coffee and lunch are a block or two east along Aspen Avenue and San Francisco Street; our guide to the best restaurants in Flagstaff covers the places we send guests. If you want a second guided walk in daylight, the Route 66 Centennial Walking Tour leaves daily from the flagpole in Heritage Square, 22 E Aspen Ave, in the afternoon, 4 PM on the current calendar; it is 90 minutes and about 1.3 miles through the Mother Road's downtown blocks, and the start time has moved with the season this year, so confirm it on the booking calendar for your date. The mural tour does not run on Sundays.
Evening: the Original Flagstaff Ghost Tour at 7 PM
The Original Flagstaff Ghost Tour meets at Wheeler Park, 212 W Aspen Ave, near City Hall, which puts the meeting point beside the lot you shopped in that morning. It runs nightly at 7 PM year round, Sundays included, and Fridays and Saturdays add an 8 PM departure. The walk is about a mile over 75 minutes, entirely outdoors on downtown sidewalks, past the Hotel Monte Vista, the Orpheum Theater and the Weatherford Hotel, with stops for stories at each. The guide is the tour: a local storyteller who has walked these blocks for years.
Dress for it. Coats, gloves and a beanie, and boots rather than anything with a heel, because the sidewalks can be icy or snowy. Flagstaff sits at about 7,000 feet and the temperature drops fast after sunset in any season, so keep drinking water even when it is cold. Done right, winter is the best version of this walk. Our season-by-season guide to what to wear on a Flagstaff ghost tour has the full packing list.
Parking: one lot, two different rules
ParkFlag enforcement runs 9 AM to 5 PM on Sundays, so morning parking on the street is paid at the kiosks. The City Hall lot itself is free on weekends, per ParkFlag, and it is the lot the market fills, so arrive early for a space there or park a block over. By 7 PM the kiosks are off and the Wheeler Park lot, a ParkFlag lot steps from the meeting spot, is free. Our guide to where to park in downtown Flagstaff for a tour has the kiosk and payment details.
A sample winter Sunday
- 9 AM, or 10 AM in December through February: the market opens in the City Hall lot.
- Afternoon: lunch, then the Route 66 Centennial Walking Tour from the Heritage Square flagpole if the calendar fits.
- 6:45 PM: back at Wheeler Park, 212 W Aspen Ave, fifteen minutes before departure.
- 7 PM: the Original Flagstaff Ghost Tour, 75 minutes and about a mile.
Questions people ask
Does the Flagstaff ghost tour run on Sunday nights in winter?
Yes. The Original Flagstaff Ghost Tour runs nightly at 7 PM year round, Sundays included, rain, snow or starlight. The booking calendar on the tour page shows every departure.
Is the Sunday market in the same place the ghost tour meets?
Beside it. The market fills the Flagstaff City Hall parking lot at 211 W Aspen Ave; the ghost tour meets at Wheeler Park, 212 W Aspen Ave, near City Hall. Park once and you are set for both.
What months does the Sunday market at City Hall run?
November through April, 9 AM to 1 PM, with 10 AM to 2 PM hours in December, January and February. The Mountain-Town Market runs other editions on other days and at other venues the rest of the year; its own site lists every date.
Make a Sunday of it
Pick your date on the Original Flagstaff Ghost Tour page, spend the morning in the lot next door, and see the rest of the Flagstaff lineup for the other walks we run downtown.
