Flagstaff has its own New Year’s Eve tradition; in the city, people gather around the Weatherford Hotel as a 70-pound (32 kg), 6-foot (1.8 m) tall, metallic pine cone is dropped from the roof at midnight.
The tradition originated in 1999, when Henry Taylor and Sam Green (owners of the hotel), decorated a garbage can with paint, lights, and pine cones, and dropped it from the roof of their building to mark the new millennium. By 2003 the event had become tradition, and the current metallic pine cone was designed and built by Frank Mayorga of Mayorga Welding in the city.[128]
Local museums include the Museum of Northern Arizona, which features displays of the biology, archeology, photography, anthropology, and native art of the Colorado Plateau, and the Arboretum at Flagstaff, a 200-acre arboretum containing 2,500 species of drought-tolerant native plants representative of the high desert region.
A lot of the local culture is also focused on Route 66, which originally ran between Chicago and Los Angeles, greatly increased the accessibility to the area, and enhanced the culture and tourism in Flagstaff. Route 66 remains a historic route, passing through the city between Barstow, California, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In early September, the city hosts an annual event, Route 66 Days, to highlight its connection to the famous highway.[132]