Small-town Inn and Art Gallery

Located on Duncan's Main Street near the Gila River, just off of scenic Highway 70 (the "Old West Highway") in far southeastern Arizona, the Simpson is a century-old inn and a gateway to a little-known region of rivers, mountains, canyons, backroads, farms and ranches, real cowboys, open desert and dark skies, straddling the Arizona-New Mexico border.

Updates

Covid in the winter of 2023-4: In loving memory of the five dear ones we lost to Covid-19, we ask that our guests be current on vaccinations. We are willing to make exceptions here and there as long as a guest is healthy and respects our wish not have the virus in our airspace. We follow the science around Covid and we hope that you do too if you plan to stay with us.

About breakfast at The Simpson: We offer full breakfasts that are vegetarian, non-GMO, and as organic as possible, with vegetables or fruits from our own gardens in season. Breakfasts are optional for an additional $20 plus tax for adults and $10 plus tax for children 10 and under. Those rates are going to increase in 2024. We can easily accommodate vegan, gluten-free or other dietary needs. If you're set on that bacon or pork sausage, there are good breakfast establishments in Duncan, and we're always happy to see them benefit from your patronage. Our superb coffee and a selection of teas are included in the room charge.

Room rates: All rates will increase by $10 in 2024, to help us keep up with the increasing costs of doing business. If you book before December 31 for nights in the new year, you'll lock in the 2023 rates.

We prefer not to have to take deposits, so we don't. But if you book and then don't show, you will have to pay in advance the next time you try to book, and perform an interpretive dance of contrition upon your arrival!

Cyclists — the non-motorized kind — will continue to enjoy a $10 discount on any room, and greater leniency on last-minute changes. We no longer offer free camping, but you are welcome to share rooms to whatever extent you are comfortable doing so. Watch our website for a column dedicated to cycling through our part of the world, coming to these pages sometime in November. We are always collecting useful info for you from the cyclists who stay with us.

A Yankee Innkeeper Reflects on Life in the Deep Old West

We Lost the Pig But Saved Our Bacon

"There's a pig out on the highway! It's going to get hit!"

It was true, there was a pig. By the time we got out to the street, our guests had coaxed it onto the sidewalk by the saloon. It was a medium-sized pot-bellied pig — the kind that, if you look it up, you will see is highly intelligent and sometimes housebroken, living indoors.

I had been introduced to a different pot-bellied pig soon after I moved to Duncan in 2006. That pig had a name: Fred. He lived with Blackjack Bob, a blacksmith in Ft. Thomas, about 60 miles down the river. Bob's wife Zika held up her hand to stop us. "Fred is not a touchy-feely kind of pig," was what she said.

But this pig from the highway was touchy-feely. He seemed happy to follow us up Main Street, wagging his tail and grunting.

We were to learn some days later that, before being lured up to The Simpson, the pig had been inside the saloon for a spell. Old-timers here will tell you about a horse that drank beer from a feedbag while standing at the bar inside the Apache Grove, up the highway. That will have to wait for another time. I promise to get back to it, as there is much more to say about the Apache Grove.

Simpson Hotel by Kathy Montgomery, photography by Steven Meckler.

Where to go this weekend: Duncan, AZ by Dina Mishev, photography by Lisa Corson.

Favorite Ride: Arizona-New Mexico Loop by Tim Kessel, photography by the author.

Kuba Łubniewski and Basia Czartoryska

William Rose Photography

Detail from Japanese Inn, a mixed-media "petrified dreamscape" by Don Carlos, Simpson Hotel artist in residence. Visit Don Carlos's studio in the gardens behind the hotel.

More Art

Year 'Round in Duncan

Gila River Birding & Wildlife Trail

A one-mile loop just a short walk from the hotel. We maintain a bird checklist for the trail and several other ebird.org "hot spots" around town. You can view or download it at .

Rock-a-Buy Rocks & Gifts (Tue-Sat)

A rockhound's dream store. Tours of local rock sites may be arranged!

Germaine's Emporium (Mon-Sat)

Room after room of antiques and vintage collectible toys, animal care products and more. Stores like this have all but disappeared from the Western American landscape.

Country Chic / Duncan Visitor Center (Mon-Sat)

A warm welcome for visitors with items by local artists, artisans and crafters for sale.