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 2024-5: 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. 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.
Do we require a deposit? We prefer not to have to take deposits, so we ask for a deposit only when the reservation totals more than three hundred dollars. 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. We no longer offer free camping, but you are welcome to share rooms to whatever extent you are comfortable doing so. See our presentation “Local and Long-distance Bike Routes” under the “Things To See and Do” tab of our website. We are always collecting useful info for you from the cyclists who stay with us.
While the Guests are Sleeping
A Yankee Innkeeper Reflects on Life in the Deep Old West
- Coronado Takes Duncan
THE REAL CORONADO TRAIL: RIGHT THROUGH DUNCAN Graphics: In 1540, when Francisco Vázquez de Coronado passed through what is now Arizona and New Mexico, he and his group made their way north from Apache Pass, near Bowie, AZ, up the west side of the Peloncillo Mountains. Amateur historian Buck Wells, a New Mexico state engineer, has pulled together compelling evidence that the Coronado party then passed thru what is now Duncan and ascended by either Apache Creek or Bitter Creek to the top of the Mule Creek plateau. This is a significantly different route than the one conventionally accepted as the… - We Lost the Pig But We 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…
Guest-Eye Views
From Our Collection
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.
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 (missing link).
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.
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.