Arizona Timezones Explained: It’s a Prickly Situation

Traveling to Arizona soon?

You might want to get a little familiar with the time zones in Arizona because they can be a bit confusing, especially for tourists trying to book activities across the state.

In this article, I’ll break down what time zone Arizona is in and make sure that when you visit you’re not just a tourist, but a true Arizonan time wizard!

So grab some cactus juice and let’s get started!

What time zone is Arizona in?

Arizona remains in Mountain Standard Time (MST) throughout the entire year. It does not observe Daylight Saving Time, which creates some oddities and confusion for outsiders.

This is basically how it works in simple terms.

During the winter (from early November to mid March), Arizona will be on mountain standard time (MST) which means that it will have the same time zone as neighboring states like New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, etc.

However, when Daylight Saving Time begins, Arizona does not convert to Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) and remains on MST. Therefore the time rebels in Arizona do not change their clocks.

The result is that all of the mountain states mentioned above become one hour ahead of Arizona. So effectively, Arizona (MST) aligns with Pacific Time states like California.

If you need an easy way to remember this think:

• Winter = visiting snowy mountains (mountain time)
• Summer = visiting California beaches on Pacific ocean (Pacific time)

So that might be relatively straightforward, but it does get a little more confusing because one of the reservations in Arizona does observe Daylight Saving Time.

Navajo and Hopi reservations

In northeastern Arizona, you’ll find the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Reservation.

It’s a vast area located just east of Flagstaff and Page, occupying the entire corner of the state while also extending into portions of southern Utah and western New Mexico. It’s the largest Native American reservation in the United States and home to over 300,000 people.

But here is where things get interesting.

The Navajo Nation observes daylight saving time but the Hopi reservation does not. This means that in the summer, the Navajo Nation will be one hour ahead of the rest of Arizona. This can be really important for travelers to know.

That’s because many tours of the stunning slot canyons and other areas take place on the Navajo Nation. You might have a tour scheduled at 10 AM, and when you arrive you may find out that it’s actually 11 AM on the reservation and feel confused.

To make things easier for tourists, some tour operators schedule tours based on MST. So even if your tour is technically at 11 AM local time, they will schedule it at 10 AM MST.

That could be helpful for some but for those who are factoring in the time differences between MST and MDT, it could throw them off!

The way to avoid confusion or missing tours is to always confirm with your tour operator what time the tour begins.

Specifically, I recommend confirming the tour time in both time zones. Basically, ask what time does the tour begin in MST (the time zone that most of Arizona is on) and in local reservation time.

Remember, the largest cities in Arizona will always be on MST. These include:

• Phoenix
• Tucson
• Flagstaff
• Prescott
• Sedona
• Grand Canyon Village
• Yuma
• Page

So let’s say you were doing a tour in Antelope Canyon and you were leaving a hotel in Page, AZ. You could confirm with the tour operator the time of your tour in local reservation time and in the city you are staying in (Page, AZ).

Just remember that when you pass near or across reservation boundaries, your clock may shift forward an hour, so don’t let that throw you off.

Six time zone changes in 100 miles?

One of the biggest quirks of Arizona’s time zones can be found along Highway 264. This highway branches off from 169 near Tuba City and runs through the Navajo and Hopi reservations.

The boundaries of the Hopi reservations are not continuous in this region and because they are located inside the Navajo Reservation, this creates a very interesting effect on the time zones.

Basically, there is a stretch along Highway 264 where you may pass through multiple time zone changes during the summer because of the unusual boundaries and time zone rules.

It’s like time traveling, but without the DeLorean.

Why doesn’t Arizona acknowledge daylight saving time?

The main reason why Arizona does not acknowledge daylight saving time is it’s just not needed in a place that gets so much sunshine and heat.

First, the additional hour of daylight would cause energy consumption to increase because homes would have to run air conditioning longer to offset the extra heat.

People in Arizona often venture out when temperatures cool in the evening, so it is not in their favor to extend the heat of the day further into the evening.

Lots of hikers and other people enjoying the outdoors would have to finish up an hour later which would be particularly inconvenient if they had to get up early the next day for work.

This may not be an issue in places like Flagstaff or some of the higher elevations around the state but for people living in cities like Phoenix or Yuma, they certainly can use all of the cool temperatures they can get.

At the same time, the Navajo Nation does acknowledge daylight saving time because it has boundaries that extend into states like Utah and New Mexico where daylight saving time is acknowledged.

This makes it easier for them to conduct business in those regions but comes at the cost of confusion when it comes to dealing in Arizona.

Final word

Because Arizona is one of the only states that does not acknowledge daylight saving time, confusion can often creep in when scheduling things such as tours or activities.

It helps if you can just remember that during the summer or from March to November, Arizona will essentially be on the Pacific time zone since MST aligns with the time zone on the West Coast.

But during the winter, Arizona will be in the same time zone as the mountain states such as Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.

If you’re heading to the Navajo Nation, remember that it observes Daylight Saving Time, so it may be one hour ahead of Arizona (although tour operators will likely be operating on MST).

If you ever find yourself driving on Highway 264 during the summer, be sure to watch your clock as it may shift multiple times over a relatively short stretch of road.