If you’re standing on the edge of Horseshoe Bend or waiting for your tour at Antelope Canyon, you’ve probably looked at your phone and felt a surge of genuine panic. One minute it’s 9:00 AM. You walk ten feet to the left, and suddenly your lock screen says 10:00 AM.
So, what time is it in Page Arizona right now? Basically, Page is always on Mountain Standard Time (MST). It never, ever changes.
While almost everyone else in the country is busy "springing forward" or "falling back," Page just stays put. Honestly, it’s a bit of a local point of pride, but for travelers, it’s a logistical nightmare. Arizona is one of the few places in the U.S. that opted out of the Uniform Time Act of 1966. They decided they didn't need an extra hour of blistering desert sun in the evening during the summer. Can you blame them?
The Great Time Zone Confusion
The reason your phone is lying to you is geographical proximity. Page sits right on the border of Utah and the Navajo Nation.
Utah follows Daylight Saving Time (DST). The Navajo Nation—which surrounds Page but doesn't actually include the city limits—also follows DST. This creates a "time island" effect. Because cell towers in the area can belong to different networks or be located just across the border in Utah, your phone will frequently "ping" a tower that thinks it’s an hour later than it actually is.
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Quick reference for 2026:
- March to November: Page is the same time as Los Angeles (Pacific Daylight Time). It is one hour behind Utah and the Navajo Nation.
- November to March: Page is the same time as Salt Lake City and Denver (Mountain Standard Time).
It’s weird. You can literally drive five minutes out of town toward the Glen Canyon Dam and watch your watch jump back and forth. If you have a tour booked for Antelope Canyon, this isn't just a quirky fact—it’s the difference between seeing the light beams and missing your slot entirely.
Why Antelope Canyon Tours Are Tricky
Most people visit Page for one reason: the slot canyons.
Here’s the deal: Even though Antelope Canyon is on Navajo land, the tour operators in Page generally run on Page Time (Arizona Time). They do this because most of their guests are staying in Page hotels or driving in from the Grand Canyon.
However, if you are driving from Monument Valley (which is on Navajo Time), you are going to gain an hour when you arrive in Page during the summer. If you’re coming from Las Vegas, you might not change time at all in the summer, but you'll lose an hour in the winter.
Confused yet? You’re not alone.
How to Not Miss Your Tour
I’ve seen plenty of frustrated tourists standing at check-in counters realizing they are an hour late because their iPhone auto-updated to "Navajo Time." Don't be that person.
The most reliable trick is to go into your phone settings. Turn off "Set Automatically" for your time zone. Manually select Phoenix, Arizona. Since Phoenix is the anchor for the state’s time rules, your phone will stay on the correct Page time regardless of which cell tower it hits.
Another thing: always check your confirmation email. Most reputable companies like Dixie’s or Ken’s Tours will explicitly state "We operate on Arizona Standard Time."
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A Few Specific Examples
- Traveling from Utah (Zion/Bryce): In the summer, if it’s 10:00 AM in Zion, it’s 9:00 AM in Page. You gain an hour.
- Traveling from Monument Valley: In the summer, Monument Valley is an hour ahead of Page.
- Traveling from Grand Canyon (South Rim): You are on the same time! Both are in Arizona and neither uses DST.
The History of the Holdout
You might wonder why Arizona (and Page) refuses to play along with the rest of the country. It actually comes down to the heat. In 1968, the state legislature decided that if they moved the clocks forward, the sun wouldn't set until nearly 9:00 PM in the summer.
That sounds nice for a BBQ, but when it’s 110 degrees out, nobody wants more sun. They wanted the sun to go down as early as possible so the desert could start cooling off. The Navajo Nation, however, spans three states (Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah). They chose to observe DST so that the entire reservation would be on the same time regardless of state lines.
This creates the "donut hole" effect where Page is a tiny dot of Standard Time surrounded by a sea of Daylight Saving Time.
Actionable Tips for Your Arrival
- Manually lock your phone clock to Phoenix time the moment you enter the state.
- Double-check your tour times the night before. If your tour is at 11:00 AM, aim to be there by 10:30 AM "Page Time."
- Ignore the car clock if it syncs via GPS, as it often fails in the canyons.
- Ask your hotel front desk the "local time" as soon as you check in. They get asked this fifty times a day and are happy to confirm.
When you're out there on the lake or wandering through the red rocks, the clock starts to feel a bit secondary anyway. Just make sure you know what time it is in Page Arizona before you head out, or you might find yourself waiting an extra hour for a burger at Slackers or, worse, missing the sunset at the rim.
Check your settings now—literally right now—and set that time zone to Phoenix manually. It’ll save you a massive headache tomorrow morning.