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Arizona trivia

Arizona trivia for the drive: 25 questions with answers about the Grand Canyon, saguaros, Route 66, Meteor Crater, Monument Valley and why Arizona clocks don't change. Tap Show answer to reveal each one.

Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock tower over which red-rock town?

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An Arizona road trip is a series of big sights with long empty stretches between them. The deck fills the empty parts. It covers the Grand Canyon and the river that carved it, a crater made by a space rock, a forest of stone logs, Monument Valley’s red buttes, and the saguaro.

The time zone question

The best Arizona question comes with a real-world puzzle. Most of the state stays on Mountain Standard Time all year and never changes its clocks. The Navajo Nation, which covers much of northeastern Arizona, does use daylight saving time. The Hopi Reservation, surrounded by the Navajo Nation, doesn’t.

So on a summer drive east on Highway 264 from Tuba City, you start on Navajo time, cross the Hopi mesas an hour behind, then return to Navajo time on the far side. Ask the daylight saving question at the start of the drive and let the kids watch the phone clock. Phones don’t always switch exactly at the line, which makes guessing the moment part of the game.

A route idea: Route 66 and the canyon

Old Route 66 runs roughly alongside I-40 across northern Arizona. Heading east from Flagstaff, you can stop at:

  1. Meteor Crater, a short drive off the interstate between Flagstaff and Winslow.
  2. Winslow, for the corner from the Eagles song.
  3. Holbrook, where the Wigwam Motel’s rooms are concrete teepees.
  4. Petrified Forest National Park, just east of Holbrook.

Add a day north from Flagstaff for the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. Save the Pluto question for Flagstaff itself: Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was found, is on a hill above downtown.

Down south

Tucson and Phoenix sit in the Sonoran Desert, the only place saguaros grow wild. Saguaro National Park has sections on both sides of Tucson. Tombstone, of O.K. Corral fame, is about an hour southeast.

Three Arizona facts that aren’t in the deck

  • The Painted Desert, with its bands of red, orange and purple rock, runs through the northern part of Petrified Forest National Park.
  • Biosphere 2, a giant glass research building north of Tucson, was built to study Earth’s living systems in a closed space.
  • Petrified wood is Arizona’s state fossil.

Frequently asked questions

Does Arizona change its clocks?

Most of Arizona doesn't observe daylight saving time, so its clocks stay the same all year. The Navajo Nation in the northeast does change its clocks. In summer, a drive across the northeast corner can mean changing time zones more than once in an afternoon.

What is a good Arizona trivia question for kids?

Ask what makes a saguaro different from other cactuses: it grows 'arms,' and it grows wild only in the Sonoran Desert. Then have kids count the arms on the next saguaro they see.

Where is the corner in Winslow, Arizona?

Standin' on the Corner Park is on old Route 66 in downtown Winslow, a short drive off I-40. It's built around the line from the Eagles song 'Take It Easy,' with a statue and a painted mural of a flatbed Ford.

More state trivia