Carefree Sundial

Carefree, Arizona, United States

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The Carefree Sundial, completed in 1959 in the Sundial Circle plaza in Carefree, Arizona, was designed by architect Joe Wong and solar engineer John Yellott. The horizontal dial is 90 feet in diameter and the gnomon rises 35 feet. The town's visitor site says it was once the largest sundial in the world, while Wikipedia's Carefree town article says it claims to be the third largest sundial in the Western Hemisphere. A replacement sunburst ornament was installed in March 2021, according to the North American Sundial Society registry.

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Carefree Sundial

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Site-level location · 33.8236° N, 111.9181° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Carefree's sundial was completed in 1959, and by two accounts it also did practical work: it once heated water for an office building.

The dial stands in the plaza now called K.T. Palmer Sundial Circle in Carefree, Arizona. The town's visitor site says it was commissioned by K.T. Palmer and designed by solar engineer John Yellott and architect Joe Wong. The North American Sundial Society registry gives the horizontal dial as 90 feet in diameter, with a steel frame covered in anodized copper and hour markers of four-foot concrete circles. The gnomon, the part that casts the shadow, is 35 feet high at its tip, and the town's visitor site says it points to the North Star. The registry gives its length as 72 feet, while the town's visitor site and Wikipedia say 62 feet.

The registry says the dial's upper surface once served as a solar water heater for the city's first office building. Wikipedia instead describes copper tubes in the gnomon feeding a heating system in a neighbouring office block. It adds that local apparent time runs about 27.7 minutes behind Mountain Standard Time, so the hour markers are adjusted to suit the plaza's longitude.

The town's visitor site says it was once the largest sundial in the world; Wikipedia says it was possibly once the largest in the United States, notes that Sun City, Arizona disputes the claim, and mentions a larger dial at Hunters Point. The visitor site says the Kiwanis Club of Carefree donated the sundial to the town on March 26, 1976.

The registry says the original wrought-iron sunburst, hung midway along the gnomon, deteriorated and was removed, and that an anonymous patron funded a replacement based on the original seven-foot design, installed in March 2021.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

The North American Sundial Society registry lists public access and a travel directory lists it as free; the directory is undated. Hours are not documented in the sources reviewed; check locally before visiting.

ACCESS

Sundial Plaza, Carefree, AZ.

COMMUNITY

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A kachina doll statue nearly 40 feet tall stands in the Tonto Hills subdivision near Carefree, Arizona. ABC15 reported in April 2026 that it was built in the 1970s of cement blocks and steel, weighs about 14.5 tons, and is maintained by the Tonto Hills Volunteer Fire Department.

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6.8 km away

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