Joshua Tree National Park

Geography

The Joshua trees’ distribution defines the very boundaries of the Mojave Desert. Here in its namesake national park, it reaches the southernmost limit of its range.

The park area is sometimes known as the "connecting" desert because of its location between the Mojave and the Colorado Desert, and because it shares characteristics of each. The Mojave, a desert of mountains, is (relatively) cooler-wetter-higher and forms the northern and western parts of the park. Southern and eastern sections of the park are part of the hotter-drier-lower Colorado Desert, characterized by a wide variety of desert flora, including ironwood, smoketree and native California fan palms. Cacti, especially cholla and ocotillo, thrive in the more southerly Colorado Desert (a part of the larger Sonoran Desert).