Joshua Tree NP, California

Southern California is a lot of desert and a lot of people, but fortunately the two co-exist.  This is due in part to an early environmental activist, Minerva Hoyt, who recognized in the early 1900s that increased auto traffic was destroying the California desert.  To read more about her efforts, click here.

This is why, when I visit in the 21st century, I can look out over an expanse of odd-looking trees and cacti, miles of desert and six mountain ranges, and see nothing but wilderness.

Joshua Tree National Park is a combination of the Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert, and can be found in southeastern California.  This park, at an elevation of 4,000 feet, covers nearly 800,000 acres.  It is dominated by its namesake plant:  Joshua Trees.  In the agave family, Yucca brevifolia are endemic to southwestern United States.  For more Park info, click on