California’s Joshua Tree National Park is the meeting place of two huge deserts: the Mojave and Colorado Deserts. This results in a wide variety of landscapes, as well as amazing biodiversity.
The Mojave Desert, in the northwestern part, lies over 3,000 feet above sea level, making it a relatively cool desert. This is where you’ll find almost all the Joshua trees and the park’s typical boulders.
In the southeast, the lower-lying Colorado Desert is much hotter. There, cacti and ocotillo plants dot rocky hills. In spring, wildflowers carpet the desert floor, turning the otherwise monotone desert into a colorful spectacle.
Iconic Joshua trees stand tall in a desert landscape dominated by huge jumbles of rock. Arid hills form a remarkable backdrop. Blue skies offer a stark contrast to the yellows, browns and greens of this unique scenery. Roadrunners scurry across the sandy desert floors while ravens circle overhead.
After the relatively quiet winter months, March is the first month of the year where visitation visibly starts to rise across the National Park System. Some parks are at their …
Well within the heart of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, February is typically a pretty quiet month in America’s national parks. In fact, only January tends to be even less …
Preserving a portion of two distinct desert ecosystems—the Mojave and Colorado deserts—Joshua Tree National Park is dotted with striking geological formations, iconic vegetation, historic sites, and scenic views. There’s plenty …
The health benefits of hiking are well known and well documented nowadays. And few things are better for a “nature bath” than going on a reinvigorating hike in a national park. These are some of the greatest day hikes in the U.S. National Park System.
This news story about flooding in Death Valley National Park due to Tropical Storm Hilary is based on an August 20, 2023, National Park Service press release. You can read …
A summer road trip to one or more of the national parks is arguably the quintessential American holiday. And although summer is an amazing time to visit many parks, there …
From old-growth forests to towering mountains, from rocky coasts to shimmering lakes, America’s national parks preserve all kinds of landscapes. One of the landscapes least suitable to humans, however, are …
Nearly all U.S. national parks encompass the ancestral homelands of Native American Tribes. Having lived in, or at least traveled through, these areas, they left behind plenty of archaeological artifacts …
Besides wildlife and outdoor adventures, many people visit America’s national parks to see some of the country’s greatest landscapes. While some views require several miles of hiking, there are also many spectacular, easily accessible overlooks and viewpoints in the national parks.
This news story about expected huge crowds in Joshua Tree National Park is based on a November 23, 2021, National Park Service press release. You can read the original release …
Preserving some of America’s last remaining pristine night skies, many national parks offer amazing stargazing and Milky Way viewing opportunities. From Mesa Verde and Death Valley to Glacier and Voyageurs, these national parks have the most spectacular star-peppered night skies. “Half the park is after dark!”
A major city in southern Arizona, Phoenix is a gateway to the national parks of the Southwest. On a road trip from the Arizona capital, you can visit several of America’s most famous parks, including Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree and Saguaro.
Are you ready to swap out your dress shoes for hiking boots and add a backpack to your wedding day wardrobe? Elopements and small weddings in national parks have become increasingly popular recently. Check out the best national parks to elope to or get married at!