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Mojave Desert

Named after the Mohave Native American Tribe, the Mojave Desert encompasses over 25,000 square miles of varying elevation and climate in the southwestern United States. The Mojave is present within the states of California, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, and is home to four major national parks: Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Zion, and the Grand Canyon. It is a rainshadow desert, meaning its desert climate is produced due to the mountainous ranges which surround it, cutting it off from the high moisture of the low clouds.

Less than ten inches of rain falls in the Mojave each year, yet the desert is home to nearly 2,000 species of plants. Within the confines of the desert lies the down of Death Valley, the lowest and hottest place in North America, with temperatures reaching an astounding 160 degrees Fahrenheit and an altitude of 280 feet below sea level. The Mojave’s borders are typically defined by the mountainous geography that encircles it, as well as indicator plants, such as the Joshua Tree. The Joshua Tree is actually neither cactus nor tree, but rather a species of lily suited only for the desert environment.

In recent years, conservationists have become concerned with several dangers to the region, including invasive, non native species of animals, which can present an imbalance to the natural food chain. Also of concern are the encroaching urban developments, hard rock mining, and off road vehicle use.

The Mojave Desert, as well as much of the Southwestern U.S., is based on a typical Range and Basin topography, and is the smallest of the United States’s four major deserts, behind the Great Basin, the Sonoran, and the Chihuahuan.