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Location:
USA,
California, Joshua Tree
Category:
National
Park
Description:
View
from Belle Mountain, Joshua
Tree
National park
Location Information:
Joshua
Tree National Park is located in
southeastern California. Declared a
U.S. National Park in 1994 when the
US Congress passed the California
Desert Protection Act (Public Law
103-433), it had previously been a
U.S. National Monument since 1936.
It is named for the Joshua Tree
(Yucca brevifolia) forests native to
the park. It covers a land area of
789,745 acres (319,598 ha). A large
part of the park is designated to
wilderness area; some 429,690 acres
(173,890 ha). Straddling the San
Bernardino County/Riverside County
border, the park includes parts of
two deserts, each an ecosystem whose
characteristics are determined
primarily by elevation: the higher
Mojave Desert; and the lower
Colorado Desert. The Little San
Bernardino Mountains run through the
southwest edge of the park
The
higher, drier, and slightly cooler
Mojave Desert is the special habitat
of Yucca brevifolia, the Joshua
Tree, which the park is named for.
It occurs in patterns from dense
forests to distantly spaced
specimens. In addition to Joshua
tree forests, the western part of
the park includes some of the most
interesting geologic displays found
in California's deserts. The
dominant geologic features of this
landscape are hills of bare rock,
usually broken up into loose
boulders. These hills are popular
amongst rock climbing and scrambling
enthusiasts. The flatland between
these hills is sparsely forested
with Joshua trees. Together with the
boulder piles and Skull Rock, the
trees make the landscape
otherworldly.
Local
Weather:
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