What) Joshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California. Declared a U.S. National Park in 1994, it had previously been a U.S. National Monument since 1936. It covers a land area of 789,745 acres (319,598 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. Below 3,000 feet (910 m), the Colorado Desert encompasses the eastern part of the park and features natural gardens of creosote bush, ocotillo, and cholla cactus. The higher, drier and slightly cooler Mojave Desert is the special habitat of the Joshua tree, from which the park gets its name. 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. (1)

    Why) Pam had never been to California before so one of the goals of the trip was seeing the varied landscape.  This put Joshua Tree onto the list even though I didn't expect to enjoy “hills of bare rock”.

























We were given this brochure upon entering the park.











It contained at least one nice picture.









This vegetation is not that common in the park.
This is the best picture I was able to take.