What & Where is the Mojave Desert?
Good question, glad you asked... Let me over explain.
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of Southern California and
parts of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. Named after the
Mohave Native Americans it occupies
roughly 54,000 square miles in a typical Basin and Range topography.
The Mojave Desert is bound in part on the western end by the
Tehachapi
together with the
San Gabriel and
San Bernardino
mountain ranges. The mountain boundaries are quite distinct since they have been created by the two largest faults in
California: the
San Andreas and the
Garlock. Its northern and eastern boundaries are
less distinct. One way to determine location is by observing the presence of
Joshua Trees.
The Mojave Desert receives less than 6 inches of rain a year and is generally between
3,000 and 6,000 feet in elevation. The Mojave Desert also contains the
Mojave National Preserve,
Joshua Tree National Park
and the lowest-hottest place in North America:
Death Valley,
where the temperature can approach 120F in late July and early August.
The Mojave, like all deserts in general, is known for its summer heat, however,
there is wintertime cold.
Snow, although uncommon, does fall in parts of the Mojave.
Amounts range from just a trace to a foot or more of heavy wet snow which can lead to
freeway traffic closures and being "snowed in". The coldest wintertime temperature
ranges below freezing yet above 0F. Many parts of the Mojave
typically range from highs of around 95-105F in the summer to lows of around 20-30F
in the winter.
High winds, often above 50 miles per hour, are also a weather factor and occur frequently
along the
western end of the Mojave,
and are less common toward the
east.
The Mojave Desert contains a number of
ghost towns. The most well known of
these being the silver-mining town of
Calico,
California. Some of them are of the more modern variety created when
Route 66
was abandoned in favor of the
Interstates.
Among the more popular and unique tourist attractions in the Mojave is the self-described
World's Largest Thermometer at 135 feet high, reportedly also the highest temperature ever
recorded in the region located along
Interstate 15 in
Baker,
California.
The Mojave River is an important source of water in this arid land. A part of the Colorado River traverses its far eastern portion.
The Mojave Desert is crossed by major highways Interstate 15, Interstate 40, US Highway 395 and US Highway 190.
Some of the cities in the Mojave Desert include Victorville, Barstow, Palmdale, Ridgecrest, and Needles, California. Las Vegas, Nevada is the Mojave's largest city and metropolitan area.
Regionally, the southwest portions, the Antelope Valley, the Victor Valley, the Lucerne Valley and the Yucca Valley / Twentynine Palms areas are refered to as the High Desert.
Shaping the "Classic American Desert"
... the Mojave does not really fit the classic image of ...
Life at the Extremes
The Mojave Desert, the driest and smallest of the ...
Adaptations
The Mojave Desert is an environment of extreme heat, ...
Plants
... plants that have developed special means of storing and ...
Animals
Desert animals are more susceptible to temperature extremes than ...
Early Man
... results show that Paleoindians may have reached this area as ...
Miners, Homesteaders, and Route 66
During the mid-19th century, mining in all areas of the Mojave created ...
Desert Tortoise
... as a threatened species in large parts of its range, it has become ...
Sensitive Fish Species
... more than half of the native desert fish species in the Mojave ...
Rising to the Occasion
As more people seek escape from the congestion of nearby ...
Management Challenges
But because ecosystems do not recognize such boundaries, ...
Water
Groundwater and the Mojave and Colorado Rivers are the ...
Off-Highway Vehicles
... riding motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, dune buggies, and ...
Fire and Weeds
... not common in the Mojave Desert, and when they did occur, ...
Mojave Desert A-Z
A geographic tour of the Mojave Desert