15 February 2021 | Author/Destination: North America / Nordamerika | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks
Reading Time: 8 minutesCyclops and Pee Wee Formations © Jarek Tuszyński/cc-by-sa-3.0
Joshua Tree National Park is an American
national park in southeastern
California, east of
Los Angeles and
San Bernardino, near
Palm Springs. It is named for the Joshua trees (
Yucca brevifolia) native to the
Mojave Desert. Originally declared a
national monument in 1936, Joshua Tree was redesignated as a national park in 1994 when the
U.S. Congress passed the
California Desert Protection Act. Encompassing a total of 790,636 acres (1,235.4 sq mi; 3,199.6 km²) – slightly larger than the state of
Rhode Island – the park includes 429,690 acres (671.4 sq mi; 1,738.9 km²) of designated
wilderness. Straddling
San Bernardino and
Riverside Counties, 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 (including the
Coachella Valley). The
Little San Bernardino Mountains traverse the southwest edge of the park.
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