Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California, east of San Bernardino and Los Angeles, north of Palm Springs. It takes its name from the Joshua trees which are native to the Mojave Desert. The Joshua Tree was originally declared a National Monument in 1936, and in 1994 it was re-designated a National Park when the US Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act. The park, which lies between San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, encompasses parts of two deserts whose ecosystem characteristics are primarily determined by altitude: the higher Mojave Desert and the lower Colorado Desert. On the southwestern edge of the park are the Little San Bernardino Mountains. The park is home to or visited by more than 250 species of birds, among them desert birds such as the Greater Roadrunner, Cactus Wren, Northern Mockingbird, LeConte's Thrasher, verdin and Gambel's Quail. Some of the birdwatching sites include the fan palm oases, Barker Dam and Smith Water Canyon. The Queen Valley and Lost Horse Valley also offer good birding opportunities. Besides birds, lizards and ground squirrels are most likely to be spotted, as they are mostly active during daytime. But at night, the desert animals come out to wander. The animals that are mostly nocturnal include snakes, Bighorn Sheep, Kangaroo Rats, coyotes, bobcats and Black Tailed Jackrabbits. The Mojave Desert is home to the Desert Tortoise, a threatened reptile species that lives in the creosote bush lowlands.