Joshua Tree National Park

Location: California

Year Established: 1994

Area: 789,745.47 acres (3,196.0 km2)

Annual Visitors: 1,589,904

Covering large areas of the Colorado and Mojave Deserts and the Little San Bernardino Mountains, this exotic desert landscape is populated by vast stands of the famous Joshua tree. Great changes in elevation reveal starkly contrasting environments including bleached sand dunes, dry lakes, rugged mountains, and maze-like clusters of monzogranite monoliths.