Joshua Tree

Protected as a national monument since 1936 and raised to a national park in 1994, Joshua Tree marks the meeting point of two deserts of distinct ecology, the Mojave (higher and colder, home of the Joshua tree) and the Colorado (lower and warmer). It owes its name to the 19th-century Mormon settlers, who saw in the twisted shape of its trees a likeness of the biblical prophet Joshua pointing the way to the Promised Land.