Mojave Desert

Lore & Background

The Mojave Desert is a desert bordered to the west by the Sierra Nevada mountain range and the California montane chaparral and woodlands, and to the south and east by the Sonoran Desert. The boundaries to the east of the Mojave Desert are less distinctive than the other boundaries because there is no presence of an indicator species, such as the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia), which is endemic to the Mojave Desert. The Mojave Desert is distinguished from the Sonoran Desert and other deserts adjacent to it by its warm temperate climate, as well as flora and fauna such as ironwood (Olneya tesota), blue Palo Verde (Parkinsonia florida), chuparosa (Justicia californica), spiny menodora (Menodora spinescens), desert senna (Cassia armata), California dalea (Psorothamnus arborescens), California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera) and goldenhead (Acamptopappus shockleyi). Along with these other factors, these plants differentiate the Mojave from the nearby Sonoran Desert. The Mojave Desert is bordered by the San Andreas Fault to the southwest and the Garlock fault to the north. The mountains elevated along the length of the San Andreas fault provide a clear border between the Mojave Desert and the coastal regions to the west. The Garlock Fault separates the Mojave Desert from the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi mountains, which provide a natural border to the Mojave Desert. There are also abundant alluvial fans, called bajadas, that form around the mountains within the Mojave Desert and extend down toward the low-altitude basins. These basins contain dried lake beds called playas, where water generally collects and evaporates, leaving large volumes of salt. These playas include Rogers Dry Lake and China Lake. Dry lakes are a noted feature of the Mojave landscape. The Mojave Desert is also home to the Devils Playground, about 40 mi (64 km) of dunes and salt flats going in a northwest-southeasterly direction. The Devil's Playground is a part of the Mojave National Preserve and is between the town of Baker, California and the Providence Mountains. The Cronese Mountains are within the Devil's Playground. There are very few surface rivers in the Mojave Desert, but two major rivers generally flow underground. One is the intermittent Mojave River, which begins in the San Bernardino mountains and disappears underground in the Mojave Desert. The other is the Amargosa River, which flows partly underground through the Mojave Desert along a southward path. The Manix, Mojave, and the Little Mojave lakes are large but shallow. Soda Lake is the principal saline basin of the Mojave Desert. Natural springs are typically rare throughout the Mojave Desert, but there are two notable springs, Ash Meadows and Oasis Valley. Ash Meadows is formed from several other springs, which draw from deep underground. Oasis Valley draws from the nearby Amargosa River.

In Their Own Story

Extremes in temperatures throughout the seasons characterize the climate of the Mojave Desert. Freezing temperatures and strong winds are not uncommon in the winter, as well as precipitation such as rain and snow in the mountains. In contrast, temperatures above 100 °F (38 °C) are not uncommon during the summer months. It receives annual average precipitation of 2 to 6 inches (51 to 152 mm), although regions at high altitudes such as the portion of the Mojave Desert in the San Gabriel mountains may receive more rain. Most precipitation in the Mojave comes from Pacific cyclonic storms as they migrate eastwards from November to April. Such storms generally bring rain and snow only in the mountainous regions, increasing aridity on the leeward slopes. During the late summer months, there is also the possibility of strong thunderstorms, which bring heavy showers or cloudbursts. These storms can result in flash flooding. The Mojave Desert has not historically supported a fire regime because of low fuel loads and connectivity. However, in the last few decades, invasive annual plants such as some within the genera Bromus, Schismus and Brassica have facilitated fires by serving as a fuel bed. This has significantly altered many areas of the desert. At higher elevations, fire regimes are regular but infrequent.

Reader's Guide

While the Mojave Desert is generally sparsely populated, it has increasingly become urbanized in recent years. The metropolitan areas include Las Vegas, the largest urban area in the Mojave and the largest urban area in Nevada with a population of about 2.3 million. St. George, Utah, is the northeasternmost metropolitan area in the Mojave, with a population of around 180,000 in 2020, and is located at the convergence of the Mojave, Great Basin, and Colorado Plateau. The Los Angeles exurban area of Lancaster-Palmdale has more than 400,000 residents, and the Victorville area to its east (also known as Victor Valley) has around 550,000 residents. Smaller cities or micropolitan areas in the Mojave Desert include Helendale, Lake Havasu City, Kingman, Laughlin, Bullhead City, Pahrump, and Twentynine Palms. All have experienced rapid population growth since 1990. The California portion of the desert also contains Edwards Air Force Base and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, noted for experimental aviation and weapons projects. The Mojave Desert has several ghost towns. The most significant are the silver and copper-mining town of Calico, California, and the old railroad depot of Kelso, California. Some of the other ghost towns are more modern, created when U.S. Route 66 (and the lesser-known U.S. Route 91) was abandoned in favor of the construction of Interstates. CA SR 14, Interstate 15, Interstate 40, CA SR 58, CA SR 138, US Route 95, and US Route 395 are the main highways that traverse the Mojave Desert.

Did You Know?

• The Mojave Desert is the smallest and driest of the four North American deserts (Mojave, Sonoran, Chihuahuan, and Great Basin).
• Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, is located in the Mojave Desert.
• The Mojave Desert is often called the 'high desert' because most of it lies between 2,000 and 4,000 feet (610 and 1,220 m).
• The spelling 'Mojave' originates from Spanish, while 'Mohave' comes from modern English; the Mojave Tribal Nation officially uses 'Mojave', a shortened form of 'Hamakhaave', meaning 'beside the water'.
• The Mojave Desert contains various silver, tungsten, iron and gold deposits.