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California

Desert

The California Desert is composed of entire southeast corner and offers excellent opportunities for hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts.
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Photo: Jarekt, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Photo: Traveler100, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Mojave Desert and El Centro.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named after the indigenous Mohave people, it is located primarily in southeastern California and southwestern , with small portions extending into and .

Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
is the largest city in in . Its name is Spanish for "the center".

Photo: Marianita2407, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a city in in , located just across the U.S.-Mexican border from .

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Imperial County and Inyo County.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is in the Desert at the extreme southeast corner of the state. Locally this area is known as the Imperial Valley.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is in extending from the region east into the Desert. Known as "the Other Side of California," the county is a vast expanse along the eastern edge of California that covers 10,000 square miles, an area greater than six U.S. states.

Photo: Joshua Tree National Park, Public domain.
is a city of 26,000 in south central San Bernadino County in the Desert on the northern boundary of .

Photo: Tuxyso, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The is the largest lake in California, covering 376 square miles It is about 227 feet below sea level. Its salinity level is 44 parts per thousand versus 35 parts per thousand for the Pacific Ocean.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a large town in south central San Bernadino County in Desert on the north-western boundary of .

Photo: Traveler100, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a national park in the Southern California Desert. The park encompasses nearly 800,000 acres of the and Colorado Deserts, conserving two separate desert ecosystems at different altitudes.

Photo: Tukka, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a village in south central San Bernadino County in the Desert, on the northern boundary of the .

Photo: Jarekt, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is an area of stark, quiet desert landscapes in the southeastern desert of . Protected as a United States national preserve, it is part of the National Park System.

Photo: XRay, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a ghost town along Route 66 in the region of Southern . Nearby is Crater, a popular tourist attraction since the Route 66 days, a 6,000-year-old cinder cone volcano and one of the youngest volcanic fields in the U.S.

Photo: Adbar, CC BY-SA 3.0.
in southern is the largest state park in the state and the second largest in the . The park is located on the eastern side of , with portions extending east into and north into .

Photo: Thomas Shahan, CC BY 2.0.
is an unincorporated community along historic Route 66 in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California. Nearby is Pisgah Crater and the Lavic Lake volcanic view.

Desert

Latitude of center
35.09° or 35° 5′ 24″ north
Longitude of center
-115.7° or 115° 42′ west
Wiki­data ID
Q5264114
This page is based on Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
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Satellite Map

Discover Desert from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Arabic to Spanish—“Desert” goes by many names.
  • Arabic: “صحاري كاليفورنيا”
  • Belarusian: “пустыні Каліфорніі”
  • Catalan: “deserts de Califòrnia”
  • Chinese: “加利福尼亞沙漠”
  • Esperanto: “Kaliforniaj Dezertoj”
  • French: “déserts de Californie”
  • French: “Déserts de Californie”
  • German: “Kalifornische Wüste”
  • Hebrew: “אזור המדבר של קליפורניה”
  • Hebrew: “מדבריות קליפורניה”
  • Italian: “Deserto (California)”
  • Italian: “Deserto”
  • Japanese: “カリフォルニアの砂漠地帯”
  • Japanese: “カリフォルニア砂漠”
  • Latvian: “Kalifornijas tuksneši”
  • Latvian: “tuksneši Kalifornijā”
  • Persian: “کویر کالیفرنیا”
  • Russian: “пустыни Калифорнии”
  • Slovenian: “Desert”
  • Slovenian: “deserts of California”
  • Slovenian: “kalifornijske puščave”
  • Slovenian: “puščave Kalifornije”
  • Spanish: “Desiertos de California”

California: Must-Visit Destinations

Delve into San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento.

Explore These Curated Destinations

Discover places selected for their distinct character and enduring appeal.
About Mapcarta. Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Desert”. Photo: Traveler100, CC BY-SA 3.0.