Mojave Desert

The Mojave or Mohave Desert occupies California and parts of Utah, Nevada and Arizona. Named after the Mojave Native Americans, it occupies over 35,000 km² in a typical Basin and Range topography.

The Mojave Desert is bounded by the Tehachapi and the San Bernardino Mountain ranges. The boundaries are quite distinct, since they are outlined by the two largest faults in California: the San Andreas and the Garlock. The Mojave Desert receives less than 6 inches (150 mm) of rain a year and is generally between 3000 and 6000 feet (1,000 and 2,000 m) of elevation. The Mojave Desert also contains Mojave National Preserve and the lowest, hottest place in North America: Death Valley, where the temperature normally approaches 50 °C (120 °F) in late July and early August.

The Mojave Desert contains a number of ghost towns, the most significant of these being the silver-mining town of Calico, California. Some of them are of the more modern variety, created when Route 66 (and the lesser-known US Highway 91) were abandoned in favor of the Interstates. Among the more popular and unique tourist attractions in the Mojave is the self described World's Largest Thermometer at 135 feet high (reportedly also the highest °F temperature ever recorded in the region), and located along Interstate 15 in Baker, California.

The Mojave River is an important source of water in this arid land.

The Mojave Desert is crossed by major highways Interstate 15, Interstate 40, US Highway 395.

Cities in the Mojave Desert include Victorville, Barstow, Needles, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Angelenos refer to it as the High Desert.

See also: Low Desert, List of North American deserts Template:California Geography