Mojave Desert
The Mojave or Mohave Desert occupies a significant part of Southern 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 in part by the Tehachapi together with the San Gabriel and San Bernadino mountain ranges. The mountain boundaries are quite distinct, since they are outlined by the two largest faults in California: the San Andreas and the Garlock. Its northern and eastern boundaries are less distinct. One way to determine entry is by observing the presence of Joshua Trees. 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. A part of the Colorado River traverses its far eastern portion.
The Mojave Desert is crossed by major highways Interstate 15, Interstate 40, US Highway 395 and US Highway 95.
Cities in the Mojave Desert include Victorville, Barstow, Palmdale, Ridgecrest and Needles, California. Las Vegas, Nevada is the Mojave's largest city and metropolitan area. The communities of Lone Pine, California and Goldfield, Nevada are on its northern reaches. St. George, Utah and Kingman, Arizona are small cities on its eastern flank.
Angelenos many times refer to its southwestern portions (the Antelope Valley and the Victor Valley) as the High Desert.
==See also:== Low Desert, Colorado Desert, List of North American deserts
