The Mojave Desert – “Hottest, Driest, Lowest”

The Mojave, the smallest of the four North American deserts, is described as a transition desert from the hot Sonoran Desert to the higher Great Basin.  Known as “high desert,” the Mojave’s elevation ranges from 2,000 to 5,000 feet.  It changes from a cold desert in the northern section and a hot desert in the southern section.  

The name Mojave comes from the Native American word “Hamakhaave,” which means “beside the water.”   Mojave Native American tribes live on two reservations; one in Arizona and one in California.
 
In excess of 25,000 square miles, the Mojave occupies potions of southeastern California as well as Nevada, Arizona and Utah.  The Park comprises more than 3.3 million acres of spectacular desert scenery.  Nearly 550 square miles of its area lie below sea level. 

The Mojave Desert is a rainshadow desert, which is an area of dry land on the leeward side of the mountain.   High mountains on the west block the movements of wet winter storms.  The Mojave has the lowest absolute elevation (282 feet below sea level) and the highest maximum temperature (134 degrees F), it is north of the Sonoran and its average elevations are higher.  This results in the average temperatures of the Mojave being lower than those of the Sonoran. Rainfall averages from 2.23 to 2.5 inches a year. 

The Mojave Desert is home to more than 200 endemic species.  “Endemic” species are organisms that ONLY live in a particular location on Earth and are naturally found nowhere else.