Desert

"Wind swept
Sun scorched
The Desert view
Is ever new.

In springtime
A gorgeous carpet
In winter
A tawny hue.

For every mood
A veil of grace
In pastel shades
Floats o'er its face."

— Found typed on a note glued to the first flyleaf page on a copy of California Desert Trails by J. Smeaton Chase (1919). Under the poem was handwritten by the author: "Birthday Greetings from one Desert Brat to his Sister," dated July 1923.

Glyph of Lizard

 

TubB Canyon Desert Conservancy

 

Anza-Borrego Desert

The Anza-Borrego Desert is a part of the great Southwestern Sonoran Desert of North America. The larger Sonoran Desert extends from central and southern Arizona southward into northern Sonora and the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, and westward into the Anza-Borrego Desert of southeastern California west of the Salton Sea. It is in southeastern California that the Sonoran Desert's arid Colorado Desert (Colorado River Valley) subdivision comes to its western end in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

The stark beauty and great biodiversity of the Anza-Borrego Desert region attracts visitors from around the world during the cooler months of late autumn, winter, and spring. Photographing wildflower displays and dramatic landscapes, bird watching, hiking and horse riding, wading through seasonal desert streams, catching glimpses of rare wildlife... such as the endangered Peninsular Bighorn Sheep... and enjoying star-strewn night skies are all part of experiencing the incomparable Anza-Borrego Desert.

The town of Borrego Springs, which is entirely surrounded by Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, was designated California's first Dark Sky Community in 2009 by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA)

The Anza-Borrego Desert is a part of the Mojave & Colorado Deserts World Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO)

Sonoran Desert Region Map, The Sonoran Desert Region consists of the Sonoran Desert itself plus the surrounding biological communitiesincluding the Sea of Cortez, Gulf of California and its islands, click for full size map.

Click for larger map

Map of the Sonoran Desert Courtesy of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Sonoran Desert Digital Library