A well-balanced park

Although the titular trees are justly celebrated, this desert region's geology is every bit as unusual as its flora. An ecologically sensitive area, Joshua Tree was protected as a national monument beginning in 1936, before gaining park status in 1994. It may be one of the nation's younger national parks, but Joshua Tree's distinctive monzogranite formations, featuring balancing stones and bedrock stacks cracked in geometric patterns, date back around 10 million years. Set where the high-elevation Mojave Desert and the lower Colorado Desert meet, the park is about three hours east of Los Angeles by car and welcomes more than 3 million visitors in a typical year.