Joshua Tree National Park is located at a point where the Mojave Desert and the Colorado Desert (part of the Sonoran Desert) meet. The park is home to these “trees” (actually a subspecies of Yucca) as well as house-sized boulders that attract climbers and are unlike the geologic features found in other national parks we’ve been to.

Birds are able to nest in the twisted, tortured, gnarly branches, however the sharp leaves, when bumped into, are quick to painfully discourage the visitor from not bumping into them again.