The Low Desert (colloquially referred to as the Desert within the region) is a common name for any

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

that is under 2,000 feet (609.6 m) in altitude. These areas include, but are not exclusive to, the Colorado Desert and Yuha Desert branches of the Sonoran Desert, in the far southeasternmost portion of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. The Low Desert is distinguished in

biogeography Biogeography is the study of the species distribution, distribution of species and ecosystems in geography, geographic space and through evolutionary history of life, geological time. Organisms and biological community (ecology), communities o ...

from the adjacent northern High Desert or

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

by latitude, elevation, animal life, climate, and native

plant communities A plant community is a collection or Association (ecology), association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The comp ...

Communities

The cities and towns in the Low Desert include: *

Coachella Valley The Coachella Valley ( ) is an arid rift valley in the Colorado Desert of Southern California in Riverside County. The valley has been referred to as Greater Palm Springs and occasionally the Palm Springs Area due to the historic promine ...

area ** Bermuda Dunes **

Cathedral City City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the the Crown, monarch of the United Kingdom to specific centres of population, which might or might not meet the generally accepted definition of city, cities. , there are List of cities in the Un ...

** Coachella ** Desert Hot Springs ** Indian Wells ** Indio ** La Quinta **

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

** Palm Desert ** Palm Springs **

Rancho Mirage Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is a low-density desert community with resorts, golf courses, and country clubs within the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert. Nestled along the foothills ...

** Thermal ** Thousand Palms * Imperial Valley area ** Brawley ** Calexico ** Calipatria ** El Centro ** Holtville ** Imperial ** Niland **

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

* Lower Colorado River Valley area ** Blythe ** Palo Verde ** Winterhaven *

Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly salinity, saline endorheic lake in Riverside County, California, Riverside and Imperial County, California, Imperial counties in Southern California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the S ...

area ** Bombay Beach ** North Shore ** Salton City * Borrego Springs * Ocotillo Wells

Parks and Protected Areas

* Anza-Borrego Desert State Park * Coachella Valley Preserve *

Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, US National Park located in southeastern California, straddling north-central Riverside County, California, Riverside County and part of southern San Bernardino County, ...

– Southern portion of the Park is included in the Low Desert, the northern portion is within the

* Salton Sea State Recreation Area * Indio Hills Palms Park *

Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument is a U.S. National Monument, national monument in Southern California. It includes portions of the Santa Rosa Mountains (California), Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains, San Jacinto mo ...

* Big Morongo Canyon Preserve

Wildlife refuges and wilderness areas

* Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge * Imperial National Wildlife Refuge * Havasu National Wildlife Refuge * Cibola National Wildlife Refuge * Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge * Fish Creek Mountains Wilderness * Santa Rosa Wilderness * Indian Pass Wilderness * Whipple Mountains Wilderness * Sawtooth Mountains Wilderness * Little Picacho Wilderness

References

Deserts of California • Regions of California Deserts of the Lower Colorado River Valley . . . . Geography of Southern California Inland Empire

Desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

Coachella Valley Imperial Valley Blythe, California Indio, California Palm Springs, California {{ImperialCountyCA-geo-stub

Communities

Parks and Protected Areas

Wildlife refuges and wilderness areas

See also

References