Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park in western Antelope Valley preserves 566 acres of mature Joshua trees and California junipers in their western Mojave Desert habitat. It protects a surviving fragment of a woodland that once spread much more broadly across the valley before most of it was cleared for farming, housing, and other uses. The land also reflects long human connections to the desert, as Joshua trees provided food and fiber for Native Americans in the region. Donated by farmer Arthur “Archie” Ripley in 1988 and acquired by the state in 1993, the park remains a refuge for a diminishing desert landscape.

Photo: Wikipedia