Location:

The United States of America

Welcome to the Ripley Desert Woodland State Park photo gallery brought to you by Desertsunrise.net

The Ripley Desert Woodland State Park occupies 560 acres in the Western part of the Antelope Valley. Here you will see one of the few remaining examples of a virgin forest of Joshua and Juniper Trees. Except for some alien grasses and the lack of native bunch grasses, this is probably how many parts of the western Mojave Desert must have appeared to early white (European) explorers, settlers, miners and ranchers as they came through or settled in the Western Antelope Valley.

Explorers such as Pedro Fages (1772), Spanish Franciscan friar Francisco Garces (1776), or John C. Fremont (1848) had without a doubt an amazing view of the of the Western Mojave Desert that we will never see. In the years before the large migration of settlers, farmers, and ranchers many parts of the Mojave Desert had desert woodland forests. Just try and imagine that what we see here in a few photographs of a desert woodland spread out in vast forest covering a large part of the desert!

"Joshua trees and Junipers are the dominate species of plants with a large undergrowth of California buckwheat, golden bush, Mormon tea, blue sage and beavertail cactus. In the spring following a wet winter, many species of annual wildflowers bloom throughout the Park".
"The park is named for Arthur Ripley (1901-1988) who willed the property to the State. As a farmer, he cleared and farmed a large amount of acreage in the western part of the Antelope Valley but he also was concerned enough about the Joshua/Juniper woodlands to leave this area in a pristine state".

Quoted from the Ripley State Park - Trail Guide Brochure

Due to the larger number of photos in the Desert Woodland photo gallery, I have had to thumbnail the images so that the loading times are kept to a minimum. Just mouse click on any of the photographs and a full photo page will open. Then use you back button on your browser to return for more photo viewing pleasure.

Notice: The park brochure mentions a parking lot, but I never did find one! I parked on the side of the road. Beware - the sandy conditions on the roadsides in many desert area's can at times be very soft and your vehicle can easily become stuck. Here the soil conditions were soft but drivable.







Getting There!

California Parks website for the Ripley Desert Woodland has this for, Driving Directions to Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland SP:

A link to Google Maps is also included on the CA Parks web page.

Here is another resource to help get a better idea of where the park is located (not to be used for driving instructions, just general info. Also check weather and road conditions before leaving).