Terra Galleria Photography

Posts Tagged ‘off-pavement’

The Desert Peaks

Days 3,4,5 Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument protects five mountain ranges located in four detached sections of distinct character straddling all sides of the city of Las Cruces and separated by two interstate highways, I-10 and I-25. To the east, the 20-mile-long Organ Mountains, although they form the second smallest section, are the most developed […]

Bonanza Springs – Car troubles in the desert

Day 1 At Bonanza Springs, the only water source of its size in more than 1,000 square miles of most arid desert, willows and cottonwoods line up a small canyon for half a mile. The watering hole sustains rare Mojave Desert wildlife including tortoises and bighorn sheep. It is a great place to camp and […]

Crossing the Missouri River by ferry in the middle of nowhere

Along the 149 miles of river in Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, the monument lands surrounding the river grow larger and wilder as we move from west to east. From Fort Benton (river mile 0) to Coal Banks Landing (river mile 41.5) the river is mostly surrounded by grassy meadows and agricultural lands, with […]

Guide to Giant Sequoia National Monument: Northern Unit

Because it is wedged between areas of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, the northern unit of Giant Sequoia National Monument, is more traveled than the southern unit. When driving highway 180 (Kings Canyon Scenic Byway) between Grant Grove and Cedar Grove, or the Generals Highway between Grant Grove and Sequoia National Park, many visitors […]

Searching for Falling Man and Newspaper Rock

Although the landscapes and rock formations in Gold Butte National Monument are striking, one of the main reasons for establishing the monument was to preserve the artifacts left by the Moapa band of Paiutes (or Nuwuvi) who have lived in this area for some 3,000 years. They include some of the most impressive petroglyph panels […]

Gold Butte Peak: Southern Nevada’s untraveled view

Among photographers, Gold Butte National Monument is renowned for its surreal Little Finland area, but it is only an area of about one square mile. With its huge 468 square miles, the monument has much more to offer, and a good way to appreciate its vastness is to hike to a mountain top. For a […]

Ironwood Forest National Monument’s Ragged Top

Part 4 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Although a primary helper of biological diversity, the desert ironwood tree for which Ironwood Forest National Monument was named is hardly a visually impressive feature. On the other hand, independently from its remarkable biological diversity, you cannot miss the prominent 3,907-foot Ragged […]

A Tree in Ironwood Forest National Monument

Part 3 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Of all the North American deserts, the Sonoran Desert is distinguished by its trees – the Joshua Tree growing in the Mojave is a yucca and lacks wood. Desert ironwood trees (Olneya tesota) grow only in the Sonoran, where they are one […]

Sonoran Desert National Monument Guide: Part 2

Part 2 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Although quite obscure in the big scheme of things, the locations in Sonoran Desert National Monument that we visited in the first part of the article are the most obvious because they are along the monument’s designated trails. Those trails predate the […]

Sonoran Desert National Monument Guide

Part 1 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 The Sonoran Desert is the most biologically diverse desert in North America – or maybe not, see discussion in the last part of this series. Thanks to the national park designation, the most well-known track of Sonoran Desert consists of Saguaro National […]