Discover the Desert Southwest

Travels in the Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahan deserts

The Desert Southwest; the warm deserts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, form a region of incredible beauty and diversity, and offers some of North America's strangest, wildest and most modern of cultures.

Follow me as I travel the canyons, plateaus, rivers and desert towns of the Desert Southwest. In this section, I cover the Los Angeles River, environmental disasters, chili pepper festivals and wildflower blooms.

Waves of Sand in Rainbow Country

While hiking in the Vermilion Cliffs, I dive deep into the ancient geological epochs that created these beautiful rainbows of stone.
The Road to Quitobaquito Springs

On the Road to a small desert spring, I investigate the border wall and the case for resurrecting a Transboundary Preserve.
Mud Road to Coyote Buttes

Notes on traveling to the Coyote Buttes during surreal winter weather.
Mesa to Canyon along the Colorado Plateau

Notes on my frantic road trip across the dazzling desert Plateus of Utah and Arizona.
The Saltwater Fish of Death Valley

Notes on the pupfish of Death Valley and the Desert Southwest.
Atomic Agriculture on the Rio Grande

Road trip to the Hatch Chili Festival in Southern New Mexico.
Bombay Beach

Kayaking the Salton Sea to broken-down and beautful Bombay Beach.
Paddling and Driving the Los Angeles River

Exploring the LA River by road and kayak, with notes on my 14 years living in the city.
Death and Salvation on the New River

Notes on ecological devastation and salvation along the New River in Southern California.
Barren Anza Borrego Desert

Notes on the rich desert tapestry of Anza-Borrego in Southern California.
Panamint Valley Roach Motel

You want to hear about a hotel nightmare? Notes from Panamint Valley, California.
Four Seasons of the Western Mojave

Notes on my travels to Joshua Tree National Park and the Western Mojave of Southern California.
Trona and the Unusual Lake Searles

Notes from a desert California outpost, and the weird rocky world of the Searles lakebed..
Reefs of Pollen on the Carrizo Plain

Exploring the idea of travel and limitations during some of the amazing wildflower blooms in California history.
Longboarding Las Vegas

A few years ago, I decided to cross Las Vegas by skateboard, and then write about it.
Valley of Fire and Thorns

We are walking on a hard, sandy soil when suddenly my boy shrieks in pain.
Cactuses of the Desert Southwest

My sketches of all the cacti of the Desert Southwest and the United States.

Map of the Desert Southwest

This map shows the region depicted as the Desert Southwest at Notes from the Road. There are different ways of describing the American Southwest, but most descriptions are either too broad or too specific. It is not just a collection of states in the southwest corner of the country, nor is it just Arizona and New Mexico. The best definition of the Desert Southwest is the region that surrounds the warm deserts north of Mexico. Some geographic and cultural elements are common to all of the Desert Southwest: the influence of Spanish colonization, Mexican culture and cuisine and a relative abundance of desert plants.

Southern California, the southern tip of Nevada, the southern edge of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and the basin and range region of Texas are all a part of the large Desert Southwest region.