Now in its expanded 5th edition, The Anza-Borrego Desert Region offers complete coverage of the over 1 million acres of desert lands, including Anza-Borrego State Park, Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area (OWSVRA), parts of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, and adjacent BLM recreational and wilderness lands.

The most complete list of historical references ever assembled for Southern California's Anza-Borrego area. Includes detailed maps of Split Mountain and Coyote Mountains and 750 entries about this spectacular desert.

This book evolved from a course on the natural history of the Anza-Borrego region that was developed by the authors over a 16-year period and taught at the University of San Diego. It tells a coherent story of how the landscape and features of a desert region evolved over time and how organisms that inhabit the desert have adapted to the conditions found there by taking many different evolutionary paths to deal with aridity, heat, and saline soils. The result is an amazing biological diversity that has evolved in response to these conditions. This book is encyclopedic in detail and is yet very readable. Each illustration was handcrafted to tell a story and to help the reader better understand the fascinating story of this unique desert place and its first human inhabitants. This is the "go-to" book for anyone wanting to understand the natural environment of the Anza-Borrego region

Hiking Anza-Borrego State Park contains detailed information about 25 of the best day hikes and extended backpacking trips in California's largest state park. Supplemented with GPS-compatible maps, mile-by-mile directional cues, rich narratives, and beautiful photographs, this is the only book you'll need to explore this spectacular landscape.

Sonoran Wildflowers is the ultimate field guide to wildflowers of North America's most biologically diverse desert, which straddles the Gulf of California between the Baja Peninsula and northwestern Sonora and stretches north into California and Arizona. Packed with vivid color photos and informative text, this valuable reference will help you identify and appreciate the varied flora of this vast region's six different climates. This easy-to-use guide features: a tough, water-resistant cover and extra-durable binding, made to withstand vigorous field use; detailed descriptions and color photos of more than 300 plants; an introduction to the habitats and ecology of the Sonoran Desert; a primer on plant characteristics; a glossary of botanical terms. Sonoran Desert Wildflowers is perfect for the novice and expert wildflower enthusiast alike. Whether you are lucky enough to spot the inconspicuous blooms of Devil's Spineflower or the spectacular Desert Mariposa, this guide will enhance your next journey into the remarkable Sonoran Desert.

The artist has taken a primitive welding art form of Mexico to new provocative heights with his creation of more than 125 life-size fanciful creatures that conjure up the past and stoke the fire of imagination.

Coast to Cactus: The Canyoneer Trail Guide to San Diego Outdoors is much more than a hiking guide. Written by the San Diego Natural History Museum Canyoneers, it is the new bible for really getting to know and appreciate the countys biodiversity while exploring firsthand. The guide has 250 hikes, each with its own map and photograph, hike description with mileage, elevation gain/loss, difficulty rating, directions to the trailhead with GPS, trail use, special features, and type of habitat(s) found on each hike. Each hike has a focus on a species or natural/cultural history feature associated with that hike.

The UC Natural Reserve System, established in 1965 to support field research, teaching, and public service in natural environments, has become a prototype of conservation and land stewardship looked to by natural resource managers throughout the world. From its modest beginnings of seven sites, the UC NRS has grown to encompass more than 750,000 wildland acres. This book tells the story of how a few forward-thinking UC faculty, who’d had their research plots and teaching spots destroyed by development and habitat degradation, devised a way to save representative examples of many of California’s major ecosystems. Working together with conservation-minded donors and landowners, with state and federal agencies, and with land trusts and private conservation organizations, they founded what would become the world’s largest university-administered natural reserve system—a legacy of lasting significance and utility. This lavishly illustrated volume, which includes images by famed photographers Ansel Adams and Galen Rowell, describes the natural and human histories of the system’s many reserves. Located throughout California, these wildland habitats range from coastal tide pools to inland deserts, from lush wetlands to ancient forests, and from vernal pools to oak savannas. By supporting teaching, research, and public service within such protected landscapes, the UC NRS contributes to the understanding and wise stewardship of the Earth.