I spent a fun couple of winter's nights in Joshua Tree National Natural Landmark outside St. George Utah. The evenings were cool and the stars and clouds made for some good night photography. The Joshua Trees really come alive when lighted by the moon or a flashlight. I spent a few hours every night shooting the landscape and stars. I really adore nights in the southwestern deserts.

This beautiful place is the only spot where you'll find Joshua trees in Utah, and it's also the farthest north point in the U.S. to find tree yuccas. The Joshua Tree Natural Area covers 1,052 acres of federally-protected land. It was designated in 1966. The scenery is downright stunning with the desert foliage right in front of you, and the vast land stretching toward the mountains in the distance, you'll feel like you've found your own remote piece of heaven.

Not a soul could be found when we were sauntering in the backcountry near Tabeau Peak in the Joshua Tree National Natural Landmark. Teig and I love these secluded spots where few people visit or spend their time. I will always choose this type of location rather than a crowded tourist attraction.

Looking up into the top of a Joshua Tree in the desert of Southwest Utah.

The desert southwest is a beautiful location to saunter and explore in the winter. It very rarely snows and it is mostly t-shirt and shorts weather this time of year. This landscape photo was created in Joshua Tree National Natural Landmark in Utah and the contrast of the Joshua Trees and barren mountains helps with composing desert landscape compositions. It is hard to get a bad landscape photo here in the winter.

Winter’s night was practically upon us in Joshua Tree National Natural Landmark in Southwest Utah. The lights of the small town of Beaver Dam can be seen in the distance and the night skies would soon be full of stars. Teig and I love to sit in the dark desert and stare into the night sky and ponder who on distant worlds could be looking at our little speck of their night sky. What a great big universe we live in.

The beauty of a Joshua Tree on the desert floor underneath the rugged Mountains in Southwestern Utah.

A panoramic view of the desert mountains from the Woodbury Desert Study Area in southwestern Utah. The study area lies within both the Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area and Joshua Tree National Natural Landmark. The range is high in elevation above the Mojave desert below.

Numerous interesting Joshua trees can be found while exploring the desert basin in Joshua Tree National Natural Landmark. This unique location in southwestern Utah is a gem for photographers and adventures wanting to capture some of the American desert experience. It is awesome to be here in the winter months when the normal high tempratures hover around 70 degrees farenheit.

In the southwestern corner of Utah is a not very well known forest of Joshua Trees. The Joshua Tree National Natural Landmark is the location of this forest and stretches out for miles. Sauntering in this valley you can see how special this area is with the plethora of trees that cover the basin between the desert mountains. Each of these trees is a work of art and this photographer found a multitude of compositions worthy of documentation through photography.

Late morning view in South-Western Utah's Joshua Tree National Natural Landmark. Joshua trees range from here to the mojave desert in southern California. It is fun to be able to saunter around this beautiful area in late December.

Teig and I were hiking up Tabeau Peak above Joshua Tree National Natural Landmark in southwest Utah and we came upon this beautiful view on a ridge off the trail. The flora here was so quaint with the views of the valley far below and the mountains in the distance that I was compelled to take a photograph.

Teig and I were hiking up Tabeau Peak above Joshua Tree National Natural Landmark in southwest Utah and we came upon this beautiful view on a ridge off the trail. mormon Tea can be found all over the desert southwest and is one of my favorite desert plants. to have this small specimen on a ridge above the desert floor seemed to be perfect composition for a photograph.

We encountered this fence on our way to the summit of Tabeau Peak. Sitting out by the Utah-Arizona border, Tabeau Peak is a striking sight for travelers driving by on old highway 91 above Beaver Dam. From the highway, the peak looks like a perfect pyramid, but from the Joshua Tree Scenic Byway, the road at its base, it is revealed as a unique-looking, twin-summited peak with steep cliffs surrounding its higher ramparts.

Cool Joshua Trees covering Joshua Tree National Natural Landmark. Yucca brevifolia is a plant species belonging to the genus Yucca. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. The name "Joshua tree" is commonly said to have been given by a group of Mormon settlers crossing the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century: The tree's role in guiding them through the desert combined with its unique shape reminded them of a biblical story in which Joshua keeps his hands reached out for an extended period of time to guide the Israelites in their conquest of Canaan.

A beautiful Joshua Tree with Tabeau Peak in the background at Joshua Tree National Natural Landmark in south western Utah.