Chuckwalla Valley | |
Country: | United States |
State: | California |
Region: | Mojave Desert |
Region Type: | Region |
District: | Riverside |
District Type: | County |
City: | Desert Center |
City1: | Eagle Mountain |
City Type: | Communities |
Coordinates: | 33.6409°N -115.0189°W |
Border: | Palen Lake |
Border1: | Palen Valley |
Border2: | Palen Mountains |
Border3: | McCoy Mountains |
Border4: | Palo Verde Valley |
Border5: | Little Chuckwalla Mountains |
Border6: | Mule Mountains |
Border7: | Chuckwalla Mountains |
Border8: | Eagle Mountains |
Border9: | Desert Lily Preserve |
Border10: | Coxcomb Mountains |
Length Mi: | 48 |
Length Orientation: | WNW-ESE |
Width Mi: | 16 |
Map: | USA California |
Map Size: | 250 |
Relief: | 1 |
The Chuckwalla Valley is a large valley in eastern Riverside County, California, named for a large lizard, the chuckwalla found in the arid Southwestern United States deserts.
The region of the valley in southeast California, is the low elevation section of the Mojave Desert transitioning into the Colorado Desert, the northwest extension (in California) of the Sonoran Desert. The region is notable for valleys containing bajadas, sand dunes, and intermittent, dry, or saline lakes. Chuckwalla Valley contains Ford Lake (Ford Dry Lake)[1] in the east-southeast; Palen Lake (Palen Dry Lake) occurs in the center-northwest, at the south terminus of the smaller, north-south Palen Valley.
The south end of the valley expands slightly northwest-by-southeast, and contains Danby Dry Lake, a 13-mi (21 km)