| Wonder Valley, California | |
| Settlement Type: | Unincorporated Community |
| Pushpin Map: | USA California#USA |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the state of California |
| Coordinates: | 34.1511°N -115.9314°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name1: | California |
| Subdivision Name2: | San Bernardino |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Total Km2: | 380 |
| Area Land Km2: | 380 |
| Elevation Ft: | 1,500 |
| Population Total: | 615 |
| Population As Of: | 2013 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP codes |
| Postal Code: | 92277 |
| Area Code: | 442/760 |
| Area Code Type: | Area codes |
| Timezone: | Pacific (PST) |
| Utc Offset: | -8 |
| Timezone Dst: | PDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -7 |
Wonder Valley is a sparsely populated unincorporated community in the Morongo Basin of Southern California's High Desert region, straddling Amboy Road and State Route 62 in San Bernardino County, California, United States, approximately 10miles east of the city of Twentynine Palms.
Wonder Valley occupies the gently sloping basin between the Sheep Hole Mountains and Bullion Mountains to the north and the Pinto Mountains to the south. Elevations in Wonder Valley range from 1800feet in the valley's western reaches to 1200feet near the eastern frontier of population within the valley. The nearest incorporated community is the city of Twentynine Palms, which lies about to the west. State Route 62 and Amboy Road both pass through Wonder Valley; most other roads in the community are unpaved.
Due to its low elevation relative to other communities of the Morongo Basin, Wonder Valley lies near the intersection of the higher-elevation Mojave Desert and the lower-elevation Colorado Desert. Wonder Valley's subtropical desert climate is characterized by very hot summers and cool winters with considerable diurnal temperature variation throughout the year. Moisture from the North American Monsoon contributes to summer precipitation and thunderstorm activity, and most non-monsoonal precipitation can be attributed to winter Pacific storms.
Wonder Valley is approximately 15miles northeast of the east entrance to Joshua Tree National Park.
Wonder Valley is unincorporated and is under the jurisdiction of San Bernardino County. Residents of Wonder Valley are served by San Bernardino County's County Service Area (CSA) 70M, a special services district with taxing authority that provides residents with fire protection, park, and road maintenance services.[1] Many residents of Wonder Valley live on large parcels of land consisting of 5acres, a result of the community's growth after the enactment of the Small Tract Act of 1938.
In the California State Legislature, Wonder Valley is in, and in .[2]
In the United States House of Representatives, Wonder Valley is in .
Wonder Valley was not substantively populated until the United States Congress approved the Small Tract Act (STA) of 1938, a homesteading law that facilitated the leasing and public-to-private transfer of ownership of parcels of up to five acres to United States citizens willing to improve the land by developing a residence, business, or recreational structure.[3]
Thousands of cabins and other structures built by homesteaders, particularly during a period of popularity in the 1950s and 60s, have since been left abandoned. Although a cleanup effort in the early 2000s resulted the demolition of hundreds of abandoned structures,[4] numerous structures built by Small Tract Act homesteaders still exist in various states of use and repair.[5]
More recently, Wonder Valley has earned a reputation for being a fashionable destination for artists,[6] a trend which is frequently attributed to Wonder Valley's association with nearby Joshua Tree National Park.[7]