Photo by Josh Sommers. Feature photo by Larry Miller.

Covering up to 25,000 square miles of Californian terrain, the Mojave and the Colorado deserts present a rich diversity in landscape, ecology, and climate, and provide an important preservation of natural and human history. The following are some of the most spectacular of the national and state parks.

Joshua Tree National Park

Popular for its Joshua tree forests and climbable hills of bare boulders, Joshua Tree National Park has a uniquely alien and prehistoric landscape.

Slow growers, Joshua trees can live up to several hundred years with some making it to a thousand. Photo by Tobias.

Arch Rock. Photo by Yogi.

Sometimes after particularly wet winters desert dandelions grow. Photo by Dawn Endico.

Death Valley National Park

Its rich geologic and cultural history, and extreme environment and isolation (having some of the clearest skies in North America for stargazing) make Death Valley an attractive destination for nature lovers.

A sliding rock making its way across Racetrack Playa. Photo by Mike.

Badwater, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level. Photo by PhillipC.

Zabriskie Point. Photo by Larry Miller.

Red Rock Canyon State Park

The result of erosion exposing the colorful sandstone stratas and creating hoodoos and other dramatic rock formations, Red Rock Canyon State Park has served as the backdrop of many films, including Jurassic Park.

Red cliffs such as these have helped geologists and paleontologists understand the region’s history for the past 500 million years. Photo by Tobin.

Desert tortoises are endemic to the western part of North America. Photo by Chris Selvig.

Photo by Tom Hilton.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

The largest state park in California and the second largest in the continental United States, the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park offers a varied sample of the Colorado Desert with broad vistas, dry river beds, and diverse ecology, such as palm groves, iguanas, foxes, golden eagles, roadrunners, and rattlesnakes.

The Borrego Badlands. Photo by Jurek Durczak.

Desert flora looks on as the desert sunrise paints a neon view. Photo by Florian Boyd.

Photo by Florian Boyd.

Mojave National Preserve

Seemingly barren compared to other Californian deserts, many make their way to this newly designated park for its booming sand dunes, volcanic formations, and Joshua tree forests.

Kelso Dunes, famous for “singing” or creating a low rumble when one slides down from the top. Photo by Lin Mei.

Photo by Chuck Abbe.

A chuckwalla soaks in some desert sun. Photo by Chris Selvig.

Hotel de Glace, Quebec, Canada. Feature photo by lande2006. Above photo by duplamox.

Ice Hotel

Built every winter only to melt in the spring, Icehotel in Sweden is constructed entirely from ice and snow; that includes the walls, fixtures, and furniture.

Luxury suite for two. Icehotel, Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. Photo by bjaglin.

Try falling asleep in this church. Icehotel, Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. Photo by bjaglin.

No ice hotel would be complete without an ice garage. Icehotel, Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. Photo by Köttbullekvist.

Cave Hotel

The Cappadocia region of Turkey draws in hordes of amazed tourists with its whimsical landscape, filled with fairy chimneys into which the buildings, including hotels, are carved.

A Dr. Seuss wonderland. Göreme, Cappadocia, Turkey, Photo by Curious Expeditions.

Göreme, Cappadocia, Turkey. Photo by Adam Franco

High class cave dwelling. Urgup, Cappadocia, Turkey. Photo by Jason Devitt

Forest Hut Hotel

For a nominal fee, travelers in Kolarbyn, Sweden can be left to fend for themselves while roughing it in a rustic forest hut. Food drops are optional.

Photo by Tom Williams.

The kitchen. Photo by Li-Lian Williams.

Survival Pod Hotel

These bright orange mod pods anchored in The Hague were part of an art project before being capitalized on as adventurous getaway. Packages range from basic survival with a sleeping bag and food rations to something a bit more James Bond-esque.

Photo by Roel.

Capsule Hotel

In special discount hotels in Japan, guests stow their luggage in lockers, then buy automated tickets to little cubicles that leave enough room for bedding and television monitor.

Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Massa.

Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Andrés Monroy-Hernández.

Sewage Pipe Hotel

Austria’s answer to the capsule hotel, Das Park Hotel has the same premise of buying a ticket from an automated machine, but, supposedly, guests pay whatever amount they want. Fair, considering it’s a concrete sewage pipe.

Das Park Hotel, Ottensheim, Austria. Photo by Foam.

Floating and Underwater Hotel

The Utter Inn floats one kilometer on Lake Malaren as a solitary island and beneath the surface lies a bedroom with a panoramic underwater view.

In dry dock. Lake Malaren, Vasteras, Sweden. Photo by Jonas Wallinder.

Prison Hotel

Nine centuries old and originally the historic residence of Empress Matilda, the Oxford Castle has also been a prison. Now, it’s a hotel and shopping complex.

Photo by Miladus Edenensis.

Photo by Jim Fruchterman.

Yurt Hotel

Yurts hold a special symbolism in Central Asian culture, adorning the Kazakhstan coat of arms and the Kyrgyzstan flag.

Nayrn, Kyrgyzstan. Photo by Rob.

Naryn, Kyrgyzstan. Photo by Rob.