Southern Deserts and Sky Islands

Saguaro forests cling to the hillsides and rugged mountain ranges that separate the vast creosote covered plains. The Verde, Salt, Gila, and San Pedro rivers have carved canyons, flow through gentle river valleys, and across the flat desert plain all but disappearing before reaching the Colorado River and the Sea of Cortez. Sky islands rise from the desert floor, some 9000 ft above the desert floor, support lush  forests of oak, juniper, ponderosa, and Douglas fir.. Between the desert and the Plateau is the iconic Grand Canyon, where canyons exist within canyons  and where the ever changing light and atmosphere change the canyons appearance from minute to minute.