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of Saguaro National Park at dusk.]] The Sonoran Desert (sometimes also called ''Gila Desert'' after Gila River ) is a North America n Desert which straddles part of the U.S.-Mexico Border and covers large parts of the U.S. State s of Arizona and California and the Mexican State of Sonora . It is one of the largest and hottest deserts in North America, with an area of 120,000 Square Mile s (311,000 km²). The desert contains a variety of unique plants and animals, such as the Saguaro cactus. On January 17 , 2001 , 496,337 Acre s (2,008 km²) of the Sonoran Desert was set aside as the Sonoran Desert National Monument for the purpose of enhancing resource protection. The Sonoran Desert wraps around the northern end of the Gulf Of California , from northeastern Baja California through southeastern California and southwestern Arizona to western Sonora . It is bounded on the west by the Peninsular Ranges , which separate it from the California Chaparral And Woodlands and Baja California Desert ecoregions of the Pacific slope. To the north, the Sonoran Desert transitions to the cold-winter Mojave , Great Basin , and Colorado Plateau deserts. To the east, the deserts transition to the Coniferous Arizona Mountains Forests and Sierra Madre Occidental Forests at higher elevations. The Sonoran-Sinaloan Transition Subtropical Dry Forest marks the transition from the Sonoran Desert to the tropical dry forests of Sinaloa . The desert's subregions include the , the Baja California Desert . EXTERNAL LINKS
Links to Parks and Recreational Areas within the Sonora Desert |