High Desert (California)

The High Desert refers to a region located mostly in Southern California's San Bernardino County, in the United States. It makes up the northern portion of the vast desert region of Southern California, with the Low Desert making up the southern portion.

Depending on how the boundaries of the Mojave Desert and the Sonoran Desert are drawn, the High Desert is either defined as including the entire Mojave Desert (using a smaller geographic designation for the Mojave Desert), or as including the northern portion of the Mojave Desert (using a larger geographic designation for the Mojave Desert which encroaches onto area some consider to be part of the Sonoran Desert).

The loosely defined region encompasses most of San Bernardino County, northestern Los Angeles County, and eastern Kern County. A somewhat more broadly defined boundary would also include the southern portion of Inyo County to the north of San Bernardino County, as well as parts of northern Riverside County to the south of San Bernardino County.

The name of the region comes from both its more northern latitude, in contrast with the more southerly Low Desert, as well as its relatively higher elevations compared with the Low Desert (much of which is below sea level).

Though very sparsely populated, small communities dot the region, especially along Interstate Highway 15, Interstate Highway 40, and US Highway 395, with towns like Baker having an economy that exists almost entirely to provide service for highway travelers, especially those traveling to or from Las Vegas and Southern California's major population centers.

Two such communities, Victorville and Barstow, have transformed from service stops along Interstate 15 to full-fledged cities that are home to retirees and long-distance commuters who work in the urban portion of San Bernadino County, Riverside County, and elsewhere on the other side of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains that separate the High Desert from urban Southern California. Victorville and Barstow now boast a population of about 125,000 people.

The High Desert is often featured in American movies and television. Some notable films include 1987's Bagdad Cafe and 2000's Erin Brockovich (film), which centered around a manmade environmental disaster in the town of Hinkley, about seven miles west of Barstow.