Red Rock Canyon State Park

Once a popular backdrop for Hollywood westerns, this parkland, roughly 120 miles/193 kilometers north of Los Angeles, is a land of multihued desert cliffs, buttes, and weathered outcrops. Carved by wind and water, the land unfolds in layers of white, pink, and red—join other photographers to capture it at sunrise and sunset. Paleontologists flock here, too. In the cliff’s sediments are remains of prehistoric animals—three-toed horses, saber-toothed cats, and prehistoric alligator lizards.

The 27,000-acre/10,926-hectare park offers several short hiking trails. First-timers can follow trails to see formations in Hagen and Red Rock Canyons. At Red Cliffs Natural Preserve, a path leads between the reddish columns of 300-foot/91-meter-tall cliffs, then follows an old Jeep track past otherworldly Joshua trees to sweeping views of the El Paso Mountains. Visit after a wet winter to see spring wildflowers erupting in a riot of color.

Nights at the park have a different kind of magic. With no major towns in the region (tiny Cantil is the closest town), night skies are free of light pollution. The 50-site Ricardo Campground is often dotted with telescopes set up by astronomy buffs, and the China Lake Astronomical Society holds frequent star parties. On most Saturday nights, park docents give talks on topics from petroglyphs to desert tortoises—and of course stars.