YUCCA VALLEY, Calif.—Searchers in Southern California have found a body in the Yucca Valley desert, two months after Lauren Cho disappeared in the area. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced Sunday that the human remains were found in rugged terrain in the open desert on Saturday. Now the coroner’s office is working to identify…

Divided by mountains, there is a thriving desert on South Africa’s Western Cape where bushy, sandy plains belie beautiful, botanical treasures. This unassuming landscape is the world’s only arid plant hotspot—and home to a third of all succulent plant species in the world. Part of the region’s Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, the area of land falling…

Beside ice-crested mountains, lakes, forest, and swamps, one desert in Siberia defies expectations. Though its rolling dunes and sandstorms typify deserts elsewhere, the surreal Chara Sands stand out as one of the most peculiar—not to mention beautiful—deserts on Earth. Chara Sands emerged from the remains of a dried-up lake in the foothills of Kodar ridge over…

“You’re not afraid of snakes, are you?” asked Mike, our guide with Desert Adventures Eco-Tours. “We just might see some today.” I shook my head no, but kept my eyes peeled on the scene ahead. We were in a red Jeep, bumping along a dusty dirt road on Metate Ranch, an 800-acre private preserve in…