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Great Basin Desert, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming
Location and Size
The Great Basin Desert, the largest desert in the USA, covers the northern three-quarters of Nevada, western and southern Utah, the southeastern corner of Oregon and the southern third of Idaho (although much of that area of Idaho has now been transformed into farmland, having been irrigated by means of the dams on the Snake River). Some sources state that the desert also extends into parts of western Colorado and parts of southwestern Wyoming.
The Great Basin Desert is bordered by the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the west, the Rocky Mountains to the east, the Columbia Plateau to the north and the Mojave and Sonoran deserts to the south, or in other words approximately on the south by I-40, on the north by I-70, on the west by US395 in Nevada and on the east by US550 in Colorado and the Continental Divide in New Mexico.
Death Valley lies near the border between the Great Basin Desert and the Mojave Desert.
The Great Basin Desert covers an area of approximately 190,000 square miles. For comparison, the area of England is 50,356 square miles.
Description
Sagebrush covers vast areas of the Great Basin Desert. There are occasional yuccas but very few cacti - this is mainly a shrub desert.
See also Great Basin and Great Basin National Park, Nevada.
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