The Great Basin Desert is located in the western United States and is bordered by the Sierra Nevada on the west and the Rocky Mountains on the east and extends well into the Sonoran desert and Mojave Desert.
The Great Basin Desert is 200,000 square mile with flat open highlands covering most of Nevada and parts of Utah, as well as California, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming. The great Basin is a series of continuous watersheds, connected by the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and klamath rivers.
Watersheds Within The Great Basin
- Great Salt Lake - Utah, Idaho, Wyoming
- Death Valley - California, Nevada
- Salton Sea - California
- Honey Lake - California
- Mono Lake - California
- Humboldt Sink - Nevada (drainage of the Humboldt River, the longest river in the Great Basin)
- Pyramid Lake - Nevada
- Black Rock Desert - Nevada
- Carson Sink - Nevada
- Walker Lake - Nevada
- Winnemucca Lake - Nevada
- Harney Basin - Oregon
- Sevier Lake - Utah
- Abert Lake - Oregon
- Summer Lake - Oregon
- Silver Lake - Oregon
- Surprise Valley - California, Nevada
- Escalante Desert - Utah
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Fast Facts
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Largest desert in the United States
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190,000 square miles
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Is a cold desert
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Covers most of Nevada
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Mojave Desert to the south
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Has a wide variety of wildlife
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Large amounts of sagebrush
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Home to the Paiute Tribe
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Part of the greater geologic unit "Basin and Range Province"
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Most common definition is the contiguos watershed between Wasatch Mountains and the Sierra Nevada
