List of North American deserts - wikipedia List of North American deserts Black Rock Desert, northwest Nevada, a dry lake in the Great Basin Desert Aerial photo of the Painted Desert in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona A geological syncline in the Mojave Desert near Barstow, California Unusual gypsum dunes at White Sands National Monument in the Chihuahuan Desert Saguaro ( detail ), icon of the Sonoran Desert. Photo by Ansel Adams, c. 1941 Feral horses run across a Sagebrush steppe, Tule Valley, Utah View of Indian Wells Valley, part of the Mojave ( high ) desert near Ridgecrest, California Guadalupe Mountains in Texas 2006 This list of North American deserts identifies areas of the continent that receive less than 10 in ( 250 mm ) annual precipitation. The `` North American Desert '' is also the term for a large U.S. Level 1 ecoregion ( EPA ) of the North American Cordillera, in the Deserts and xeric shrublands biome ( WWF ). The continent 's deserts are largely between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Madre Oriental on the east, and the rain shadow - creating Sierra Nevada, Transverse, and Peninsular Ranges on the west. The North American xeric region of over 95,751 sq mi ( 247,990 km ) includes : three major deserts ; numerous smaller deserts ; and large non-desert arid regions ; in the western United States and in northeast, central, and northwest Mexico. Contents 1 Overview 2 Full listing 3 Western arid regions of North America 4 See also 5 References Overview There are three major hot and dry deserts in North America, all located in the Western United States and Northern Mexico. These are : The Chihuahuan Desert -- the largest desert in North America, located in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico - ( 140,000 square miles ( 360,000 km ) ) The Sonoran Desert -- a desert located in the Southwestern United States and northwest Mexico. It is the second largest desert in North America. - ( 120,000 square miles ( 310,000 km ) ) The Mojave Desert -- the hottest desert in North America, located primarily in southeastern California - ( 22,000 square miles ( 57,000 km ) ) Additionally, a large cold desert, the Great Basin Desert, encompasses much of the northern Basin and Range Province, north of the Mojave Desert. Other smaller cold deserts lie within the Columbia Plateau / Columbia Basin, the Snake River Plain, and the Colorado Plateau regions. Canada has a small patch of desert along the Thompson River at the Village of Ashcroft. Full listing Desert ecoregions of North America. Cold deserts : Thompson - Okanagan Plateau Columbia Basin Northern Basin and Range Wyoming Basin Central Basin and Range Colorado Plateaus Arizona / New Mexico Plateau Snake River Plain Hot deserts : Mojave Basin and Range Sonoran Desert Baja Californian Desert Chihuahuan Desert ( Listed from north to south ) Western Canada Ashcroft - Located along the Thompson River. The entire length of the Thompson River from Kamloops to Lytton is at least semi-arid, but at the midpoint near Ashcroft, the climate is dry enough to be classified as arid. Washington - Idaho - Wyoming - Oregon - Nevada Much of the Columbia Basin is desert, such as the Channeled Scablands, a desert in the Columbia Basin of eastern Washington Most of the Snake River Plain ( ecoregion ) is sagebrush steppe, but barren lava fields form small deserts, such as Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho The Wyoming Basin ( ecoregion ) is dominated by arid grasslands and shrub steppe, but also contains the Red Desert ( Wyoming ) Owyhee Desert, in southwestern Idaho, northern Nevada, and southeastern Oregon. Yp Desert, a portion of the Owyhee Desert in Idaho Oregon High Desert, aka `` Great Sandy Desert '', eastern Oregon Alvord Desert, a dry lake bed. Northwest Lahontan subregion in Nevada - part of the Northern Basin and Range ( ecoregion ) Black Rock Desert, a dry lake bed. Great Basin Desert Nevada, dominated by sagebrush steppe Forty Mile Desert, in northwest Nevada Smoke Creek Desert, Nevada ( 980 sq mi ) Carson Desert Utah Great Salt Lake Desert, Utah Sevier Desert surrounds the intermittent, salty Sevier Lake Black Rock Desert volcanic field Escalante Desert ( 3,270 sq mi ) Colorado Plateau Utah San Rafael Desert, the drier portions of the San Rafael Swell Colorado, dominated by pinyon - juniper woodlands, but contains desert areas where unfavorable soil conditions exist : Bisti Badlands Desert, New Mexico Painted Desert, Arizona Mojave Desert California ( the High Desert ) ; and parts of western Arizona, southern Nevada, and a small portion of Utah. Death Valley, California Amargosa Desert, Nevada Sonoran Desert Colorado Desert, Southern California ( the Low Desert ) Yuha Desert, Imperial Valley, California Yuma Desert, southwest Arizona Lechuguilla Desert, southwest Arizona Tule Desert ( Arizona ) and Sonora, Mexico Gran Desierto de Altar, Sonora, Mexico Baja California Desert, State of Baja California, Mexico Vizcaíno Desert, central State of Baja California, Mexico Chihuahuan Desert Trans - Pecos Desert, west Texas White Sands, unusual gypsum dune field in New Mexico Western arid regions of North America The separately defined western arid regions of North America are continental regions of aridity based on available water in addition to rain shadow - diminished rainfall and which have many non-desert shrub - steppe ( EPA ) and xeric shrublands ( WWF ) in addition to desert ecosystems and ecoregions. This large arid region of 190,000 sq mi ( 490,000 km ) includes : deserts, such as the Great Basin Desert and Sonoran Desert ; and the non-desert arid region areas ( with greater than 10 inches ( 250 mm ) annual precipitation ) in the Great Basin arid region, Colorado Plateau, Mexican Plateau, and others. This arid region extends from the top of the North American Desert in Washington and Idaho southward into Mexico in the Trans - Mexican Volcanic Belt. The ' western arid region ' is east of and ( except for Mojave sky islands ) discontiguous from the Mojave Desert, unlike the southwestern Great Basin deserts adjacent with ecotones to the northern Mojave Desert. See also North American Deserts in List of ecoregions in the United States ( EPA ) North American Deserts in List of ecoregions in North America ( CEC ) List of deserts Semi-arid climate Deserts of California Great American Desert Desert of Maine Desert ecology Deserts and xeric shrublands - biome and ecoregions References Jump up ^ epa.gov : Level 1 Ecoregions Jump up ^ `` Desert Biome, '' University of California Museum of Paleontology. ^ Jump up to : `` Canada 's Only True Desert ''. Retrieved January 9, 2013. Jump up ^ ( 1953 Meigs criteria ) Jump up ^ `` The World 's Largest Desert ''. Geology and Earth Science. geology.com. Retrieved 2010 - 04 - 25. World deserts Desert Desertification List of deserts List of deserts by area Africa Algerian Bayuda Blue Chalbi Danakil Djurab Eastern Ferlo Farafra ( White ) Kalahari Libyan Moçâmedes Namib Nubian Nyiri Owami Richtersveld Sahara Tanezrouft Ténéré Western Asia Ad - Dahna Akshi Arabian Aral Karakum Aralkum Badain Jaran Betpak - Dala Cholistan Dasht - e Kavir Dasht - e Khash Dasht - e Leili Dasht - e Loot Dasht - e Margo Dasht - e Naomid Gurbantünggüt Gobi Hami Indus Valley Judaean Karakum Katpana Kharan Kumtag Kyzylkum Liwa Lop Maranjab Muyunkum Nefud Negev Polond Ordos Qaidam Ramlat al - Sab'atayn Rub ' al Khali Russian Arctic Registan Saryesik - Atyrau Syrian Taklamakan Tengger Thal Thar Ustyurt Plateau Wahiba Sands Australia Gibson Great Sandy Great Victoria Little Sandy Nullarbor Plain Painted Pedirka Simpson Strzelecki Sturt 's Stony Tanami Tirari Europe Accona Bardenas Reales Błędów Cabo de Gata Deliblatska Peščara Hálendi Monegros Oleshky Oltenian Sahara Ryn Stranja Tabernas North America Alvord Amargosa Baja California Black Rock Carcross Carson Channeled scablands Chihuahuan Colorado Escalante Forty Mile Gran Desierto de Altar Great Basin Great Salt Lake Great Sandy Jornada del Muerto Kaʻū Lechuguilla Mojave North American Arctic Owyhee Painted Desert Red Desert Sevier Smoke Creek Sonoran Tonopah Desert Tule ( Arizona ) Tule ( Nevada ) Yp Yuha Yuma South America Atacama La Guajira Los Médanos de Coro Monte Patagonian Sechura Tatacoa Oceania Zealandia : Rangipo Desert Polar regions Antarctica Arctic Greenland North American Arctic Russian Arctic Project Commons Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_North_American_deserts&oldid=799665050 '' Categories : Deserts of the United States North America - related lists Lists of deserts United States geography - related lists United States science - related lists Deserts of Mexico Deserts and xeric shrublands Geography of North America Geography of the United States Geography of Mexico Regions of the United States Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 9 September 2017, at 03 : 08. 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Question: where is the desert located in the usa
Answer: the Western United States