Which desert covers much of the U.S. state of Nevada and is classified as a cold desert?

Which desert covers much of the U.S. state of Nevada and is classified as a cold desert? The answer is the Great Basin Desert.

The Great Basin Desert occupies much of Nevada and extends into Utah, California, Idaho and Oregon. Unlike the hot Mojave and Sonoran deserts farther south, it is a high-elevation cold desert, with dry summers but winters that can bring substantial snow.

Its landscape is defined by basin-and-range topography: broad valleys separated by roughly north–south mountain ranges. The Sierra Nevada creates a major rain shadow, removing much of the Pacific Ocean’s moisture before it reaches the desert. Water that does fall usually drains into closed basins, evaporates or collects in saline lakes rather than reaching the sea.

Nevada’s southern third, including the Las Vegas area, belongs mainly to the Mojave Desert, not the Great Basin Desert. The region’s elevation also supports sagebrush valleys, pinyon-juniper woodland and isolated high-mountain habitats.