The Accona Desert is the Italian desert region in Tuscany associated with the clay hills of the Crete Senesi.
Unlike the world’s great hot deserts, the Accona Desert is a small semi-arid landscape shaped by soft marine sediments, erosion, and seasonal dryness. Its gray and ochre clay formations create distinctive ridges and gullies known in Italian as biancane and calanchi. The surrounding Crete Senesi is famous for its rolling, sparsely vegetated appearance.
The area lies south of Siena and is surrounded by cultivated Tuscan countryside. Its desert-like character is therefore local and geological rather than a vast continuous sand desert. Rainfall, vegetation, and land use vary across the region.
Accona is sometimes omitted from general desert lists because it is small and semi-arid. Nevertheless, it is a recognized geographic name for this striking badland landscape, and its appearance has helped make the Crete Senesi a well-known part of Tuscany.