The Great Salt Lake Desert is a large playa in northern Utah, located west of the Great Salt Lake. It is an arid region extending west from the Great Salt Lake to the Nevada border. It covers an area of 4,000 square miles (10,360 km²).
Panoramic view of the Great Salt Lake Desert, as seen from Pilot Peak
The Great Salt Lake Desert is perhaps most historically significant as the location of much of Hastings Cutoff, an alternative wagon route for westward emigration to California promoted in the 1840s. Difficulties experienced by the Donner Party in making the 130 km (80 mile) crossing of this region in 1846 contributed to their becoming snowbound in the Sierra Nevada later that year.
The only significant settlements in the desert are Wendover and Dugway, with only about 1,500 residents each.
Certain unusual plants can be found there, having adapted to the harsh conditions. The desert is hot during the summer and cool during the winter. It is warmer than the rest of northern Utah but is cooler than most of the south. Most of the desert receives less than 8 in (20 cm) of precipitation annually.
This region was the site of many unusual experiments made by Dr. Thomas Henry Moray.
