A dead-flat, cracked playa in Nevada, so smooth and level it has hosted world land-speed records.
Area
2,600 km²
Continent
North America
Location
North-western Nevada, USA
Temperature
Hot days, cold nights
Rainfall
Under 200 mm a year
Climate
Cold desert
About the Black Rock Desert
The Black Rock Desert is a broad alkali flat left behind when Ice-Age Lake Lahontan dried up. Its pale, cracked surface stretches for miles without a single plant, becoming a shallow lake only after winter rain. Its astonishing flatness has made it a stage for land-speed record runs and the yearly Burning Man gathering.
Did you know?
Its playa is the dried bed of ancient Lake Lahontan and one of the flattest surfaces anywhere on Earth.
Highlights
- One of the flattest places on Earth
- The bed of ancient Lake Lahontan
- A venue for world land-speed records
Photo gallery
Life in the Black Rock Desert
Animals, birds and plants that have adapted to survive this landscape.
Animals
Coyote
A clever, adaptable wild dog of North America’s deserts and plains.
Birds
Golden eagle
A mighty raptor that patrols open desert mountains and plains.
Trees & plants
Sagebrush
The silvery, aromatic shrub that blankets North America’s cold deserts.
Creosote bush
A hardy shrub whose clones can live for thousands of years.
Day & night in the Black Rock Desert
Deserts are famous for their extreme temperature swings. Flip between day and night to feel the difference — these are typical figures for a cold desert.
Midday sun
+32°C
typical daytime high
Hot or mild summer days swing to bitterly cold nights, and winters can stay far below freezing — these deserts see some of the biggest temperature ranges on Earth.
Recorded range for the Black Rock Desert: Hot days, cold nights