Random Thoughts

The smallest desert in the world

 

April 29, 2022



Most of us, I believe, have some concept of what a desert looks like. Many of us have seen some of them – if not personally, at least in the movies. We have a few of them in the United States.

The Great Basin, for example, which includes most of Nevada and western Utah, covers approximately 190,000 square miles of land.

The Mojave Desert, located in the area around where southern California, Nevada, and Arizona meet, is much smaller: slightly under 48,000 square miles.

Compared to either of these North American sites, the mighty Sahara Desert of northern Africa is huge, covering more than three-and-a-half million square miles!

The point of all this is to note that in Canada’s Yukon Territory there exists a sandy expanse that locals call “the smallest desert in the world”. Its occupies exactly 640 acres – one square mile!

This small parcel of land is located near the town of Carcross, and is, therefore, known as the Carcross Desert. Scientists have noted that they do not consider it a desert because the area is more humid than the world’s other deserts.

The Carcross desert is really the bottom of a series of lakes that long ago dried up and disappeared. Sand that had accumulated on the lake bottoms remains, creating the appearance of a desert that the same scientists mentioned above consider to be a series of sand dunes.

Regardless, it is a phenomenon of nature that is unique to the area where it exists. A few years ago the Yukon territorial government wanted to make the Carcross Desert a protected area but local residents objected.

They wanted to leave it alone so they could use it as a playground of sorts. In the wintertime, they often snowboard and cross-country ski on it. The rest of the year, they ride dune buggies and sandboard (sort of snowboarding without the snow!) on it.

They are proud of their “desert” and appreciate that it gives them entertainment opportunities and also brings tourists to the area to see it.

 

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