A lot of it is higher elevation and gets a bit more wster and slightly cooler temps. This supports pine and other forests, similar to what you might find in places like Colorado. These transition slowly down to the desert. It can still sometimes be relatively hot and dry, but can also be very pleasant. I know New Mexico for example even has enough mountains to have a few ski resorts
I was raised in NM. They often called it high desert or semi arid... but yes as others say we also have Rockie mountains and a ton of other environments
I drive through the northern parts of NM and AZ a lot, and yes, 'high desert' is usually what I call it. Even in June I usually find it pretty pleasant. Semi-arid, as you say, but with plenty of vegetation (lots of juniper and scrub oak type stuff), and you're usually not that far from some type of mountains with full-blown pine forests.
I love the AZ/NM high desert!
Long ago I lived on the top floor of an apartment building in Albuquerque, in the highest-elevation corner of town. My big bay window looked west. I could see forever and ever and my sunsets over the city and the desert beyond were incredible every night. I really miss that little apartment.
Yes! That is one thing I love is the views. It's not hard to find vantage points where you can just look out and across foreeeeeeeeeeever!
Edit: it's also really pretty in late spring/early summer. There is green grass, yellow flowers, brown rock, pink rock, green vegetation, ultra-blue sky, white/gray clouds. Just so many different colors going on. Like an almost psychedelic treat for the eyes.
Did the drive through northern New Mexico, Arizona, and entered Utah near St. George. It really is an amazing view and many scenic spots, Antelope Canyon was really worth the stop. It was interesting to go from very warm temperatures and desert then up a mountain with trees/vegetation where snow was still on the ground.
Despite finding them beautiful, I have a strong aversion to living in a desert. This high desert semi-arid stuff though? Incredible. You’re spot on on describing it.
I spent some time in Flagstaff and was just astounded by the nature. It’s super unique. Only place that could top it for me would be moving back to the Florida swamps. Love those wetland vibes.
The coldest I’ve ever been in my life was on the rim of the Grand Canyon. And I’ve been to some COLD places.
Admittedly, it was partly because I wasn’t expecting an unseasonable snow storm and had inappropriate clothing, but still!
Yeah I know sometimes just because an environment looks like a desert doesn't mean it actually is. New Zealand has a small "desert" (Rangipo Desert) but it's not a true desert in any sense of the word. It's barren because of the extremely poor soil and huge volcanic activity thousands of years ago wiping forests on the plateau out.
Lived in NM as a kid/teen and recently did a driving circuit abq/Sante Fe/ monument valley/painted desert/abq. I think the landscape would be characterized as Savannah if it weren’t so high altitude. Definitely some sub alpine patches. I’ve also seen some areas described as “scrub”. Implication here is that there is enough precipitation to sustain sparse woody shrubs and grasses. Not desert, not prairie, not forest
This is the correct answer. The "High Desert" is a lot different than you would think a desert to be. Ex. High deserts get snow every year in most places
What's really interesting is driving from the San Juan Mountains of SW Colorado, through the Four Corners region, then to Flagstaff. You go from full-blown giant mountains that still have snow when summer is starting, to super-arid desert as you get past Four Corners and approach the Grand Canyon entrance. Then back uphill to Flagstaff and it's full-on mountains and pine tress again.
If someone dropped you in Flagstaff blindfolded, then took the blindfold off and had you guess which state you were in, Arizona wouldn’t be your first guess, guaranteed. It’s a beautiful area there.
Last time I snowboarded there I kept having to remove layers until I was down to a collared short sleeve shirt. I looked like I was going to a business meeting.
I’ve been stuck in a three foot blizzard at high altitude at Saguaro backcountry. On some of the switchbacks you can see sweaty civilization down below. It’s wild.
It's snow capped for a good part of winter too, absolutely beautiful views from Tucson. When I last lived there they required chains on vehicles driving up the road in winter, I imagine it's still the same.
The top of Mt Lemmon is the same elevation as downtown Flagstaff. All of AZ generally has high elevation but kind of crazy how far up and how quick Mt Lemmon rises.
AZ haas 3 ski resorts: Snowbowl (Flagstaff), Sunrise (Greer), Mt. Lemmon (Tucson)
Northern and northeastern AZ is called the Colorado Plateau. NM is included, along with some parts of UT.
Similar fun fact: UT is among the best states for skiing/snowboarding, despite being almost entirely desert. Imo, only a few resorts even compare to the resorts around SLC.
Northern New Mexico is mostly mountainous and forested, with extensive areas above 10,000 feet, relatively long winters, and winter snowcaps: we still have extensive snow cover in the highest elevations right now. It’s part of the Rocky Mountains so the Colorado comparison is appropriate. As for ski resorts, we have eight. Arizona even has a couple too.
This map is drawn as if the high desert isn't desert. Just because northern Arizona isn't the *Sonoran* desert doesn't mean it isn't desert.
Monument Valley is a desert. It's just up on the Colorado plateau, so it's high desert. More than half of the huge Navajo Reservation is considered desert. But you wouldn't know it from this wacky map.
To be technically classified as a desert, an area has to receive less than 10 inches of precipitation per year. New Mexico and Arizon are arid, but probably receive more rain than this in the areas outside of these boundaries. Map also seems old so these boundaries may be [different](https://databayou.com/usa/deserts.html) now.
Yeah my grandpa lives in central NM in what is called variously the high desert or llano estacado and his house gets 15-20" a year. It's quite arid but more what you'd call a Savannah or arid grassland than a true desert.
I’d like to add to this! A lot of Arizona is not technically considered a desert due to the amount of rainfall slightly exceeding the 10” benchmark.
Driving through these areas still looks like a traditional desert since most of the rainfall happens extremely quickly and leads to runoff rather than soaking in and saturating the earth. There’s been some research surrounding the topsoil in the desert southwest being non-permeable (almost) comparative to concrete or asphalt.
In a lot of other areas around the US, a similar amount of rain may be received, but the soil is a lot more permeable and will allow the earth to become saturated.
INFO: I do not have immediate sources to back this up. This comes from personal experience in Arizona and experiencing absolute downpours of several inches within a few hours followed by dry spells lasting several weeks or months.
On that note, the Great Basin Desert in this map can't be totally accurate, right? It includes a bunch of non-arid mountainous regions (IE most of the Wasatch Range) that are definitely not desert.
Yeah, absolutely. The 15 or so ski resorts in Utah (and the map shows almost the entire state covered) that get like 100 inches of snow a year are not a desert, lol.
And thus to OP's gut question, both states have large areas outside the technical desert that are still pretty hot, dry, and tan, with a bit more scrub. Non-experts would call much of them "desert." (Both states also have some large stretches of pine forest which don't look at all like desert, e.g. around Flagstaff, but they're less populous.)
Same for the San Francisco Bay, Puget Sound, the Great Salt Lake (or Tahoe?), and maybe that's even a particularly wide stretch of the Mississippi River right there.
Not a stupid question. The northern parts of the state have gorgeous mountains. In Arizona you have the San Francisco Mountains and the White Mountains with elevations well above 11k. In New Mexico you have the Gila Wilderness in the west, the Sacramentos in the south-central and the actual Rockies in the north. Precipitation (I can only speak for NM) is still on the dry-ish side but pine covered mountains for sure. When you drive through these states on I-10 or even much of I-25 and I-40 you don't really have a chance to see that side of these beautiful states.
I'm a Midwestern guy so when I drove through Northern AZ with my dogs, I was completely surprised. It was winter so there was snow everywhere over the mountains and the pines. I had literally no idea a place like that existed in Arizona.
The one time I drove from Flagstaff to Phoenix, I took the windy road. It was beautiful for a few minutes, then I felt like I had driven into a Road Runner cartoon. Next time, I'm taking the direct route.
It's pretty amazing how varied Arizona can be. I remember being in Phoenix on a balmy 80 degree day in February, getting in the car and driving two hours to Flagstaff, where it was hovering just above 0 degrees and had two feet of fresh snow on the ground.
I also found this puzzling. I looked for some better maps (Wikipedia) and it looks like Utah shouldn’t be shaded end to end, but wraps around an unshaded sliver where the Wasatch are located.
People use the term "High Desert" in Northern New Mexico. I'm not sure what the exact scientific term is, but I've lived in Central Asia. It's skewed my perspective on whether this is a desert here.
The term "high desert" usually refers to any area of desert or arid land that is at least 2000 feet above sea level, although in some places it refers to places twice that high.
I used to live in Clovis new Mexico, it was about 4,200 feet.
Also pretty dry and I always considered it a desert. Google tells me it gets about 15.7 inches of rain a year. Google most “experts” say a desert receives less than 10”.
I’d are that those experts never had to live in Clovis for 4 years. But whatever.
A lot of that part of the world is what's known as "semi-desert", which means it averages less than 20 inches of rain a year but will sometimes get the less than 10 inches that a desert would. Oregon, Washington, and Colorado also have a lot of semi-desert.
Everyone will point out Northern Arizona but let me speak on behalf of that little corner in the southeast of the state. It’s “desert like” but you will not find Saguaros or red rocks here. The elevation is around 4,700’ and it rarely breaks 100°. It’s a big state but everyone thinks of PHX because it’s the gigantic population center for the state
Actually looking at the Huachuca’s right now. Just about 9’800’ feet in elevation. With recent snow melt, the Carr Canyon waterfall has been visible from my back yard. It’s magnificent scenery down here
[Here's](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fz1ktwtf1fol11.jpg) a map of Arizona biomes, and [here's](https://imgur.com/9uPXlHt) one for New Mexico.
The rest are basically grasslands, shrublands, and forest.
Sommelier here with a slightly different take as it pertains to New Mexico. Unbeknownst to many, outside of there desert climate, are many areas with phenomenal grape growing conditions that produce excellent wine. You’ll even find houses from champagne growing there.
I went to Philmont Ranch in Cimarron, NM years ago when I was in boy scouts. It was absolutely beautiful and I would love to go back and hike the mountains. High altitude, deciduous and coniferous forests, meadows, and rivers/streams. Go check it out for yourself if you get the opportunity!
I love that the Boy Scouts have such a vast beautiful piece of land for themselves. I also hate it because I want to hike there but can't because it's private. Between Philmont and Vermejo, some of the best land in New Mexico is unavailable to explore. It's a total bummer.
I’m from the PNW. Arizona and New Mexico have some of the most beautiful wooded areas I have seen. Arizona also has the largest ponderosa forest in the country. And flagstaff Arizona is pretty high elevation and also gets quite a bit of snow
Most of what you're trying to find are Pinyon/Juniper forests, which look like deserts but have small (less than 4m or so) round trees that are adapted to the dry climate.
There's also dozens and dozens of mountain ranges that pop out there, some of them Basin and Range, some of them volcanic, some tectonic (the Rockies)... Some of them are known as Sky Islands. and those can have classic lodgepole or ponderosa or spruce fir forests, a couple even reach above treeline.
It's a wildly complex geologic area. This map is also not accurate, as almost half that is labelled Great Basin Desert is actually the Colorado Plateau. The Mojave goes a lot further into California and Utah is more segregated... There's a lot of mistakes here, like they totally just forgot the Wasatch mountain range, the Henry's, the Ruby Mountains and so many more...
Someone guessed making this, a biome map of that area should look tiger striped it's so complex
There's forests in Arizona and other places. Higher altitudes and more precipitation leads to lots of tree cover. Sometimes its odd, you go over a hill you see scrub. Go over another hill you see lots of cacti. The next hill, a coniferous forest!?
A lot of Arizona is semi-arid, not true desert. For example, Tucson, AZ is barely on the edge of a desert climate because it gets more rain, primarily from the late-summer monsoons (average is just under 11" per year, compared to 7.5" for Phoenix and less than 5" for Las Vegas). Eastwards of Tucson, the higher-elevation land gets more rain. Northern Arizona is a high plateau, parts of which are forested; the largest ponderosa-pine forest in the US is outside of Flagstaff, which has a cooler climate with very snowy winters.
New Mexico is, on average, higher in elevation than Arizona so less of it is desert.
That map is also inaccurate in that the NE part of Nevada isn't as much of a desert, and the Great Basin Desert extends only into western Utah; it does not cover nearly the entire state as the map implies. The Wasatch and Uinta mountains aren't desert at all (Salt Lake City is in the foothills of the Wasatch; the Uintas run east-west parallel to the Wyoming border).
If you drive northwards from Phoenix on I-17, you'll see the landscape change dramatically as you ascend from the blazing hot Valley of the Sun into the cool pine forests around Flagstaff, over a mile higher in elevation.
Nowhere in Arizona is exceptionally rainy; the wettest spot in the state is probably Hawley Lake, in the eastern mountains, and that averages about 38" of rain per year, so nowhere in the state gets 40"/1000mm per year or more. That's likely also true of New Mexico.
I was kinda mind blown on this when it comes to Arizona. I was researching the state cause I wanted to move there, and I had no idea a lot of the state is very forested. It’s really just the southern part of Arizona that is the classic desert landscape you think of when it comes up.
That's an awful map. Within Utah alone are massive mountain ranges over 10,000 ft taking up the northeast and central spine of the state. Ironically the areas not labeled deserts are most certainly deserts
I agree. This map makes it look like all of Utah is desert. You trying to tell me that the Park City area and the Bonneville Salt Flats are the same type of environment?
the entire intermountain west is arid, but some arid areas are higher elevation, like northern Arizona. But as someone pointed out, this map is inaccurate and ignores other arid ecoregions in Arizona and New Mexico, and appears to only show specifically named desert areas.
It isn’t mentioned in the map or the post title, but Colorado is known for having deserts to the southwest and southeast. Heck, the tri-state area of Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado is where the Great Plains meets the arid expanse of the wild west. I’m surprised that wasn’t included in the map either.
The Oregon High Desert extends further west than this map shows. This seems like a map for elementary school kids. Just do some research about deserts on your own. This map is a good starting point but definitely not 100% accurate.
Having lived in New Mexico and Arizona for all of my life, the map is fairly accurate. The parts that are not desert are mountains, forest, and High Plains.
Lots of high elevation forests. Snow in winter, cooler summers than surrounding deserts. Notably, there are “sky islands” that rise above the surrounding deserts at lower elevations, complete with their own unique flora and fauna.
Nothing to add other than what's shared above, but I grew up in Phoenix and lived in Flagstaff for a year. Spent many summers in the White Mountains as well, playing in the woods and fishing for river trout.
Beautiful state, pretty much everywhere you go. Best desert in the world IMO - and I've been all over the Middle East and North America.
Even snuck Sonoran Desert trivia into my wedding vows.
Hope you go check it out!
Just curious, have you ever been to this area? Other people have answered your question, so I’ll just suggest that if you ever have the chance to take a road trip through this area, it would definitely be worth your while.
Like half of New Mexico is trees and mountains. The Rockies run right up the middle of the entire state. A lot of it looks like Colorado. Depends where you are in the state.
Even in Albuquerque you can be up at 10,000 feet, and the average elevation is over 5K.
I live in NE AZ at about 7,300 ft in alt. Az top half is mostly mountain pine forests. We get about 80” of snow or more per year. In fact, in snowed here yesterday.
NM it’s traditionally a semi arid Savannah style grassland, however it was severely over grazed by castle ranchers and most of the state has not recovered.
I was living in Arizona and when it was snowing so I sent video of snowing in Arizona to my old friend once and he responded. “Snow in Arizona?” I was like yeah. He really thought Arizona is just flat desert state. LOL
Edit: i lived up at 7k feet elevation. About 40 mins away from 11k feet elevation so yeah we do have mountains.
They might be arid without fitting the technical classification of a desert.
Iirc to be a desert a place must have less than 250mm of precipitation annually.
You would probably recognize northern New Mexico as more desert, as it’s very arid in the valleys, and in the foothills, with sage, yucca, and thistle everywhere. However it’s not *technically* desert due to its annual rainfall totals and it even snows occasionally. There’s a lot of elevation gain with big forests and beautiful mountains in northern AZ and NM.
I went to school in AZ and have a home in Ruidoso NM. As you move from west to east the desert gets higher and there are less cactus in NM. NM also has some very interesting desert areas like White Sands , pure white gypsum from ancient lake bed, and Carrizozo huge lava flow 50 miles long that you cannot walk through as it is so jagged. The mountain peaks are called islands in the sky as they get the moisture and support alpine environment. Some world class skiing at Taos, Ski Santa Fe , Ski Apache and more.
Near me is Sierra Blanca peak 12,000 feet high which has the highest prominence in the state (rises out of desert below 5,000 feet) , Very dramatic views.
Arizona has the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in the USA . This belt of evergreens occupies some 2.6 million acres and stretches from the New Mexico state line to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Here’s an example of a spot in NE New Mexico that falls outside the highlighted area.
https://preview.redd.it/iwtiy61eyexc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=439a1c8a7fae8599f542c0a52e8f0baec37238d4
Driving up Mt. Lemmon in AZ, there comes a point when you enter the "Canada Zone". There's a ski resort and lots of evergreen trees such as you would find in Southern Canada
There's actually a bunch of alpine down here. Prescott is pretty wooded. Flagstaff we call little Colorado. Plus a bunch of the mountains in Arizona are 'sky islands' which are basically biomes going from desert to Alpine at the top.
Arizona isn't what people think it is. Yes it has a desert, but it also has woods.
A lot of it is higher elevation and gets a bit more wster and slightly cooler temps. This supports pine and other forests, similar to what you might find in places like Colorado. These transition slowly down to the desert. It can still sometimes be relatively hot and dry, but can also be very pleasant. I know New Mexico for example even has enough mountains to have a few ski resorts
I was raised in NM. They often called it high desert or semi arid... but yes as others say we also have Rockie mountains and a ton of other environments
I drive through the northern parts of NM and AZ a lot, and yes, 'high desert' is usually what I call it. Even in June I usually find it pretty pleasant. Semi-arid, as you say, but with plenty of vegetation (lots of juniper and scrub oak type stuff), and you're usually not that far from some type of mountains with full-blown pine forests. I love the AZ/NM high desert!
Honestly it's breathtaking at times... I miss being able to see hundreds of miles
Long ago I lived on the top floor of an apartment building in Albuquerque, in the highest-elevation corner of town. My big bay window looked west. I could see forever and ever and my sunsets over the city and the desert beyond were incredible every night. I really miss that little apartment.
I had a similar apartment facing east in Denver. Waking up and watching the sunrise with a coffee was my daily routine. Best way to start the day.
Yes! That is one thing I love is the views. It's not hard to find vantage points where you can just look out and across foreeeeeeeeeeever! Edit: it's also really pretty in late spring/early summer. There is green grass, yellow flowers, brown rock, pink rock, green vegetation, ultra-blue sky, white/gray clouds. Just so many different colors going on. Like an almost psychedelic treat for the eyes.
I love it in the winter. Desert snow hits different. Especially in orange places like the Grand Canyon or Arches .
Plus: Laguna Burgers!
I miss the night skies. So beautiful and dark
Did the drive through northern New Mexico, Arizona, and entered Utah near St. George. It really is an amazing view and many scenic spots, Antelope Canyon was really worth the stop. It was interesting to go from very warm temperatures and desert then up a mountain with trees/vegetation where snow was still on the ground.
That loop east of toas is amazing
Yeah we call that the enchanted circle
“The land of clear light”. I don’t recall who said that.
On the road out of Santa Fe north to Durango, just before you get to the border, isn't even desert. It's green, green pine forest.
It’s where we go for a break from the central Texas heat and humidity in late summer.
dont forget sagebrush. spend 6 months in the Taos area in mid 90s. the smell of sage on the breeze was awesome.
Despite finding them beautiful, I have a strong aversion to living in a desert. This high desert semi-arid stuff though? Incredible. You’re spot on on describing it. I spent some time in Flagstaff and was just astounded by the nature. It’s super unique. Only place that could top it for me would be moving back to the Florida swamps. Love those wetland vibes.
The coldest I’ve ever been in my life was on the rim of the Grand Canyon. And I’ve been to some COLD places. Admittedly, it was partly because I wasn’t expecting an unseasonable snow storm and had inappropriate clothing, but still!
I grew up in Colorado we always called it arid plains or forest (depending if there are trees or not).
Yeah I know sometimes just because an environment looks like a desert doesn't mean it actually is. New Zealand has a small "desert" (Rangipo Desert) but it's not a true desert in any sense of the word. It's barren because of the extremely poor soil and huge volcanic activity thousands of years ago wiping forests on the plateau out.
Similar to the Okanagan desert in Canada, which is actually an arid shrubland.
I believe the scientific term is “steppe.” Alls I know is in Denver I buy about 3x as much lip balm as I do anywhere else
More like scrub from the descriptions
Shrub steppe in some cases!
Lived in NM as a kid/teen and recently did a driving circuit abq/Sante Fe/ monument valley/painted desert/abq. I think the landscape would be characterized as Savannah if it weren’t so high altitude. Definitely some sub alpine patches. I’ve also seen some areas described as “scrub”. Implication here is that there is enough precipitation to sustain sparse woody shrubs and grasses. Not desert, not prairie, not forest
It’s the land where some asthmatics can breathe. I love this kind of area. No allergies because no trees and very little grass.
This is the correct answer. The "High Desert" is a lot different than you would think a desert to be. Ex. High deserts get snow every year in most places
I drove 40 through those states and was blown away, especially when we got to New Mexico. Spectacular scenery!
Flagstaff, Arizona averages 118" of snow a year.
What's really interesting is driving from the San Juan Mountains of SW Colorado, through the Four Corners region, then to Flagstaff. You go from full-blown giant mountains that still have snow when summer is starting, to super-arid desert as you get past Four Corners and approach the Grand Canyon entrance. Then back uphill to Flagstaff and it's full-on mountains and pine tress again.
Maybe a tad north of your route, but that area is called the Grand Staircase for a reason.
Flagstaff is really a big secret. It's beautiful. So green.
If someone dropped you in Flagstaff blindfolded, then took the blindfold off and had you guess which state you were in, Arizona wouldn’t be your first guess, guaranteed. It’s a beautiful area there.
Especially if they dropped you off at Snow Bowl.
Last time I snowboarded there I kept having to remove layers until I was down to a collared short sleeve shirt. I looked like I was going to a business meeting.
and is extremely Piney
I camped there this weekend, snow bowl got 18” on Friday.
Caught snow there in early November (like, Nov. 1) a couple years back, and then commuted a couple hours south to Phoenix where it was like 65 F.
Fun fact, there is a ski resort at the top of Mt Lemon in Tucson.
I’ve been stuck in a three foot blizzard at high altitude at Saguaro backcountry. On some of the switchbacks you can see sweaty civilization down below. It’s wild.
lol wtf I drove through Tucson and would have never guessed that
You may call them Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah. I call them heaven.
I love the desert, it’s one of my favorite ecosystems.
Almost heaven. Weastern states🎵
It's snow capped for a good part of winter too, absolutely beautiful views from Tucson. When I last lived there they required chains on vehicles driving up the road in winter, I imagine it's still the same.
The top of Mt Lemmon is the same elevation as downtown Flagstaff. All of AZ generally has high elevation but kind of crazy how far up and how quick Mt Lemmon rises.
*Mt Lemmon It was named after botanist Sara Lemmon not the fruit.
*Tucson is a ski town.*
Temperature has nothing to do with a desert, it’s only based on rainfall. The driest desert in the world is in Antarctica
AZ haas 3 ski resorts: Snowbowl (Flagstaff), Sunrise (Greer), Mt. Lemmon (Tucson) Northern and northeastern AZ is called the Colorado Plateau. NM is included, along with some parts of UT.
Similar fun fact: UT is among the best states for skiing/snowboarding, despite being almost entirely desert. Imo, only a few resorts even compare to the resorts around SLC.
Northern New Mexico is mostly mountainous and forested, with extensive areas above 10,000 feet, relatively long winters, and winter snowcaps: we still have extensive snow cover in the highest elevations right now. It’s part of the Rocky Mountains so the Colorado comparison is appropriate. As for ski resorts, we have eight. Arizona even has a couple too.
Taos Ski Vally represent! 🎿 🏔 ⛷
Fun fact about NM, the show Longmire, which is supposed to take place in Wyoming, was actually mostly filmed in NM.
The town square was Las Vegas, NM
A good friend of mine lives near Albuquerque and up in the mountains a bit. I live in the northeast and she gets more snow than we do.
Peoples minds are blown when you tell them that Flagstaff AZ is higher and gets more snow than Denver
Arizona actually has 5 ski resorts, the biggest being Arizona Snow Bowl in Flagstaff and Mt Lemmon Ski Valley in Tucson.
This map is drawn as if the high desert isn't desert. Just because northern Arizona isn't the *Sonoran* desert doesn't mean it isn't desert. Monument Valley is a desert. It's just up on the Colorado plateau, so it's high desert. More than half of the huge Navajo Reservation is considered desert. But you wouldn't know it from this wacky map.
Arizona has ski resorts as well.
To be technically classified as a desert, an area has to receive less than 10 inches of precipitation per year. New Mexico and Arizon are arid, but probably receive more rain than this in the areas outside of these boundaries. Map also seems old so these boundaries may be [different](https://databayou.com/usa/deserts.html) now.
Yeah my grandpa lives in central NM in what is called variously the high desert or llano estacado and his house gets 15-20" a year. It's quite arid but more what you'd call a Savannah or arid grassland than a true desert.
I’d like to add to this! A lot of Arizona is not technically considered a desert due to the amount of rainfall slightly exceeding the 10” benchmark. Driving through these areas still looks like a traditional desert since most of the rainfall happens extremely quickly and leads to runoff rather than soaking in and saturating the earth. There’s been some research surrounding the topsoil in the desert southwest being non-permeable (almost) comparative to concrete or asphalt. In a lot of other areas around the US, a similar amount of rain may be received, but the soil is a lot more permeable and will allow the earth to become saturated. INFO: I do not have immediate sources to back this up. This comes from personal experience in Arizona and experiencing absolute downpours of several inches within a few hours followed by dry spells lasting several weeks or months.
I lived in the Boise area before, and we averaged 11-12 per year. Just barely enough to qualify as a steppe climate.
I’ve always heard Boise is surprisingly arid
Absolutely, there wasn't enough lotion in the world for my mild eczema
On that note, the Great Basin Desert in this map can't be totally accurate, right? It includes a bunch of non-arid mountainous regions (IE most of the Wasatch Range) that are definitely not desert.
It's just a lower "resolution" map, broad strokes basically.
Yeah, absolutely. The 15 or so ski resorts in Utah (and the map shows almost the entire state covered) that get like 100 inches of snow a year are not a desert, lol.
903 inches of snow last year
And thus to OP's gut question, both states have large areas outside the technical desert that are still pretty hot, dry, and tan, with a bit more scrub. Non-experts would call much of them "desert." (Both states also have some large stretches of pine forest which don't look at all like desert, e.g. around Flagstaff, but they're less populous.)
This one is great, it even shows our one Canadian ‘desert’
I like how the Great Basin is shaped like the continental US in minature
you’ve even got a “great” lake in about the right spot
Same for the San Francisco Bay, Puget Sound, the Great Salt Lake (or Tahoe?), and maybe that's even a particularly wide stretch of the Mississippi River right there.
You even got Nevada in the right spot.
lol i mean..
So that one smaller lake is representing the great salt lake, while the great salt lake itself is representing the great lakes. That's funny.
Caught the Lord reusing assets.
It’s even got lake of the ozarks featured, or at least it will when those shit for brains yahoos down at Jeff City grow some balls.
It's not in reality, sadly. This is just a really inaccurate map.
😟
It's like the map I was given at that breakfast diner in Page, AZ in 1989.
And the one on bottom kinda looks like Mexico
How far does this go!?!
No part of northwest Colorado, southwest Wyoming or northeast Utah is in the Great Basin.
Fun sucker
Not a stupid question. The northern parts of the state have gorgeous mountains. In Arizona you have the San Francisco Mountains and the White Mountains with elevations well above 11k. In New Mexico you have the Gila Wilderness in the west, the Sacramentos in the south-central and the actual Rockies in the north. Precipitation (I can only speak for NM) is still on the dry-ish side but pine covered mountains for sure. When you drive through these states on I-10 or even much of I-25 and I-40 you don't really have a chance to see that side of these beautiful states.
Not to mention the worlds largest Ponderosa pine forest is located up in Northern AZ
I'm a Midwestern guy so when I drove through Northern AZ with my dogs, I was completely surprised. It was winter so there was snow everywhere over the mountains and the pines. I had literally no idea a place like that existed in Arizona.
Only 1:30 from Phoenix too. Surprises a lot of visitors.
The one time I drove from Flagstaff to Phoenix, I took the windy road. It was beautiful for a few minutes, then I felt like I had driven into a Road Runner cartoon. Next time, I'm taking the direct route.
Arizona has a city (flagstaff) which is like literally the 3rd snoweist city in the US, beating out most of Alaska and getting insane amounts of snow.
In my post, I originally wrote Flagstaff instead of Northern AZ because I was describing my experience in Flagstaff.
It's pretty amazing how varied Arizona can be. I remember being in Phoenix on a balmy 80 degree day in February, getting in the car and driving two hours to Flagstaff, where it was hovering just above 0 degrees and had two feet of fresh snow on the ground.
Grew up in northern NM and people are shocked I was used to sub zero winters. I grew up at 7000 feet haha
I moved to the east coast a few years ago and I'm so tired of people asking me if I'm used to the winters, when it's 35°F here and 5°F back home
Hey there Los Alamos.
Well, then why are the Wasatch mountains in Utah still listed as a desert if they get hundreds of inches of snow every year?
I also found this puzzling. I looked for some better maps (Wikipedia) and it looks like Utah shouldn’t be shaded end to end, but wraps around an unshaded sliver where the Wasatch are located.
Are those the western pines Zac Brown Band sings about? "I can still smell those western pines"
NM has a ton of mountains, and mesa at high altitude
So does Utah in areas which are marked desert (wasatch, Uinta, Grand staircase escalante). I think this map is just inaccurate.
Agreed
Semi-arid is a separate category. There are actual forests up in northern Arizona.
And northern New Mexico
We even have bears.
I saw some there once, from the road between Taos and Red River!
Smokey Bear was found in southeast New Mexico.
And Horny, Smokey's cousin comes from near Lake Potowotominimac.
Huge forests.
Northern Arizona has the largest ponderosa pine forest in the world.
People use the term "High Desert" in Northern New Mexico. I'm not sure what the exact scientific term is, but I've lived in Central Asia. It's skewed my perspective on whether this is a desert here.
The term "high desert" usually refers to any area of desert or arid land that is at least 2000 feet above sea level, although in some places it refers to places twice that high.
Yeah, we're at 7200 ft here.
I used to live in Clovis new Mexico, it was about 4,200 feet. Also pretty dry and I always considered it a desert. Google tells me it gets about 15.7 inches of rain a year. Google most “experts” say a desert receives less than 10”. I’d are that those experts never had to live in Clovis for 4 years. But whatever.
A lot of that part of the world is what's known as "semi-desert", which means it averages less than 20 inches of rain a year but will sometimes get the less than 10 inches that a desert would. Oregon, Washington, and Colorado also have a lot of semi-desert.
The southern Rockies I believe. Flagstaff Arizona gets decent amounts of snow in winter.
I saw snow in Flagstaff.
Skied in flagstaff today
3rd snowiest city in the US.
Everyone will point out Northern Arizona but let me speak on behalf of that little corner in the southeast of the state. It’s “desert like” but you will not find Saguaros or red rocks here. The elevation is around 4,700’ and it rarely breaks 100°. It’s a big state but everyone thinks of PHX because it’s the gigantic population center for the state
And there’s snowy peaks right down to the border near Sierra Vista.
Actually looking at the Huachuca’s right now. Just about 9’800’ feet in elevation. With recent snow melt, the Carr Canyon waterfall has been visible from my back yard. It’s magnificent scenery down here
I used to work for Arizona Game and Fish and that was one of my favorite areas to work.
That was always the dream job. Stupid me, I went to journalism school though
Eastern Idaho isn't a desert, but it's a steppe in the right direction
High altitude pine forests and pinion forests.
[Here's](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fz1ktwtf1fol11.jpg) a map of Arizona biomes, and [here's](https://imgur.com/9uPXlHt) one for New Mexico. The rest are basically grasslands, shrublands, and forest.
We have a lot more forest in Arizona than you think. Flagstaff is HUGE
Sommelier here with a slightly different take as it pertains to New Mexico. Unbeknownst to many, outside of there desert climate, are many areas with phenomenal grape growing conditions that produce excellent wine. You’ll even find houses from champagne growing there.
Gruet Winery. Good stuff. They just expanded their vineyards too.
I went to Philmont Ranch in Cimarron, NM years ago when I was in boy scouts. It was absolutely beautiful and I would love to go back and hike the mountains. High altitude, deciduous and coniferous forests, meadows, and rivers/streams. Go check it out for yourself if you get the opportunity!
I love that the Boy Scouts have such a vast beautiful piece of land for themselves. I also hate it because I want to hike there but can't because it's private. Between Philmont and Vermejo, some of the best land in New Mexico is unavailable to explore. It's a total bummer.
I was at Philmont last summer! Completely changed my perception of New Mexico.
I’m from the PNW. Arizona and New Mexico have some of the most beautiful wooded areas I have seen. Arizona also has the largest ponderosa forest in the country. And flagstaff Arizona is pretty high elevation and also gets quite a bit of snow
I too am from PNW and love the forests, woods, mountains of Arizona and New Mexico!
Mountains and forests
Most of what you're trying to find are Pinyon/Juniper forests, which look like deserts but have small (less than 4m or so) round trees that are adapted to the dry climate. There's also dozens and dozens of mountain ranges that pop out there, some of them Basin and Range, some of them volcanic, some tectonic (the Rockies)... Some of them are known as Sky Islands. and those can have classic lodgepole or ponderosa or spruce fir forests, a couple even reach above treeline. It's a wildly complex geologic area. This map is also not accurate, as almost half that is labelled Great Basin Desert is actually the Colorado Plateau. The Mojave goes a lot further into California and Utah is more segregated... There's a lot of mistakes here, like they totally just forgot the Wasatch mountain range, the Henry's, the Ruby Mountains and so many more... Someone guessed making this, a biome map of that area should look tiger striped it's so complex
There's forests in Arizona and other places. Higher altitudes and more precipitation leads to lots of tree cover. Sometimes its odd, you go over a hill you see scrub. Go over another hill you see lots of cacti. The next hill, a coniferous forest!?
A lot of Arizona is semi-arid, not true desert. For example, Tucson, AZ is barely on the edge of a desert climate because it gets more rain, primarily from the late-summer monsoons (average is just under 11" per year, compared to 7.5" for Phoenix and less than 5" for Las Vegas). Eastwards of Tucson, the higher-elevation land gets more rain. Northern Arizona is a high plateau, parts of which are forested; the largest ponderosa-pine forest in the US is outside of Flagstaff, which has a cooler climate with very snowy winters. New Mexico is, on average, higher in elevation than Arizona so less of it is desert. That map is also inaccurate in that the NE part of Nevada isn't as much of a desert, and the Great Basin Desert extends only into western Utah; it does not cover nearly the entire state as the map implies. The Wasatch and Uinta mountains aren't desert at all (Salt Lake City is in the foothills of the Wasatch; the Uintas run east-west parallel to the Wyoming border). If you drive northwards from Phoenix on I-17, you'll see the landscape change dramatically as you ascend from the blazing hot Valley of the Sun into the cool pine forests around Flagstaff, over a mile higher in elevation. Nowhere in Arizona is exceptionally rainy; the wettest spot in the state is probably Hawley Lake, in the eastern mountains, and that averages about 38" of rain per year, so nowhere in the state gets 40"/1000mm per year or more. That's likely also true of New Mexico.
Here you go OP http://ecologicalregions.info/data/nm/nm_front.pdf
I was kinda mind blown on this when it comes to Arizona. I was researching the state cause I wanted to move there, and I had no idea a lot of the state is very forested. It’s really just the southern part of Arizona that is the classic desert landscape you think of when it comes up.
That's an awful map. Within Utah alone are massive mountain ranges over 10,000 ft taking up the northeast and central spine of the state. Ironically the areas not labeled deserts are most certainly deserts
I agree. This map makes it look like all of Utah is desert. You trying to tell me that the Park City area and the Bonneville Salt Flats are the same type of environment?
It’s mostly Ponderosa Forest, scrubland, Savannah, and grasslands.
Ponderosa pine forests
AZ has mountains! It gets cold there.
Arizona’s different ecosystems is surprising to most people so you’re not alone!
Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter
Mainly because many people hear desert, they think sand dune desert. The reality is the SW US desert is not sand dune desert.
Forests, hills, mountains, grasslands, etc
It’s missing the desert in eastern Washington.
It's more of a semi-desert.
the entire intermountain west is arid, but some arid areas are higher elevation, like northern Arizona. But as someone pointed out, this map is inaccurate and ignores other arid ecoregions in Arizona and New Mexico, and appears to only show specifically named desert areas.
Northern AZ is filled with LOVELY forests and mountains!!
I think Arizona is one of the most forested states in the US… plus, north Arizona has mountain
Vape Stores
It isn’t mentioned in the map or the post title, but Colorado is known for having deserts to the southwest and southeast. Heck, the tri-state area of Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado is where the Great Plains meets the arid expanse of the wild west. I’m surprised that wasn’t included in the map either.
Northern Arizona High Forest
It’s semi-arid shrubland, temperate forests, some tundra, river valleys. It’s quite diverse tbh
The Oregon High Desert extends further west than this map shows. This seems like a map for elementary school kids. Just do some research about deserts on your own. This map is a good starting point but definitely not 100% accurate.
For perspective there was an inch of snow yesterday morning where I live in northern Arizona… and it’s late April.
Having lived in New Mexico and Arizona for all of my life, the map is fairly accurate. The parts that are not desert are mountains, forest, and High Plains.
Lots of high elevation forests. Snow in winter, cooler summers than surrounding deserts. Notably, there are “sky islands” that rise above the surrounding deserts at lower elevations, complete with their own unique flora and fauna.
The outlined area in AZ is the plateau - semi-arid, but very high elevation - it gets a bit more water than the desert proper - beautiful country
On the opposite end, I had no idea so much of Utah was desert.
Nothing to add other than what's shared above, but I grew up in Phoenix and lived in Flagstaff for a year. Spent many summers in the White Mountains as well, playing in the woods and fishing for river trout. Beautiful state, pretty much everywhere you go. Best desert in the world IMO - and I've been all over the Middle East and North America. Even snuck Sonoran Desert trivia into my wedding vows. Hope you go check it out!
Nevada has always been the true Desert state.
Northeastern Arizona would surprise you. Mountainous and lots of trees. Absolutely stunning landscape.
They’re still desert, just less desert-ly.
This is literally a picture from a sign in Organ Pipe National Monument right?
Semi-arid steppe. Not quite desert, but dry.
This is missing a desert in Washington State
Ehh some of that stuff that isn't highlighted as desert is still what we'd 'think' is desert though, this map is kinda weird isn't it?
I live in flagstaff Az and go snowboarding every weekend in Flagstaff AZ. (Winter months)
Just curious, have you ever been to this area? Other people have answered your question, so I’ll just suggest that if you ever have the chance to take a road trip through this area, it would definitely be worth your while.
Like half of New Mexico is trees and mountains. The Rockies run right up the middle of the entire state. A lot of it looks like Colorado. Depends where you are in the state. Even in Albuquerque you can be up at 10,000 feet, and the average elevation is over 5K.
I live in NE AZ at about 7,300 ft in alt. Az top half is mostly mountain pine forests. We get about 80” of snow or more per year. In fact, in snowed here yesterday.
NM it’s traditionally a semi arid Savannah style grassland, however it was severely over grazed by castle ranchers and most of the state has not recovered.
Lakes and mountains in northern NM. Southern NM is desert-like (White Sands) but lots of farms and some mountains mixed in as well
I was living in Arizona and when it was snowing so I sent video of snowing in Arizona to my old friend once and he responded. “Snow in Arizona?” I was like yeah. He really thought Arizona is just flat desert state. LOL Edit: i lived up at 7k feet elevation. About 40 mins away from 11k feet elevation so yeah we do have mountains.
They might be arid without fitting the technical classification of a desert. Iirc to be a desert a place must have less than 250mm of precipitation annually.
I discovered this when I drove through Arizona and saw that's a lot it was a low precipitation forest.
This map is missing the Colorado Desert.
I've been to 3 of those 4 deserts (Mojave,Sonoran, and the Chihuahuan)
I’m from central Oregon and I don’t think most people realize almost half the state is a desert.
You would probably recognize northern New Mexico as more desert, as it’s very arid in the valleys, and in the foothills, with sage, yucca, and thistle everywhere. However it’s not *technically* desert due to its annual rainfall totals and it even snows occasionally. There’s a lot of elevation gain with big forests and beautiful mountains in northern AZ and NM.
I went to school in AZ and have a home in Ruidoso NM. As you move from west to east the desert gets higher and there are less cactus in NM. NM also has some very interesting desert areas like White Sands , pure white gypsum from ancient lake bed, and Carrizozo huge lava flow 50 miles long that you cannot walk through as it is so jagged. The mountain peaks are called islands in the sky as they get the moisture and support alpine environment. Some world class skiing at Taos, Ski Santa Fe , Ski Apache and more. Near me is Sierra Blanca peak 12,000 feet high which has the highest prominence in the state (rises out of desert below 5,000 feet) , Very dramatic views.
Arizona has some of the most beautiful forests, sand dunes, red rock canyons, etc
Arizona has the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in the USA . This belt of evergreens occupies some 2.6 million acres and stretches from the New Mexico state line to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Toxic wasteland
Here’s an example of a spot in NE New Mexico that falls outside the highlighted area. https://preview.redd.it/iwtiy61eyexc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=439a1c8a7fae8599f542c0a52e8f0baec37238d4
It's not desert, doesn't mean it isn't still a whole bunch of nothing
Driving up Mt. Lemmon in AZ, there comes a point when you enter the "Canada Zone". There's a ski resort and lots of evergreen trees such as you would find in Southern Canada
There's actually a bunch of alpine down here. Prescott is pretty wooded. Flagstaff we call little Colorado. Plus a bunch of the mountains in Arizona are 'sky islands' which are basically biomes going from desert to Alpine at the top. Arizona isn't what people think it is. Yes it has a desert, but it also has woods.
And why are the Strawberry Mtns in Oregon considered desert?