Howard Stansbury explored the desert in 1849. The 1846 Donner Party's difficulties in making the crossing contributed to their becoming snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. History View of the desert from an airplaneĭuring Jedediah Smith's 1826-27 expedition, Robert Evans nearly died while crossing the desert and in the 1840s, westward emigrants used the Hastings Cutoff through 130 miles (210 km) of Great Salt Lake desert to reduce the distance to California. The lowest part of Juab County is located just south of the Dugway Proving Grounds, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwest of the northwest corner of the Fish Springs Range. The military's Utah Test and Training Range is in the northern portion of the desert. The salt crust covering the desert reforms yearly when the rain evaporates. Most of the desert receives less than 8 inches (200 mm) of annual precipitation. The desert is cool during the winter and includes unusual plants adapted to the dry conditions. On the western edge of the desert, just across the border in Nevada, stands Pilot Peak in the Pilot Range. Several small mountain ranges occupy the edges of the desert, such as the Cedar Mountains, Lakeside Mountains, Silver Island Mountains, Hogup Mountains, Grassy Mountains, and Newfoundland Mountains. Class=notpageimage| The desert's Wendover AFB operated from 1940 to 1986.
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