To get to the desert from Sacramento you have to head east. East over the Sierra Nevada's and into the Great Basin desert. The Great Basin Desert, the largest U. S. desert, covers an arid expanse of about 190,000 square miles and is bordered by the Sierra Nevada Range on the west, the Rocky Mountains on the east and the Cascades to the north. Due to its northern latitude and high elevations (4,000 to 6,500 feet) this desert can become very cold. In fact, the majority of precipitation the desert receives is from winter snow. Although this desert encompasses all of Nevada and portions of California, Oregon, Idaho and Utah ... not a single drop of water that falls into this 'Great Basin' will ever make it to the sea!