The Alvord Desert is a 12-by-7-mile (19 by 11 km) dry lake bed and averages 7 inches (180 mm) of rain a year.

Vehicle driving attempts to score land speed records are performed on the dry lake bed.

The desert is named after General Benjamin Alvord, who served as commander of the U.S. Army's Department of Oregon during the American Civil War.

Snow does sometimes occur in the rare instances when cold air from the Arctic to the north meets a strong flow of moisture from the Pacific to the West.

These storms are attributed to the rainfall in April, May, and June that form in the south and move their way north across the desert and surrounding sagebrush plains.

Rainfall turns the playa into a small lake, and for a short time, makes travel across it difficult.

Three primary geothermal areas are along the western edge[5] as well as cold springs following NE to SW trending normal faults.

To the southwest is seasonal alkali Alvord Lake which once extended 100 miles (160 km) north and south—covering the desert.

The nearby Steens Mountain Wilderness contains populations of bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, and pronghorn.

The previous women's Land Speed Record was set at Alvord Desert by Kitty O'Neil, in the jet-powered SMI Motivator, in 1976.