The Black Rock Desert is a dry lake bed and the surrounding endorphin basin in northwestern Nevada in the United States. The flat expanse of dry lake, or plays, is a remnant of the prehistoric Lake Lahontan, which existed between 18,000 and 7,000 BC during the last ice age. During the lake's peak around 12,700 years ago, the desert floor was under approximately 500 ft (150 m) of water.
The area was used in the mid-1800s by branches of the California Trail and Oregon Trail for settlement of the US West Coast. Since then, the area has been host to scattered mining activity. The Black Rock Desert also hosts various recreational, scientific, commercial and record-breaking activities which take advantage of the playa's enormous flat expanse.
