I doubt SLC itself is within what’s considered desert. Precip in the GSLDB has a mean of 12" and ranges from 5 to higher in the mountains.
The Nk’mip Desert in BC is small, but the presence of certain plant species make it count as a true desert.
The Carcross Desert in the Yukon is a wannabe.
I belive my husband has never seen the desert. The ocean, yes, but not the desert. He’s traveled in the Southeast but not West.
I OTOH traveled by thumb to L.A. in the late 70’s. I spent the night in the Painted Desert.
There’s a desert in British Columbia. Really quite arid and hot, with some fairly unique plants and wildlife, but it’s not too big. There’s currently an effort to get a national park created to protect the wildlife.
I’ve done a week-long hike in the Sahara. I highly recommend it. On a windless day you will know complete silence for the first time in your life. Until someone steps on a scorpion. Then you will know Keystone Kops-style Kaos!
Interesting. I knew about the arid lands around Osoyoos, but didn’t know what they were called.
I popped into the Negev desert from Israel once. We rode camels with a Bedouin guide.
As the sun set, he baked some bread and made tea. Quite an experience!
I believe that technically a desert is a place with little rain. Therefore Antartica is a desert!
It can snow in a desert. In fact, snow is fairly common here in the Chihuahuan desert.
Nope, never. Unless the Indiana Dunes count! 
When I was 3 or 4 years old, & through the window of a moving train, on a trip from Chicago to California.
Hardly counts.
I had to be boosted up to see through the windows, & my Dad was too impatient to do that for more than a minute.
I took the Cal Zephyr from SF to Chi and that went thru some deserts. I’ve been to the Dead Sea thru land that looked like a desert.
I’ve been to Mount Desert Island in Bah Hahbuh, Maine.
I’m fairly certain I have never seen a desert. If I have (from a plane or something), I didn’t know it!
Another Floridian here, saying no, I’ve never seen a desert.
I’ve never seen the huge sand-dunes type desert before (except maybe from a plane). I’ve been just outside of Vegas in that kind of desert before, though. It’s hot. Really hot.
Does the Australian Bush count?
I live in the Mojave desert and we get snow. Sometimes it even “sticks” and all the schools close and it becomes a little holiday. It did that on my birthday sometime in the 80s and it was grand. In fact it always sticks up in the hills and I live an hour or so away from a ski resort; 2 from Big Bear.
Of course last year on my birthday it was 80 degrees out so we went for a motorcycle ride. Last year we hit a low of around 3 degrees and a high of 120. It isn’t uncommon for the temperature to fluctuate by 40-50 degrees over the course of a day.
I was about to say that everyone who hasn’t seen the desert isn’t missing much, until I remember the fantastic sunsets, unlimited visibility, wildflower season, and all the wildlife. Not to mention the perfectly delicious summer nights.
When I was in Egypt I flew from Aswan to Abu Simbel. The flight isn’t particularly long and stays relatively low.
I’d have to say that southern Egypt from the air in the middle of the day is one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen. An Absolutely unbelievable scorched, alien landscape.
Also, I’m reminded of a place I have never been, but where one can find both the ocean and the desert in the same place: The Skeleton Coast in Africa.
<giggles> Yep, that’s the closest I’ve ever been to a desert, too. Hub, unfortunately, also had one of the all-expense-paid trips to the desert in 2004. His unit is getting ready to go back now but he’s been retired for about a year now.
Do the South Dakota badlands count? I imagine probably not. I’ve been in arid areas, semi-arid areas and sand dunes but no deserts.