Tonopah Desert Tonopah Desert The Tonopah Desert is a small desert plains region of the Sonoran Desert, located west of Phoenix, Arizona. It is adjacent north of Interstate 10 and lies at the southwest intersection of the Hassayampa River with the Gila River. The Tonopah Desert is also just north of the Gila Bend Mountains massif which create the Gila Bend of the river. The Tonopah Desert is adjacent northwest of the small Palo Verde Hills on Centennial Wash. The Tonopah Desert is mostly east-west trending, small, approximately 30 mi long, and lies at the plains of low elevation mountains north; the
Desert Inn time of its construction and commanded views of the mountains and desert all around, as well as overlooked the "Dancing Waters" feature. The "Sky Room" restaurant was headed by a chef formerly of the Ritz Paris. The original performance venue at the Desert Inn was the 450 seat Painted Desert Room, later the Crystal Room, which opened in 1950 with 450 seats. Charles Cobelle created the handpainted murals, and a "band car" was used to move the orchestra within the showroom. Next door was a restaurant, the Cactus Room. The Kachina Doll Ranch was a supervised play area for guests'