Black Desert Reserve is a desert area with many volcanic mounds located in western Egypt between the White Desert National Park in the south and Bahariya Oasis in the north. Most of its mounds are characterized by the presence of basalt sills, giving them the characteristic black color.
The mounds vary in size, composition, height and shape, as some are dark while others are more reddish. The Black Desert was declared a nature reserve as of 2010 after a large dinosaur skeleton was discovered on its borders.