Gerudo Desert

The Gerudo Desert is a desert in Hyrule and was first introduced in Ocarina of Time and reappears appears in Twilight Princess. It features a large vast desert that is not occupied by any of the races living in Hyrule except for the Gerudo tribe, who have a fortress there (in Ocarina of Time) called the Gerudo Fortress. Although it is not of great importance to the game, it features some parts of the story line. In both games the desert contains each a dungeon. In Ocarina of Time the Spirit Temple and in Twilight Princess; Arbiter's Grounds. It also contains the Mirror Chamber, which holds the Mirror of Twilight; the main way to the Twilight Realm.

In Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time the Gerudo Desert is the Haunted Wasteland and the Gerudo Valley It is habited by a female thief-tribe called the Gerudo. It is located in the west part of Hyrule and it is one of the biggest areas of the game. The Gerudo lay in there fortress called the Gerudo Fortress. At the begining Link gets caught by the Gerudo and manages to escape from prison. After getting the Gerudo Membership Card, the path to the desert will be opended. The desert in Ocarina is called the Haunted Wasteland, it is not habitated by any people, only monsters. This desert has a constent sandstorm and will only be passed by an instruction given by the Gerudos to reach the final destination of the desert. This will help Link to reach the Desert Colossus, a massive statue carved into stone to believed to represent the Gerudos' goddess. Inside the Colossus, lays the eight dungeon of the game; The Spirit Temple. There Link, defeats Twinrova and gets the Spirit Medallion.

In Twilight Princess
The Gerudo Desert reappears in Twilight Princess in the Desert Province. It is located in the southeast corner of the Twilight Princess map in the Wii version and in the southwest corner of the Gamecube version. This time, Gerudo Desert is uninhabitated by persons (unlike in Ocarina of Time). It expands on a vast territory, but most of its surface is a barren wasteland with no signs of life other than some monsters like Moldorms, Shadow Beasts, Bulblins and Leevers. It also has long endless holes with in it's surface which makes it's harder the posibility of moving faster through the desert. The gerudo desert has only two significative locations: Arbiter's Grounds and Gerudo Mesa. Here lays the forth dungeon; Arbiter's Grounds and as well as the first shard of the Mirror of Twilight. On the top of Arbiter's Grounds, lays the Mirror Chamber which is the main and only way to the Twilight Realm with he mirror of twilight. This open a portal inside a gigantic rock and it is abel to reach the Twilight Palace. The mirror was destroyed into 4 pieces by Zant but later is recoverd by Link and Midna. After the defeat of Ganondorf, Midna in here real form, leaves to the Twilight Palace and destroyes the mirror; with no chance of rebuilding it. Aside from the Arbiter's Grounds, the Gerudo Mesa is the only other important location there. In the it is where the Cave of Ordeals, a large optional dungeon where the Fairy Tears can be retrieved. Strangely, the Gerudo Desert is completely cut off from the rest of Hyrule. It can first only be reached by being shot out of Fyer's cannon, and can only be left by warping from Lake Hylia. Even after the game being after Ocarina of Time, the Gerudo tribe is no where seen in this desert and and doesn't seem that they lived in it.

It should be noted, however, that a mesa can be seen far to the south of the "playable" desert area. This mesa resembles the the Spirit Temple as seen from the Gerudos' Fortress in Ocarina of Time.

Trivia

 * In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, the Gerudo tribe re-appear but insted of being in the Gerudo Desert they appear in the Desert of Doubt.