Question: Looking on [thesaurus.com](http://thesaurus.com/browse/desert) I can find only synonyms for "desert" with negative connotations. Are there any synonyms with positive connotations? Specifically, something that invokes the sense of clean desolation and unspoiled nature.

Answer: 
Following your link shows a tremendous number of synonyms with negative connotations! Here are some relatively neutral, albeit not quite synonomous, words:

* *[solitude](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/solitude)*, with sense "A lonely or deserted place."
* *[sere](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sere)*, "Without moisture."
* *[unpeopled](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unpeopled)*, "Not inhabited by people."
* The *[Outback](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outback)* in Australia is a vast, remote, arid area, and you might compare an area to it.
* You could talk about *[horny toad](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horny_toad)* country; that's pretty neutral, isn't it?
Untouched, undeveloped, uninhabited. Perhaps wilderness.