Desert gopher tortoise is a slow-moving large land tortoise with a body length of 23cm-38cm, a maximum nail length of 37cm, and a life span of 80-150 years. There is only one axillary shield, and among all the vertebral shields, the width of the fifth vertebral shield is the largest. Terrestrial, with rounded carapace, short and sturdy hind legs, densely scaly forelimbs, flat in shape, easy to dig, and no webbed between all toes.

The carapace of the desert gopher tortoise is oval, brown, similar Horny, slightly yellowish in the center of the scutellum. The nail bridge is well developed, and the axillary shield is single. The plastron is yellowish and brown along the edges of the scutellum; in adults the scutellum extends far beyond the carapace. The head is small, rounded at the front, brown, slightly reddish, and the iris is yellow-green. The front and rear feet are about the same size. Male plastron concave.