About 100 miles west of Salt Lake City are the remnants of an ancient lake from millions of years ago in the Pleistocene era. Spanning 12 miles long and 5 miles wide with a crust as thick as five feet, the Bonnevile Salt Flats contain enough table salt to fill 33,339 BILLION shakers, or enough for every person on the planet to have a salt shaker on their table, and 4000 more in their cupboard. That’s a lot of salt!
Managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and open to the public, this area is known for the Bonneville Speedway, where several land speed records have been set. The record for wheel-driven vehicles (449 MPH) was set here in 2018, and for rocket or jet propelled vehicles (630 MPH; since superseded) in 1970. Several movies have also been filmed here including, Independence Day and Pirates of the Caribbean. Ever heard of the Pontiac Bonneville and the Triumph Bonnevile motorcycle? Both were named after the Salt Flats.
Easily accessible from westbound I-80 interstate, I highly recommend this as a quick stop and photo op when passing through. You can walk on the flats for miles, though I probably wouldn’t recommend it.
https://awbrey.travelmap.net/alaska/photos/bonneville-salt-flats
