Note: the salt flats are closed when they are wet or flooded so read the signpost at the end of the paved road for any notices or alerts before you explore.  If this is your first time driving on the salt flats then go easy.  Don’t do crazy things or drive where it may be flooded because you will get stuck in the mud.  Travelling on the salt flats in the spring is not recommended with all the water on top.

The Bonneville Salt Flats are located near Wendover, Utah in what Utahn’s call the West Desert.  The salt flats are 46 square miles of level crusty salt for you to drive or run as far as you can.  It’s over 12 miles long and 5 miles wide! A geologist named this area after a Army officer named Benjamin Bonneville who spent a lot of time out west exploring in the 1830s.  It is setup as an open area so you just go wherever you want!  Just be careful of the wet areas and stick to the more sturdy ground.

Make sure to bring sunglasses because with the glare from the sun on the super white salt it can literally be blinding.  Wear long sleeves and long pants because the UV rays can be extremely harsh. And yes, this tastes exactly like regular table salt so don’t go eating giant handfuls of it even though your brain keeps making you think this is all snow.

I have been to the salt flats many times but this was the first time I drove my car all over the area.  The road to the salt flats is paved and it ends at an information signpost where you can read about some of the speed records that have taken place here.  A friend and I, along with his dog, spent the afternoon driving all over the salt and exploring what we could.

We quickly discovered that the salt was sticky and stuck to just about everything including our shoes and the paws of my friend’s dog.  It was easy to get off but every time we took a step, we would get about a half inch of salt stuck to our shoes.  So make sure you have floor mats or some kind of protection for the inside of your car.

We didn’t know where to go as there are no roads, so we just picked a random destination and started driving there.   We noticed a few hundred other people doing the exact same thing we were doing.  Even with all those vehicles out there, we were still fairly spread out as we drove around.  Just pay extra attention to people as you explore so you don’t cause an accident, but overall, we didn’t come within a half mile of anyone else.

We hugged the east side of the salt flats since this area seemed to have more sturdy ground to drive on.  The ground on the west side was more wet and we almost got stuck a few times so we came back to the east (right) side.  We then just started driving and it felt like we had traveled about 5 miles but we really only went about 2 – just the way the salt and the horizon mix together messes with your perception of distance.  You will see what I mean when you visit.

If you were like us, you will need to go straight to a car wash to get all the salt off that was hidden underneath my car.  It actually took 4 washes to get all the salt off!

This is a fun area and I’d love to come back and watch some speed racing events!  In 1914, there was a speed record set at 141.73 MPH by Teddy Tezlaff.  This seemed to be the first land speed record set at the salt flats.  Since then, the Bonneville Salt Flats have seen record breaking for speed from 300 MPH on up to 600 MPH!

• The first ever 300 MPH speed done on land by a wheel-driven vehicle was made by Malcolm Campbell on September 3, 1935.
• The first jet powered land vehicle that achieved over 600 MPH was also done here by Gary Gabelich on October 23, 1970.

Many movies and commercials have portions of them filmed here.

For more information, click here.