Everything you need to know about Utah's Bonneville salt flats
It is a grueling 111 mile trip from the middle of downtown Salt Lake City, to the outskirts of the Bonnevile Salt Flats. On most trips this hour and a half drive would be painfully boring, but that is certainly not the case in the beautiful state of Utah. There is never a shortage of breathtaking views. If you’re an early bird like us, it is almost guaranteed that you will be accompanied by a florescent amber sunrise in your rear view mirror. It just kind of tags along with you, chasing you towards your destination. This is just the beginning though, because throughout this drive you will also find yourself looking at lakes, mountains, a giant metal cactus, and yes you guessed it, lots and lots of salt.
This incredibly unique spot has been around for a long time.. like a really long time. The flats began to form right around the end of the last ice age when a massive lake that once covered almost a third of Utah began to dissolve. As the water slowly evaporated, it left behind all the crunchy white minerals that make up the crust as we know it today. This dusty bare oasis now covers a mind blowing 30,000 acres and is taken care of by the Bureau of Land Management.
Driving on the flats
When it comes to driving on the Flats there are a few things we wanted to get straight. First of all yes it is legal, but there are still a few rules to follow. Instead of spending countless hours searching for those rules, we decided to list them below. These are taken directly from the website of the Bureau of Land Management.
- Do not drive on the salt flats when they are wet or flooded from precipitation.
- You can easily damage the salt crust and/or become stuck in the underlying mud.
- Come prepared.
- Travel and camp on durable surfaces.
- Dispose of waste properly.
- Leave what you find.
- Minimize fire impacts.
- Respect wildlife.
- Be considerate of other visitors.
We already know your next question.. How fast can you go? The answer is as fast as your vehicle can take you. That’s right there is no speed limit on the flats and people can easily succeed speeds of 100 mph in the flat dry terrain. If you are one of the speed junkies that really wants to push the limit of your vehicle we suggest going to the International Speedway. This is an area located in the North West section of the flats that has specifically been marked and designated for motor sports. There have been numerous land speed records broken here some of which include vehicles traveling over 450 mph (724 km/h).
Here is the thing though, just because you can drive on this brittle alien like crust, doesn’t always mean you should. During our short time there we saw hundreds if not thousands of tracks that sliced there way on and off the road, weaving patterns into the desert like landscape, and more than half of them led to the drivers inescapable doom of being buried in the moist white sediment. The edge of the flats are very soft, and even in the driest season (when we went) we still saw multiple vehicles that met this undesirable fate. So where is it safe to enter? Keep reading below!
One last thing we wanted to cover in this section is to please check your rental agreement before you drive onto the salty crust. Most rental companies do not allow you to drive on the flats because of the corrosive salty surface, and they do use GPS to track you in some vehicles. It is also extremely difficult to clean the salt from underneath your vehicle. Although we opted out of driving on the surface because we had a rental, we saw multiple cars, trucks, and jeeps with a thick layer of salt caked up into their undercarriage and wheels. This could potentially do a lot of damage to the vehicle you are in.
parking
There are two spots that we found were the safest and most reliable places to both enter onto the salt flats and park your vehicle if you wanted to leave it behind. The first and in our opinion best spot to park is at the rest area located on I80 Westbound, and at the Bonneville Salt Flats International Speedway located off the Leppy Pass Road exit. Both of these spots offer a black top parking area, and a stable entrance onto the flats.
The rest stop located on I80 Westbound is our number one pick because it gives you easy access to the flats, there are restrooms, and even a foot wash station to wash off all the salt before getting back into your vehicle. It is vital that you do not miss this the first time you pass. The next legal turn around is multiple miles away. So what if you’re going East Bound on I80? We found ourselves in this exact situation, being that we missed the rest stop the first time, and had to turn around in the closet town (Wendover). Although we do not highly recommend it, you can still park at the rest area on I80 going Eastbound, and cross the perilous highway on foot, but you will be have to leave your vehicle behind, and dance in and out of traffic whizzing by at 80+ mph.
The Bonneville Salt Flats International Speedway parking area has a much different feel to it. For one thing it is located on a back road in the middle of the desert, not a busy highway. It mainly consists of a large turn around with a ramp that leads onto the surface of the flats. This location has no restrooms, or foot wash station, but it does offer a stable spot to park and watch as driver after driver slowly sneak their way onto the flats, and attempt to get their vehicle going as fast as it can. One nice thing about this parking area is that there is a gas station located just 5 miles away at the beginning of the exit. This is a great place to grab some refreshments before you head back out into the scorching heat.
Photography
One thing that you will notice about the flats, is that the serene landscape is constantly changing with the seasons. For some of you this will make all the difference when you are trying to snap the perfect pic. We were there in the middle of the summer, so the majority of the water that sometimes sits on the top of the crust was gone, but as you can see from our pics this was the perfect time to capture the crystal structures that form on the top. Make sure you do your research and check to see which season is the best for your photoshoot if you are trying to capture a specific vibe. A general rule is that water normally covers the flats during the winter months, and it the arid dry crystal structures during the summer months.
Another aspect that you will need to take into consideration is the sunlight. There is zero shade on the flats, and the bright sunlight reflecting off the white salt can wreak havoc on your exposure, and create unwanted shadowing. For this reason we think the best time to captures a pic is at sunrise, sunset, or around a half hour past noon. These three times will result in the best opportunity to pull in colors without fighting an overbearing shadow.
So where are best spots to snap a pic? Well the truth is anywhere on the flats is a great spot to snap a pic. Every direction is so incredibly breathtaking that you won’t get a bad result. You will sometimes face an issue with overcrowding though. Our suggestion to combat this is to walk out about half a mile past the I80 Westbound rest stop, and then hike out onto the flats between half a mile and a mile. This will give you plenty of space to do your thing without having to worry about getting people in the background.
Also contrary to popular trends right now, we absolutely do not suggest going out onto one of the canals. Although this is extremely cool, and can produce some pretty rad pics, it is very dangerous and could result in serious injuries, and even fines. So please be respectful, be smart, and have fun! If there was something that we didn’t cover here that you want to know about the salt flats drop your questions in the comments below, or feel free to shoot us a DM on Insta!