This was not planned but we saw signs for the Salt Flats and pulled over at the rest stop.
The Bonneville Salt Flats were formed from the evaporation of the ancient, freshwater Lake Bonneville, which covered much of western Utah during the last ice age. When the climate warmed and the massive lake began to dry up about 14,000 to 32,000 years ago, it left behind a thick crust of mineral salts that are now the salt flats. More recently, a shallower, briny lake formed around 8,300 years ago from groundwater, which ultimately created the specific salt crust we see today through repeated cycles of flooding and evaporation.
The Salt Flats cover 30,000 acres of land that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Welcome to the moon.
The Bonneville Salt Flats have been the site of numerous land speed records, including the first to exceed 400 mph (John Cobb in 1947) and Craig Breedlove’s 600.601 mph record in 1965. The current land speed record is 763 mph set by Andy Green in 1997 at the Black Rock Desert in NW Nevada.
HAPPY TRAILS, STEVE