Bonneville Salt Flats

There is a huge, white place in Utah.

It is a very big salt pan. It is made of salt. The salt is thick in the middle. It is thin at the edges.

People go there to drive very fast. They set records for speed. Cars and motorcycles race on the salt. Some people even shoot arrows there. It is a special place to visit. You can see it too.

The Bonneville Salt Flats are a big, white place in Utah.

This salt pan is a part of an old lake. It is about 12 miles long and 5 miles wide. The salt is very thick in the middle. It is almost 5 feet thick there. At the edges, the salt is less than one inch thick.

It holds about 147 million tons of salt. Most of that is common table salt.

People go there to test how fast they can go. This is called land speed racing. Drivers try to set new records. In 1914, Teddy Tetzlaff set the first record. Some cars have gone 449 miles per hour.

Other vehicles used jets to go even faster. People also shoot arrows there for archery contests.

The salt crust must be thick for racing. Some studies show the salt is getting thinner. This may happen because of nearby mining. To help, workers let out extra brine, which is salty water, onto the flats in winter. This may help the salt grow back.

The Bonneville Salt Flats are a huge, white salt pan.

They sit in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. This place is a remnant of an old lake called Lake Bonneville. It is the largest salt flat west of the Great Salt Lake. The area is about 12 miles long and 5 miles wide.

A thick crust of salt covers the ground. It is almost 5 feet thick in the center. Near the edges, it is less than one inch thick. The flats hold about 147 million tons of salt. Most of this is common table salt.

People use this flat ground to see how fast machines can go.

This is called land speed racing. Drivers try to set new records on the Bonneville Speedway. There are five major racing events each year. Speed Week happens in mid-August. World of Speed is in September. The World Finals take place in early October. Other events include the Bub Motorcycle Speed Trials. People also hold the US Flight Archery Championships there. Archers try to shoot arrows the farthest distance possible.

History tells us how people first found this place useful. A geologist named Grove Karl Gilbert named the area. He named it after Benjamin Bonneville. He was a U.S. Army officer from the 1830s. In 1907, Bill Rishel tested the salt for driving. He took a Pierce-Arrow car onto the surface. A railway line was finished there in 1910. The first land speed record was set in 1914. Teddy Tetzlaff was the person who set that record. Since then, many more records have been broken.

There are many interesting facts about the speed reached here.

One record for wheel-driven vehicles was 449 miles per hour. That record was set in 2018. In 1970, a rocket or jet vehicle hit 630 miles per hour. The salt is very important for these fast machines. If the salt crust gets too thin, racing might stop. In 2015 and 2022, some events were canceled. This happened because the salt was in poor condition. Heavy rains and mudslides also caused problems.

This famous place has even touched outer space and movies.

The Stardust spacecraft dropped a sample capsule there in 2004. This capsule came from a comet and an asteroid. Many movies have filmed scenes at the salt flats. These include Independence Day and Pirates of the Caribbean. Even some cars and motorcycles use the name Bonneville. The Pontiac Bonneville car is one example. The Triumph Bonneville motorcycle is another. The name stays linked to this unique landscape.

The Bonneville Salt Flats are a massive, densely packed salt pan located in Tooele County. This area sits in northwestern Utah within the United States. The landscape is a remnant of the ancient Pleistocene Lake Bonneville. It stands as the largest salt flat found west of the Great Salt Lake. Today, the land is public and managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

The physical dimensions of the flats are quite vast. The area stretches about 12 miles long and 5 miles wide. The salt crust varies significantly in depth across this distance. At the center, the crust is almost 5 feet thick. However, the thickness drops to less than one inch near the edges.

It is estimated that the flats hold 147 million tons of salt. Approximately 90% of this total is common table salt.

This unique environment serves as a world-class venue for land speed racing. Drivers use a section known as the Bonneville Speedway to test extreme velocities. There are five major annual events held on the flats. Speed Week occurs in mid-August, followed by World of Speed in September. The World Finals take place in early October. Additionally, the Bub Motorcycle Speed Trials focus specifically on motorcycles. The Mike Cook ShootOut is another event where world records are contested.

Speed records set here have reached incredible levels of velocity. In 2018, a wheel-driven vehicle set a record of 449 miles per hour. Earlier, in 1970, a rocket or jet-propelled vehicle reached 630 miles per hour. The salt also hosts the US Flight Archery Championships. In this competition, archers attempt to shoot arrows the greatest distance possible. Don Brown set a world record there in 1977. Alan Webster set another world record in 1982.

History shows how humans first recognized the utility of this terrain. Geologist Grove Karl Gilbert named the area after Benjamin Bonneville. Benjamin Bonneville was a U.S. Army officer who explored the Intermountain West in the 1830s. In 1907, Bill Rishel and two local businessmen tested the surface for driving. They used a Pierce-Arrow vehicle to check the salt's suitability. A railway line was completed across the flats in 1910. Teddy Tetzlaff set the very first land speed record here in 1914.

Maintaining the salt crust is a major environmental concern. The thickness of the crust is critical for safe racing. Recent studies show a reduction in thickness, particularly in the northwest racing area. Many believe that nearby evaporative potash mining is the primary cause. To help, the Bureau of Land Management started a pilot program in 1998. This program releases excess brine onto the flats during the winter. The goal is to restore or halt the loss of the crust.

The flats have also played a role in science and pop culture. In 2004, the Stardust spacecraft released a sample-return capsule here. This capsule contained material from asteroid 5535 Annefrank and comet Wild 2. Many movies have used the flats as a filming location. Examples include Independence Day, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Knight Rider. Even the name Bonneville is used for the Pontiac Bonneville sedan and the Triumph Bonneville motorcycle.