Bonneville Salt Flats: Walking in the Sky

Utah is full of remarkable places. Bonneville Salt Flats is certainly one of them. Thirty thousand acres (121 sq. km) of hard salt crust on the western edge of the Great Salt Lake is a sight to behold — and walk over.

Remains of the ancient Lake Bonneville, once 1,000 feet deep, Utah’s salt pan is one of the world’s most spectacular. It looks like a snowfield in the middle of a desert.

We visited on a rainy week. Parts of the flats looked like glass: the sky below and the sky above.

This is unusual. August to October is the dry season, the perfect conditions for landspeed racing. The Bonneville Salt Flats have hosted races for over a century.

We left as another storm gathered. This was a quick visit, but the verdict was clear: One of the oddest places I’ve seen, by a long shot.

Read on:

• Death Valley’s Wonders 
• Into the Dreamscape of Antelope Island
• Zion National Park: A Glimpse of Paradise
• Sunrise at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
• Owl, Rattlesnake, and Antelope Canyon: Where the Wind Lives
• Sunset and Sunrise in Bryce Canyon: Of “Fairy Cities in Painted Stone”