Travel Guide Great Salt Lake

At 4,400 km2, Great Salt Lake is the largest inland sea in the USA. Its high salinity makes it unliveable for most aquatic species, with only a few shrimp and bacteria inhabiting its waters. At an altitude of 1,280 m, the lake is on average 4 m deep, while its deepest point reaches 10 m. This immense basin also contains the Great Salt Lake desert. The whole is 150 km wide and 220 km long. Depending on the rainfall, the water varies in size: with no run-off, the basin has for millions of years concentrated all the minerals discharged by the rivers, forming a layer of salt of extreme whiteness and infinite flatness. When it rains, a lake several kilometers long and a few centimetres deep forms in some places.