Travel Guide Bonneville Salt Flats

Huge salt desert of more than 250 km2, this unique place is part of the gigantic Great Basin area. It covers 10% of the national territory, between the Californian Sierra Nevada in the west and the Rockies in the east. Thus, Bonneville Salt Flats is one of the largest salt flats in the region, the result of the last ice age which caused the evaporation of the ancient Bonneville Lake.The impressive salt crust, up to 1.8 m thick, gives the whole area the appearance of a frozen landscape and prevents the creation of any form of vegetation. As a result, it is a difficult place to access: before the arrival of the train in 1910, its crossing posed real problems during the conquest of the West. For example, a shortcut off the beaten path cost the Donner-Reed convoy - an expedition of pioneers en route to California in the 1840s - the loss of many oxen and four wagons, resulting in a considerable delay and their late - even near-winter arrival in the Sierra Nevada, which would prove fatal.This desolate and unusual landscape has been the setting for several film scenes, among which we can mention Independence Day: The Day of Retaliation (1996), Pirate of the Caribbean: To the End of the World (2007), Wings of Hell (1997), Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), The Tree of Life (2011), Need For Speed (2014)... A place that should delight moviegoers!