This geographical area has no method of draining any precipitation that falls here. Nearly all of Nevada and parts of neighboring states including the western half of Utah is part of the Great Basin. Just off of I-80 in western Utah you can leave the pavement and set your own land speed record. Newer records were set in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. In 1970, Gary Gabelich drove the Blue Flame 630mph here, which held the land speed record until 1983. The salt flats are perhaps most famous for the Bonneville Speedway, where many of the world land speed records were set. The photo below shows parts of the salt crust cracking and forming ruts in the mud.Roughly 100 miles west of Salt Lake City, Utah lies a vast expanse of salt covering forty square miles. If we had more time, we would’ve done sunset at the rest stop, spent the night in Wendover, and shot sunrise the next morning at the speedway. The I-80 is heavily-patrolled by Idaho State Troopers, and the speed limit is 75mph… so traffic is flying. While some people illegally use the “emergency vehicle only” U-turn options, it’s a risk. While you can easily get back on the I-80 heading east… the next closest exit you can use to turn around is half-an-hour away! So it’ll literally take an hour to get from the speedway back to the rest stop… even though “as the crow flies” it’s only four miles. If you decide to then go to the speedway site, be prepared for a long drive back around to the rest stop. If you’re driving from SLC, you’ll hit the rest stop first.
The I-80 doesn’t have exits in the area which allow you to easily go between the two sites. This is important to keep in mind: if you’re aiming for sunset photos, you need to pick one of the spots ahead of time and commit.
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