The Bonneville Salt Flats

[suprz]

Is there any campgrounds near the Bonneville Salt Flats? Or a place to at least pull off and see it? We are heading out this year to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, then Grand Teton National Park, and then Heading south to Utah for Zion and Bryce national parks, then to Lower Antelope Canyon. Then... Who knows, while heading back east :B. ( we have already been to SD, and devils tower, Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Badlands National Park, Arches National Park, and Monument Valley)

[FirstTracks]

nevadanick wrote:
There is a rest area that you can stop at as well as an exit with a small truck stop kinda station that leads out to the flats where the speed events take place. As long as its dry you could drive virtually anything out there or leave your rv across from the gas station. If you want to spend a little more time there, then there is a KOA in Wendover.

Good description. Driving on the salt flats when wet is prohibited.

You're not allowed to camp on the salt flats themselves, but there's a ton of BLM land just off the salt that's legal for boondocking. We were out there in October:

https://youtu.be/hEsT7Ztalmg

Yes, it is indeed "midde-of-nowhere Utah" but that's part of what makes it special. As you can see in the video, the Silver Island Mountains just west of the flats are spectacular, and afford a really special overview of the salt flats below. When you need something, though, West Wendover (NV) is just spitting distance away with its gas stations, casinos and supermarkets.

[docsouce]

West Wendover KOA. Is right off I80. Good campground, nice folks. If you are coming east on I80 as you passover the last hill before the West Wendover exit take a deep breath because the salt flats come into view and the sight is breathtaking. At least it was for us seeing it for the first time. The speedway is a couple of exits further east of the West Wendover exit. Looks like a nice trip you have planned...Enjoy!

We're from Seekonk Ma. and will be poking around Southern Utah near the end of July. Hope we meet up..

[nevadanick]

There is a rest area that you can stop at as well as an exit with a small truck stop kinda station that leads out to the flats where the speed events take place. As long as its dry you could drive virtually anything out there or leave your rv across from the gas station. If you want to spend a little more time there, then there is a KOA in Wendover.

[agesilaus]

You can drive out to the salt flats, weather permiting. There is a paved road: BLM; A better article.

This is pretty much the middle of no-where Utah. The northwest corner is empty, probably because of the salt flats which cover a large area. I was sent an advert for some amazingly cheap land, the advert was reticent about just where this land was but some sleuthing determined it was just above the BLM land containing the salt flats and that land wasn't much better than Bonneville. Also most of the land, especially to the south, is a military reservation where the Army, long ago, did open air nerve gas testing.

I'd check Wendover for a camground.

You are talking about a full day diversion from your trip south to the Four Corners Parks and there is darned little to see except some blindingly bright white playas.