In 1907, Bill Rishel and two local businessmen tested the suitability of the salt for driving by taking a Pierce-Arrow onto its surface. Army officer who explored the Intermountain West in the 1830s. Geologist Grove Karl Gilbert named the area after Benjamin Bonneville, a U.S. History Bonneville Salt Flats during the winter has about 1 inch of water on it. It is estimated to hold 147 million tons of salt, approximately 90% of which is common table salt. The Flats are about 12 miles (19 km) long and 5 miles (8 km) wide, with a crust almost 5 ft (1.5m) thick at the center and less than one inch (2.5 cm) towards the edges. Access to the Flats is open to the public. It is public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and is known for land speed records at the Bonneville Speedway. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah, United States.

Bonneville salt flats sunrise