 The Great Salt Lake is only 15 miles west of Salt Lake City and is accessible by I-80. It is over 2,000 square miles, 10 to 28 feet deep and once was a part of the massive Lake Bonneville, which hundreds of years ago extended across 20,000 square miles including parts of Idaho and Nevada. Back then, nearly a quarter of Utah was covered by Lake Bonneville. It was a fresh water lake and was 900 feet deep at the site of where Salt Lake City is now. The lake is famous for its high salinity ( between 10 and 25%, and 6 times saltier than the ocean ), and is second only to the Dead Sea.
I have been telling visitors for 25 years that there was no reason they should go out there. That the lake had a horrible odor, and there is nothing out there. Wow, was I wrong!!! I am now calling it "Utah's Best Kept Secret". On a recent visit, I found that once you arrive at the Saltair exit off I-80, it still smells a bit, but that is just the Brine Shrimp. You take a left at the Saltair Building and drive west on the access road for 2 to 3 miles and you come to the Saltair Marina. No more stinky smell, and it's beautiful. The 300 + sailboat owners who have slips at the marina know this. A few friends have tried to tell me this before and have invited me out on their boat for a sail, but I would not listen. I kept remembering that smell. Now I am a huge fan of this massive lake! The sunsets are incredible out there.
Bonneville Salt Flats:
Driving west on I-80 about 90 minutes from Salt Lake are the Bonneville Flats, which has a race track and was the location for the land speed records set before the 1980s. Deterioration in the quality of the salt surface now means that these records are now attempted in a very remote area called Black Rock Desert which is in northwest Nevada.
Wendover:
About 11 miles further west on I-80 you come to the Utah/Nevada border where the small town of Wendover lies. Wendover is Salt Lake's haven for casino gambling,
Utah Travel Guides & Discount Packages
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