Utah Salt Flats - Wet vs. Dry Seasons
The Salt Flats in Utah are truly spectacular. What is dry season and wet season? How and why are they different? Find out the answer to these questions below.
I had always seen such cool photos of people with and their cars at the Salt Flats in Utah. I was curious to what it was like to drive on the flats and how far these flats stretched across the landscape. While in Utah, I knew this was something I had to do to feed my curiosity and see how cool it truly was. We made the hour trek out to western Utah to see the flats. Be warned if you are going to make this trip, have a full tank of gas, a full belly, and use the bathroom beforehand as there is not a gas station or rest area for almost all the trip. Further, the gas station near the flats had both expensive food and gas. With this blog, I hope to help you learn about the different seasons the Salt Flats experiences.
But first, what are the salt flats anyways and how did they form?
According to Utah.com, "The Salt Flats were formed when ancient lake Lake Bonneville dried up. The lake was huge, filling much of the Great Basin. It eventually shrank below its outlet and so its water became salty. As water continued to evaporate, salt deposits were left in many areas.". If you have ever seen photos, the land is now a beautiful contrast of white and blue. It truly is one of the most beautiful things I personally have ever seen!
What is the difference between wet and dry season?
It was early November and I was out in Utah for a work trip and Vince came out to visit. Going to the Salt Flats was truly a last minute decision of ours and we didn't do much research into it. We didn't know that it experienced a wet and dry season. So we put the Bonneville Race Track (there are races in August here!) in our GPS and off we went. As we got close, we saw a beautiful reflection of mountains on water. It was unbelievable how stunning it was! However, we were a little disappointed when we got there that the road was closed off to the race track because it was wet season. What we experienced is very different that what you would experience in the summer.
- "Dry Season": Occurs usually all summer long and is said to be the best time to visit the flats. This is when the salt is extremely white, and you get that beautiful contrast of blues and whites. It also gives you the most capability to go walking and exploring.
- "Wet Season": At other time of the year, you will experience this wet season that we experienced. The flats cause more of a "mirror" effect. There are still areas that you can go off and explore, but as you can se in the picture above they are aren't as white as you can see in the summer.
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I really think there are so many great times to visit the Utah Salt Flats. I probably wouldn't recommend going in the winter when it is freezing temperatures, but I will leave that up to you :D I loved seeing the mirror effect while we were there, and I believe it is worth seeing. I can't wait to someday go back and see the dry season for myself, and get a chance to go out to the race track that time!!