Bonneville, Pacific Coast explorer Joseph R.

Įuro-American explorers conducted reconnaissance of the area encompassing the Bonneville Salt Flat as early as 1833. Lake Bonneville covered an area of approximately 2,300 square miles and included the area now known as the Great Salt Lake and Great Salt Lake Desert. Located near the shared border of Nevada and Utah in Tooele County, Utah and spanning 30,000 acres, this salt pan is a remnant of the ancient Lake Bonneville, which existed 32,000 to 14,000 years ago and was originally part of a larger body of water that existed during the geological Gelasian Stage of the Pleistocene Epoch, also known as the “Last Ice Age”. Known for hosting land-speed record attempts, the Bonneville Salt Flats are a geological and geographical wonder. Photo 4: “ Craig Breedlove’s ‘Spirit of America’, Shipler Commercial Photographers, 1964. Photo 3: “ Bonneville Salt Flats P.10,” Shipler Commercial Photographers, 1914. Both Gabelich’s rocket engine ‘Blue Flame’ and Breedlove’s jet-powered ‘Spirit of America’ were equipped with specially designed inflatable tires, pre-tested to speeds in excess of 800 miles per hour. *** Gabelich’s new record is 622.407 miles per hour. His record of 600.601 miles per hour, set on November 15, 1965, was finally broken on October 23, 1970, by Gary Gabelich. *** Craig Breedlove holds the honor of being the first man to go faster than 400, 500, and 600 miles per hour. *** The first world land-speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats was set on September 3, 1935, by Sir Malcolm Campbell.

World land-speed record times represent an electronically-timed average of two runs over the measured mile, within a one hour time period – one run in each direction. *** Timing of world land-speed record runs is under the jurisdiction of the United States Automobile Club. Due to the curvature of the earth, it is impossible to see from one end of the course to the other. *** The total length of the course that includes the measured mile varies from year to year, but for recent runs it has been laid out in a path 80 feet wide and approximately ten miles long, with a black reference stripe down the middle. The elevation along the course is approximately 4,218 feet above sea level. Utah’s famed measured mile is located approximately seven miles beyond this marker, well in front of the mountains you see on the horizon. Historical Marker Text: Photo 2 by John Henderson, January 29, 2022.Īnd Utah’s Famed Measured Mile – Site of World Land-Speed Record Runs Photo 1 by John Henderson, January 29, 2022.

Bonneville salt flats schedule 2018