The area was named after Benjamin Bonneville, a US army officer who explored the area. West-bound I-80 travelers have an additional rest area overlook. Visitors can reach the flats on the Bonneville Speedway exit. The salt flats are accessible by Interstate 80, which runs along its southern border, and are located on the eastern border of the casino-resort town of West Wendover, Nevada, which is 115 miles (185 km) west of Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the largest of many salt flats located west of the Great Salt Lake. A remnant of the ancient Lake Bonneville of glacial times, the salt flats are now public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The depth of the salt has been recorded at 6 feet (1.8 m) in many areas. The Bonneville Salt Flats are a 159 square mile (412 kmĀ²) salt flat in northwestern Utah. Additional marks and cones indicate the end of the track and the position of timing equipment on the measured mile. The straightway is marked with a broad black line down its centre and has several measured mile sections after the second mile. In recent years, there has also been a 5 mile (8 km) long straightway for qualifying slower vehicles. Usually two tracks are prepared a 10 mile long straightway for speed trials and an oval or circular track for distance runs, which is typically between 10 and 12 miles (16 and 19 km) long depending on the condition of the salt surface. The speedway is marked out by the Utah State Highway Department at the start of each summer. The salt flats were first used for motor sports in 1912, but didn't become truly popular until the 1930s when the Ab Jenkins and Sir Malcolm Campbell competed to set land speed records. It is particularly noted as the venue for numerous land speed records. Bonneville Speedway is an area of the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah, that is marked out for motor sports.
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