The Shimmering Flats (Park City to Tahoe)

Trip miles 4955
Daily miles 595

On Friday I drove from Park City to Lake Tahoe - Incline Village, NV to be exact. As you would expect, western Utah does not have a lot of stuff in it.


I-80 passes a whole lot of barren nothingness. I did see this however.

I have absolutely no clue as to what this is, it was just by the side of the road. I'm guessing it's a set of microwave transmitters or antennas - the shape and size are roughly the same as others I've seen, but I've never seen them painted before. Or it could be a weird art installation, since there are pieces (shells?) on the ground. I don't know why you'd put it in the middle of nowhere though.

The high point of the run was unquestionably the Bonneville Salt Flats, which is where high speed car tests are performed, including the supersonic ones. A couple of things stand out. The rest stop when you first see the flats is definitely one of the coolest rest stops in the world.

I like the fact they put in a foot wash, practically inviting you to walk onto the salt.

Secondly, there's this is the sign for the next exit, so of course I had to check it out (there is no cure for curiousity).

You then drive parallel to I-80 along a two lane blacktop and the road just comes to a stop. There's a sign here.


Note the evolution of cars on the flats at the top of the sign. Here's a closeup of the configuration (ignore the bullet holes).

I was completely intrigued by the concept of the oval and the speedway track, but couldn't make anything out by looking from that vantage point. Note the town of Wendover in the lower left for later in the post.

Absolutely nothing precludes you from just driving onto the flats.


I debated whether or not to drive onto the flats myself. I decided against it since the surface is uneven and really is salt.

I don't know if you're allowed to just get on the flats and cane it, but I imagine the effects on a car would be similar to that of driving on a layer of sand. You would kick up tons of spray which would hit parts of the car and be murder on the tires and suspension. Furthermore, I know what a road looks like in winter after tons of salt have been put down, and subjecting the car to a multiple of that effect didn't seem like a good idea. I was definitely tempted though.

The access road had its own charm...


I stopped to tank the car in Wendover. As you saw earlier the town straddles the border between Utah and Nevada. It was really funny to see that line actually painted in the street. The Utah side has some gas stations and modest stores, along with a sign for a historic airfield. The Nevada side has a couple of huge casinos, performance venues, and an amusement park. The juxtaposition between sober Utah and wild Nevada could not have been more striking.

The rest of the run was pretty uneventful. Northern Nevada is just desert and none of the pictures I took were worthwhile. I drank plenty of water.

I was really happy to see Reno and then Tahoe, for it meant that I was approaching the inhabited and developed coast and civilization. Worrying about not finding gas for 60 miles or not having cell reception in case of an emergency receded.

I enjoyed a nice dinner on the lake itself, but it was pretty dark by then so no interesting pictures there either.