What is the salt flat in Bolivia?
Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat (or playa) in the world. For much of the year, it stretches out in a seemingly endless expanse of white, with a salt crust covering 10,000 square kilometers (4,000 square miles).
3 Day Tour. 3 Day Tours of Salar de Uyuni in 4×4 jeeps are the most popular tour type. The first day is the same as the one day tour – usually spending the first night in one of the basic Salt Hotels on the Salar itself. These hotels are almost completely constructed out of bricks made from dried salt!
Should you visit the Salt Flats in Bolivia? Absolutely! The Salt Flats are one of the biggest tourist attractions in Bolivia. You can book tours to the Salt Flats from the city of Uyuni, La Paz, Tupiza, or even San Pedro de Atacama (in Chile.)
Many different kinds of valuable metals can be found in the salt flats—including lithium—while the pools of brackish water are critical habitat for animals like flamingoes and vicuñas. One of the challenges of studying these systems is that many salars are relatively inaccessible.
Natural salt pans or salt flats are flat expanses of ground covered with salt and other minerals, usually shining white under the sun.
Wind and water combine to create the flat surface of salt. Each winter, a shallow layer of standing water floods the surface of the salt flats. During spring and summer, the water slowly evaporates while winds smooth the surface into a vast, nearly perfect flat plain.
Visiting and driving on the Salt Flats is free, unless there is a permitted event. No overnight camping on the salt flats.
You can't sleep in your campervan on the Salt Flats but there are a few dispersed and boondocking campsites around the salt flats. The salt flats are surrounded by BLM land and camping is fair game on BLM land. You will need to be prepared to camp without any running water, working toilets, or facilities.
Therefore, the public should not access, swim, float, kayak, canoe, or pursue any other recreation activities in these industrial canals. In addition, the Utah Highway Patrol has indicated that parking along I-80 to access to the canals is illegal and extremely dangerous due to the proximity to the interstate highway.
From May to September, the average temperature is 5°C, and it can easily drop below 0, especially at night. During the months of October, November and December, temperatures will increase, getting as high as 14°C.
Do people live on salt flats?
People cannot actually live on the salt flats themselves, but they live and farm around the salt flats. It's very cold and high up, so many people have llamas and alpacas in addition to farming mostly potatoes. The salt is mined, and there is also lithium under the salt, which is used for batteries.
Near the center of the salt, the crust is almost 5 feet thick in places, with the depth tapering off to less than 1 inch as you get to the edges. Total salt crust volume has been estimated at 147 million tons or 99 million cubic yards of salt.
The Bonneville Salt Flats are remnants of a large lake that inundated much of Utah between 14,000 and 32,000 years ago. The greatest extent of ancient Lake Bonneville was about 520 kilometers (320 miles) long and 220 kilometers (130 miles) wide.
The salt flats of the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge are a major nesting site for the endangered interior least tern, threatened western snowy plover, and American avocet. The flats are also a major migration rest area for hundreds of thousands of shorebirds during spring, summer, and fall.
The hue is thanks to a combination of algae, bacteria, salt and water. An algae called Dunaliella salina is mainly responsible for the water color in the salt flats. Even though it's in the green algae family, it's stuffed full of carotenoids—the pigment that gives many orange and red fruits and vegetables their color.
Areas of permafrost prevent the water from soaking into the ground and there are no outlets to take the water to nearby rivers. So the water gradually evaporates leaving salt crystals on its surface. Besides being very salty, the ground at Takhini Salt Flats is also very alkaline with pH values between 8.5 to 9.5.
The polygonal cracks are formed when the volume of the salt crust decreases, either by thermal contraction or dessication (water removal).
Why it matters: Bathing in the Great Salt Lake is a big part of Utah's heritage — and it's incredibly fun. 🏊♀️Erin here! Don't let the farty smell of the shoreline put you off. There's nothing like swimming in water that won't let you sink.
It flavors food and is used as a binder and stabilizer. It is also a food preservative, as bacteria can't thrive in the presence of a high amount of salt. The human body requires a small amount of sodium to conduct nerve impulses, contract and relax muscles, and maintain the proper balance of water and minerals.
Commercial salt is manufactured from rock salt, as well as from seawater and other natural and artificial brines. Most of the artificial brines are obtained by pumping water into underground salt beds. A considerable amount of brine itself is used directly in industrial countries.
Can you walk on salt flats?
This rest area has a trails orientation map and information about the nearby Bonneville Salt Flats. Visitors can walk out onto the salt flats from this area.
Tips for shooting at the Bonneville Salt Flats: Crystallized salt is sharp. We went barefoot on the salt flats because we didn't want to ruin shoes. But those hard crystals under the water just kill the feet after awhile. So pack clear sandals or wear shoes you don't mind destroying.
Get Married at the Utah Salt Flats with a Special Use Permit
A wedding permit is required if you are actually getting married there. If you are just wanting to take photos there, then no permit is required as of October 2021. Always check with the land manager for the latest rules.
Enjoy the view from your vehicle during the summer, or during cooler months, take a walk out onto the salt flat. A short 1/4 mile (400 m) walk will bring you to the salt polygons that Death Valley is famous for.
Don't swim in canals — ever! Keep a safe distance from the edges of the canals. Canal sides are extremely slick, making it difficult to get out. Swimming, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing and tubing are not allowed in the canals.
References
- https://envphotography.com/bonneville-salt-flats-couples-connection-session/
- https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/documents/files/BLMUtahBonnevilleSaltFlats.pdf
- https://www.srpnet.com/customer-service/safety/canal
- https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/visit-badwater-basin.htm
- https://www.reachtheworld.org/ronis-journey-bolivia/world-connections/salar-de-uyuni
- https://www.fws.gov/refuge/salt-plains/species
- https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/salt-and-sodium/
- https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/91765/bonneville-salt-flats
- https://jardinesdeuyuni.com/en/faqs/
- https://www.britannica.com/science/salt/Salt-manufacture
- https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2023/09/01/swimming-great-salt-lake-pollution-bacteria-beach
- https://sierra.sitehost.iu.edu/papers/2012/davis.html
- https://firstweeat.ca/2018/02/23/takhini-salt-flats/
- https://www.visitutah.com/Places-To-Go/Parks-Outdoors/Bonneville-Salt-Flats
- https://www.blm.gov/visit/bonneville-salt-flats
- https://www.boliviahop.com/bolivian-salt-flats-tours/
- https://destinationlesstravel.com/salt-flats-bolivia/
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/these-salt-flats-in-puerto-rico-are-cotton-candy-pink-180980216/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_pan_(geology)
- https://www.nps.gov/places/salt-flats-rest-area-utah.htm
- https://www.umass.edu/news/article/science-behind-life-and-times-earths-salt-flats
- https://www.utah.com/destinations/natural-areas/bonneville-salt-flats/
- https://nativecampervans.com/blog/salt-flats-campervan/
- https://kacilou.com/how-to-get-married-at-the-utah-salt-flats/
