Reno to Bonneville Salt Flats

[CharlieB]

Hi, me again! This time I'm trying to arrange a trip in September for 6 of us, renting Harleys, (or Hondas!), and I've seen that the 'World of speed 2010' is on 15 to 18 September at the Bonneville salt flats. At present I'm thinking:-

• Fly to Reno from UK
• 2 or 3 days riding around the Lake Tahoe area
• 2 to 3 days to Bonneville, (via 'the loneliest road in America?)
• Weekend watching 'big boys toys', (stay in Wendover?)
• 2 to 3 days heading back to Reno (any alternate routes?)
• Fly back to UK

It seems eminently 'do able' but I'd appreciate your views & ideas, especially on routes & places to stay or visit en route
Cheers,
Charlie

[Southwest Dave]

Hi CharlieB, good to see you around ! Your trip sounds like a real blast and you seem to have a good handle on things.

Are you using Reno as a base for your 2 to 3 days around Tahoe or keeping on the move ?

If you were to keep on the move for 5 or 6 days you could head South past Mono lake and head through the gritty old mining town of Tonopah on US 6 and up to Ely and take the "Loneliest Rd" on the way back. It wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility to head further South to Lone pine and take a memorable ride across Death valley before heading to the salt flats !

[AZBuck]

As the sobriquet "World's Loneliest Highway" suggests, there's not a whole lot between Reno and the Bonneville salt flats. So you don't have a ton of options on alternative routes back. The logical loop road would be I-80, and if you go that way plan to have a meal at the Star Hotel in Elko which serves Basque family style meals that would well suit your traveling group. With a few days, you could also take one of the two "long ways around". One would be to use US-6 from Ely through Tonapah and then Alt US-95 north to Reno, but I suspect that would be like doing US-50 again, only longer. The other alternative is a bit more intriguing and that would be to head north from Wendover on Pilot Peak/Mountain Road to UT-30 and take that east to I-84 west. This would set you up for a drive down the Snake River Valley by Twin Falls, Hagerman Fossil Beds, the Thousand Springs area, and a couple of my favorites: Bruneau Dunes and Bruneau Canyon. The last of those offers the 'opportunity' to ride a dirt road through an Air force bombing range. (All perfectly safe despite the signs warning about 'objects' falling from planes.) From there get back on I-84 to Nampa and use ID-55 over to US-95 south to put you back on I-80 to Reno. That's around 810 miles, but if you can handle that over three days it would offer something completely different.Similarly, there aren't a whole lot of options for lodging around the salt flats, so if you're going there during an event, I'd make sure I had something booked ahead of time.

AZBuck

[CharlieB]

Cheers chaps, got to say the Snake river detour sounds interesting, especially the 'bombing practice area' part ! I may have to come back for some more info on that one in due course. Still trying to arrange my little group so not sure it'll all work out but I'm sure some of us'll be there. We probably would stay in Reno to tour the Tahoe area, but as I say, still planning so it's all flexible at this stage. Lastly, as far as the Bonneville Speed Week goes, has anyone out there been & is it worth the visit, also, I note that Wendover Hotels seem to double their rate at that time, anyone got any ideas on alternate places to stay ?

Many thanks for your help,

CharlieB

[glc]

Bonneville is in a very isolated area, and Wendover is the only game in town. You would have to stay a LONG way away to get reasonable rates. It's about 60 miles to Wells and 100 miles to Salt Lake City or Ely.

[CharlieB]

Bonneville is in a very isolated area, and Wendover is the only game in town. You would have to stay a LONG way away to get reasonable rates. It's about 60 miles to Wells and 100 miles to Salt Lake City or Ely.

Oh well, I guess Wendover it is then.

Thanks for the info glc.

CharlieB