Bonneville tent camping tips and advice for 1st timer's

In the pits I like walking (or riding my bike). On the salt/spectator's area it's nice to have something motorized but, honestly, you can have a blast cruising around on a bicycle just the same.

 

Me and a friend rode our pit bikes all over last year with no special passes and nobody seemed concerned about it. Sunscreen and water are your best friends. It gets crazy hot out there!

 

It may be daggy but invest in some zinc cream for your nose and lips. Will stop those areas being burned off. Also a straw hat, plenty of water as previously mentioned and binoculars may come in useful. They are recommendations on the dry lakes racing site here so figure they may be useful there as well

 

All you need for your trip is a good camera so you can take heaps of pics and post them up for us. I went last year for the first time and i can't wait until next time. Have fun and make sure you have a taste of the salt.

 

don't eat the yellow salt, that's where the wolves go

 

Hey there 80WTI , where in Brisvegas are ya?

Had my first trip to B'ville last year , at the invitation of Kiwi Steve (Chief Car inspector),(I'm the chief car inspector with the D.L.R.A.),Yes ya gotta take in plenty of the water stuff,sunscreen as mentioned,and beware of the salt fever! Once you get it,,,, it never goes away!

I saw how wet it got at the bend , so yes try and avoid it if you can,,,but in saying that,, it's probably the best and funnest place to be staying.And the Mexican food at the truck stop ,well I recommend it!!!

I'll be there again this year , working in the tech area (just ask for kiwi Bob from Australia-they will know who you mean) , so drop in and say G'day.

Cheers , Bob.

 

The truck stop at exit 4 was $7 in 2011. But there was usually a line up between 6-8 pm. Could take an hour to get thru the line.

The nicest showers in town was at Trucker's World. It was $10 unless you have a CDL, then it was $2. As long as you are driving, go into town to Trucker's World. No waiting whenever I went there, too.

Frank

BTW, I leave my camp set up. And have camped at the Bend and across the Bend. I never had anyone disturb my stuff while gone for the day. There are usually neighbors that never leave the camp sites that discourage wanders from "exploring" your stuff.

The museum site looks like a good place to land if the Bend gets wet.

 

close your tent up during the day when you are on the salt. i left my open to air it out. came back to find every thing covered in a fine, talc-like salt powder. even the fine mesh screen in today's tents didn't keep it out.

you always here stories of scorpions. my first night there, i'm laying in my tent half asleep and feel something light across my forehead. i brush it away and it returns. try it again and the same thing happens. all of a sudden, i jump up thinking scorpion only to find out it was the string meant to roll the fabric up and tie it when you have the window unzipped.

i had to laugh.

even though temps were in the mid 90's during the day, they were 68-70 at night. good sleeping weather. enjoy the meteor showers. too much light and pollution to see any of it around here.

 

that was one of the options we were considering, or going further up the road somewhere . Nice showers are always good....hell, ANY shower would be good after a coupla days! Thanks for the tip

 

you gotter, otter! we'll look ya up for some temporary shade if we need to...

 

Man...your making it to complicated, just pitch a tent with some canned food and sterno,...drive onto the salt and park down by the pits..walk around pits, yeah its big and takes some time..my morning ritual is to walk to walk the pits every morning. then I drive up to the start line and spend the rest of the day there...walking of course. Showers?? who cares about showers, that's what baby wipes are for, I wait till the last day at the hotel, night before I fly out to take a shower...in some ways its almost sad to wash away the dirt and salt.

Don't get me wrong I am not trying to be cooler than anyone else just demonstrating that you can have a blast and not give a care to world about amenities.

 

We will bring some towels anyway, but my wife suggested those disposable moist towellets in a box (Handi-wipes?) Not a bad idea from a not-roughin' it kinda gal. So I guess those will be going in the camp box.

 

Hey Sweats...this is first time there and in an environment thats a bit different than us wetlanders are used to. I have dry camped in the high desert before so kinda know what to expect, but the salt is a different sorta cat when you are out there all day long, and we just wanna play it safe. Yep the handi wipes are gonna be there with us to clean up with, and I sorta agree with ya about wanting to stay "salt stinky". Its gonna be a memorable trip and that will certainly be a part of it. And we WILL have a blast I'm sure with the rest of the loonies who are gearheads.

 

If you just pack like you are going car camping on the moon you will be fine.

Trust me, you will have enough cool fresh water at the end of the day to wash up, you will be buying ice 2-3 times a day as it melts!

 

when the time comes to "de-stinkify" we'll probably take your tip on Trucker's world. Thanks, Frank..and for the other tips too! I need to find out where the museum site is located....

 

We have camped at the Bend and it was very enjoyable. The only thing I will recommend it to camp on the high ground after being cought in the rain. Very thick sticky mud every where. Nothing was moving at all.

 

Ha Ha, I camped at the bend in the road in 1972. Slept under the truck wrapped up in a piece of canvas in a windstorm............

 

In '08 4 of us Great White North folks rented a trailer from somebody in Salt Lake City and set up at the Bend. Best car show you've ever been to!!! Morning and evening!!! Those damn KiWi's kept having parties we had to go to or risk becoming outcasts! The whole place is a party waiting to happen. Get down to the Nugget for the evening car show. Where you are talking about camping, we took a ride on the dirt road that runs parallel to the highway. Man does it get quite up there quick!!!
Have fun and explore

 

oh....we plan to be part of the party. what happens at Bonneville goes in the record books...?

 

when you drive onto the salt, there will be people standing at the entrance selling passes. the last few years it's been $40 per person for the week. there are no day passes and i don't know what the price is for kids.
you can drive up to the pits and ride a pit bike around, but just don't haul ass through the pits. unless you are on or with a team you can't drive through the pits. period. you can walk through the tech area and around the starting line but you cannot drive or ride anything through tech or you will have a very angry Kiwi yelling at you.
i haven't heard anything about a ban on pit bikes, but that doesn't mean it isn't the case. even if you have to walk through the pits, a little motorcycle would be useful as the course is very spread out and the starting line is a few miles from the rest of the action.

 

Just remember, it is a God forsaken desert. Come prepared. Water, water, water.
Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen. It is also one of the most beautiful places on earth. Camera, camera, camera. Have fun.

 

It's no fun you get sunburned up your shorts and its very hot. Slow cars and bikes, firework fights, hot rods everywhere. Great people to talk to but it's no fun at all!!!!!! Don't go!!!!


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Not much of a party, the BLM have been patrolling pretty hard the last couple of years. Fireworks have also become a big no-no.

Here are the stipulations sent out by the BLM earlier this year.


http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1111846962285-19/SpeedWeek_Stipulaitons.pdf

 

so...in reading the new rules, does it mean that the BLM "rules" extend to ALL of the areas SURROUNDING the speedway...as in where the bend camping occurs on the west side of the road? The way its written tells me otherwise and is confined to the area that is used strictly for racing....anyone care to chime in here and offer your take on this? I want to be a good guy and obey the rules, but need help interpreting them so that I can keep myself outa hot water and dont get 86'd from camping there.

 

There is practically unlimited space at the Bend In The Road, but if you want to stay near your friends, or just keep the same spot, staking it out is an OK idea.

The advice above to stay on higher ground is GOOD ADVICE. The Bend can be a real bitch if it rains!!!

 

West of the Bend is State land but the BLM watches it as well.

 

Ifn your gonna take a tent make sure it can handle a storm ...... huh Trent

 

Hi Bob
I am out at Bundamba just before Ipswich mate. How about yourself bud?

 

Can someone say a big gdday to Mr Harold johanson for me, last year i had the opportunity to push the racecar off the start and help out with tuning the car after each pass. Also went out to dinner with him and listen to his great stories. A true legend.

Here's a pic of the legend with my wife and myself about to go out for another pass