... Great Basin Desert covers much of Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. The Great Salt Lake was once part of ancient Lake Bonneville, a massive fresh water lake that existed between thirty-two and fourteen thousand years ago. At its largest extent, Lake Bonneville measured about 325 miles in length, 135 miles wide and about 1,000 feet deep-blanketing much of western Utah and parts of Nevada and Idaho. Unlike its contemporary descendant, Lake Bonneville consisted primarily of fresh water derived from precipitation, river and stream inlets, and melting glaciers. Although a terminal lake for most of its life, the water from Lake Bonneville eventually escaped through Red Rock Pass in Idaho about 16,800 years ago. As the water crested the pass, it forged a 350 foot deep path through the rock which caused an immense flood that lasted for almost one year. After this great flood, the Great Basin area gradually became warmer ...

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