Although Great Salt Lake seemed huge to the pioneers, if they'd arrived about 25,000 years sooner, they'd have been even more impressed by Lake Bonneville, the precursor to Great Salt Lake.
Great Salt Lake* Lake Bonneville
Length: 85 miles 346 miles
Deepest point: 50 feet 1,050 feet
Area in sq. miles 2,400 19,750
*Based on maximum recorded elevation of 4,211.85 feet in 1987