| Lake Bonneville | |
|---|---|
 Map of Lake Bonneville, showing the outline of the Bonneville shoreline, the highest level of the lake. | |
  Lake Bonneville | |
| Location | Utah, Idaho and Nevada |
| Coordinates | 41°N 113°W / 41°N 113°W |
| Type | pluvial lake (a paleolake created by a change in water balance in the basin) |
| Etymology | Benjamin Bonneville |
| Surface area | ~20,000 sq mi (51,000 km2) (at max. lake level) |
| Max. depth | over 980 ft (300 m) |
Lake Bonneville was the largest Late Pleistocene paleolake in the Great Basin of western North America. It was a pluvial lake that formed in response to an increase in precipitation and a decrease in evaporation as a result of cooler temperatures. The lake covered much of what is now western Utah and at its highest level extended into present-day Idaho and Nevada. Many other hydrographically closed basins in the Great Basin contained expanded lakes during the Late Pleistocene, including Lake Lahontan in northwestern Nevada.