The Uyuni Salt Flats Bolivia Guide for Motorcycle Travellers

This guide covers all the ways to experience the Uyuni Salt Flats—riding your own motorcycle, renting a bike, or joining a jeep tour.

This motorcycle guide is based on our ride through Bolivia during our round the world trip. The guides on this website are constantly updated to keep them up-to-date.

Uyuni Salt Flats Motorcycle Guide

By Andy Davidson

Mad or Nomad: Round the World Motorcycle Traveller

If you’re a motorcycle traveller in South America, then you’ve probably got Bolivia’s legendary Uyuni Salt Flats on your mind. It’s one of Bolivia’s top destinations for overlanders. But, no doubt you’ve heard the horror stories of salt destroying bikes and are wondering what your options are and how to do it.

This guide explains everything you need to know about visiting the Salt Flats with your own bike and discusses the options for renting or joining a tour.

What are the Uyuni Salt Flats?

The Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat. It spans a whopping 10,000 square kilometres and is located in southwest Bolivia, South America. It’s seriously big, a vast white expanse stretching all the way out to the horizon and attracts riders and visitors from all over the world.

The flats were once a prehistoric lake that dried up an estimated 40,000 years ago. Once it dried, it left a thick crust of salt and mineral deposits. These were formed through evaporation and mineral crystallisation over thousands of years. That’s why you can see these hexagonal patterns on the surface – formed by the natural crystallization process as moisture evaporates.

Where are they?

The Uyuni Salt Flats are located very close to the town of Uyuni in Bolivia. This area is in the high-altitude Altiplano of Bolivia at an elevation of 3,650 metres above sea level.

Dry vs wet season

This is the golden question. Dry season runs from May to November. The salt flats are dry, firm and solid. You’ll see a huge expanse of white desert.

Wet season runs from December to April. The flats are covered in a layer of water and this is when you get that giant mirror effect where the sky is reflected in the water and the horizon disappears.

Uyuni Salt Flats Motorcycle Travel Bolivia

Which is best for riding?

You can ride in either season. It depends what you want. You can pick up the speed in dry season, while you’ll have to go slower in the wet season in case you hit any larger puddles or deeper water. In wet season you’re more likely to get stuck and way more likely to damage your bike due to the corrosive salt. But, it’s unbeatable for photography.

What if I ride my bike on it in wet season and get stuck?

There are numbers you can call of friendly locals who will come and help you retrieve your motorcycle (or car). The best option is to use iOverlander for recent pins of helpful locals.

How long do I need?

It depends if you want to camp. If you’re staying there then a couple of days should be more than enough. If you just want to ride on it and take some cool photos then one day is plenty.

What to see and do on the Salt Flats?

Incahuasi Island: This cool little island is a rocky outcrop covered in giant cacti. There’s a little shack here selling drinks and snacks. Incahuasi on Google Maps.

Dakar monument: A tribute to the famous rally that passed through Uyuni. You’ll find the flags close by too. The Dakar Monument on Google Maps.

Train Graveyard: A rusting collection of abandoned locomotives from Bolivia’s railway past. If you decide to visit, make sure it’s very early or late in the day to avoid the hordes of tourist jeeps. Seriously, the crowds are insane. The Train Graveyard on Google Maps.

Perspective photography: As Uyuni is flat and featureless, you can easily take awesome shots with optical illusions

Where should I stay?

You can camp on the salt flats themselves. You can use iOverlander to find decent camp spots. Note that in the winter months it can get dangerously cold. You also have wind and salt exposure to deal with so take precautions and supplies.

If you’re staying in the nearby town of Uyuni, you’ll find it quite touristy with a good selection of hotels, restaurants, cafes and tour operators. We recommend using booking.com to find a hotel deal in advance because it can get booked up quickly.

Should I ride my own motorcycle on the Uyuni Salt Flats?

If you decide to ride your own motorcycle on the Uyuni Salt Flats, it’s highly likely you will badly damage your bike due to salt corrosion. If you really want to ride regardless, then try and do it in the dry season. If you absolutely must ride in wet season for that perfect mirror photo then this increases your chances of damage astronomically as the ultra-corrosive salt will find its way into every nook and cranny – so you must be exceptionally thorough with your protection of the bike before the ride and washing and cleaning after.

We know a lot of travellers who have taken their own bikes onto the salt flats and absolutely destroyed them – despite their best efforts of cleaning.

You’ll see a lot of riders on Instagram with those epic mirror photos – their bikes are ruined after. We won’t name names, but with some famous shots, their bikes broke down completely a few months after. A lot of Instagrammers are on sponsored motorcycles which have been given to them, it’s not their actual bike and so they likely don’t care about long-term damage.

You may be lucky and get away with it, but if you intend on using your motorcycle for a long time after, I wouldn’t risk it.

Our experience

We rode to the Uyuni Salt Flats and rode just onto the flat to have a look. We did not risk taking our bikes into the flats themselves. Instead, we headed to town, parked up and joined a tour. Our bikes need to last another three continents of motorcycle travel and it’s not worth the risk.

We have a couple of friends who rode it two months before us. They had their bikes protected before the ride and professionally cleaned after the ride. They tried to convince us to ride it when we arrived as their bikes were fine. We still decided not to. A month later and both of their bikes broke down completely due to the salt.

It’s your call, this is just our experience and opinion.

Riding your own motorcycle

If you’re an overland motorcycle traveller and travelling with your own motorcycle, you can easily ride it onto the salt flats in the dry or wet season. We recommend starting from this entry point here.

You can then easily ride to the Dakar and flag monument and onto the island if you wish.

Of course, riding your own motorcycle offers maximum freedom to go where you want on the flats and at your own pace. But it comes with a big risk – and that’s the salt corrosion. We’ll explain that in the next section. So other than the salt, you will also need to watch your navigation if you’re venturing far in. We recommend using Maps.Me and downloading the map for Bolivia – it’s a free app and shows the riding routes and trails unlike Google Maps.

Be careful if riding in wet season, some areas can be very waterlogged and you could hit a deep puddle. Pack accordingly, carry extra fuel, tools and puncture repair equipment, the appropriate clothing for the time of year, food and water and don’t forget your sunglasses.

How to protect your bike and wash it after

The level to which the salt will corrode your motorcycle is no joke. If you’re taking your own motorcycle in, then you will need to protect it before and after your ride. And even then, it’s still likely you’ll get some form of corrosion damage somewhere.

Before riding, apply loads of protective spray all over your bike and grease everything. Some nearby car washes and shops may suggest coating parts of your bike in diesel to help protect it and washing it off after.

After your ride, you’ll find dozens of car washes all around the flats and on the way in to Uyuni. You will need to immediately get to one of these and wash your bike as thoroughly as possible – and then wash it again. Be careful with the hoses though as they may be powerful jet washers and you don’t want to strip the grease out of your bearings or damage your radiator. Pay special attention to electrical areas, chains and your brakes. And then lubricate everything, have a can of WD-40 at the ready and douse your bike in it.

Renting a motorcycle

Even if you have your own motorcycle, we would suggest not riding it on the salt flats and either renting or joining a motorcycle tour. There’s a bunch of companies in Uyuni offering motorcycle rentals if you fancy going it alone – or day tours if you’d prefer a guide and some company.

This completely eliminates the risk of damaging your motorcycle.

We haven’t used their services but, Robby from uyunimotorcycletours.com has come highly recommended. He may be able to help with a thorough cleaning of your motorcycle after. But be warned, we have friends who had their bikes professionally and meticulously cleaned after their ride and a few months later the salt damage completely ruined their electronics.

Joining a jeep tour

Another option is to leave the riding altogether and join a jeep tour. The tour will most likely take you to the train yard and then for a full day on the salt flats, including lunch, snacks, photography and stops at all the key places. This is an easy and fun way to experience the salt flats. If you do decide to go for a jeep tour, you’ll find hundreds of tour companies in Uyuni. Alternatively, we recommend using Viator and booking that way. Here’s a selection of decent Uyuni tours on Viator.com.