Soldier Hollow

Soldier Hollow is a cross-country ski resort located 53 miles (85 km) southeast of Salt Lake City in Wasatch Mountain State Park, Utah, United States. The resort was created for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and during the games it hosted the biathlon, cross-country skiing and the cross country skiing portion of the Nordic combined events. Since hosting the Olympics, it has been developed as a cross-country skiing, tubing, and snowshoeing resort, while featuring mountain biking and golfing in the summer.

History

Pre-Olympics

Soldier Hollow is located in the southeastern-most part of Wasatch Mountain State Park, a 21,592 acres (8,738 ha) nature preserve created in 1961, which became a state park in 1968. Soldier Hollow's location within the state park did not carry a name until Olympic organizers coined it Soldier Hollow. This name was chosen because of its proximity to Soldier Springs, which were thought to have been used by U.S. Troops originally sent to Utah to quell a supposed Mormon uprising, in an incident known as the Utah War. Prior to becoming a state park certain locations within the park were used for farming and grazing activities, while much of the remainder was used recreationally by locals. In the last quarter of the 20th century the state park service had been approached by private developers hoping to build luxury hotels, golf courses and other attractions within the park, but none of these plans ever came to fruition.