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Hours of Operation
9:00am-6:00pm (Open Daily)
Admission: Free
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Hours of Operation
9:00am-6:00pm (Open Daily)
Admission: Free
Located in one of the snowiest canyons in North America and only 30 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City, Solitude Mountain Resort features over 1,200 acres of skiing and riding, including access to some of the most exciting off-piste terrain in the country. A variety of lodging options are available in Solitude’s charming village, along with an array of delectable dining choices both on and off mountain.
Following the arrival of Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley, settlers began exploring the previously uninhabited terrain of Big Cottonwood Canyon to harvest timber for homes and establish early logging routes. This initial wave of human settlement and natural resource extraction drastically disrupted the mountain ecosystem, particularly through an aggressive trapping campaign that wiped out the local beaver population and destabilized the canyon’s natural waterways.
The first official mining claim in the upper canyon was located by a prospector named Silas Bryan in 1863 and named the Evening Star mine. His successful discovery proved that the rugged granite ridges held highly valuable silver deposits. This initial strike sparked a frantic rush of miners who flooded into the area with high hopes of uncovering their own fortunes.
By 1875, hundreds of active mines had been established within a stone’s throw of the acreage that makes up present-day Solitude Mountain Resort. At that time, the bustling mining region was officially designated as the Mountain Lake District. The name was chosen to highlight the scenic high-alpine waters of Silver Lake and Twin Lakes, the latter of which has since been converted into a modern water reservoir.
In the early 1900s, tenacious silver miners working the high-altitude claims gave the name “Solitude” to this specific geographic pocket of the canyon. They chose the moniker to reflect the deep, quiet isolation they experienced while working through bitter winter storms far away from the valley cities. This historical name was later adopted by resort developers to honor the rugged pioneers who first worked the land.
From the 1860s through the 1880s, an immense volume of timber was cut down from the surrounding slopes to reinforce and stabilize the hundreds of miles of dark underground mining tunnels. Historians estimate that the sheer amount of wood extracted from the canyon could have easily built more than 40,000 traditional three-bedroom homes. This aggressive deforestation completely stripped the mountainsides, changing the visual landscape of the region for generations.
Solitude’s last active industrial operation was the historic Kentucky Utah mine, which finally shuttered its deep shafts in the early 1950s. Rather than hauling away the massive piles of leftover debris, developers found a highly practical use for the industrial waste. In fact, the two primary entry parking lots used by guests at Solitude today were constructed directly over compacted, discarded ore from this final mine.
