Utah Olympic Park
DETAILS:
Locations: 3419 Olympic Parkway, Park City, Utah 84098
Hours of Operation:
Quinney Welcome Center: Daily - 9AM to 6PM
Extreme Tubing: Daily - 11AM to 4PM
Summer Bobsled Experience: Daily - 1PM to 5PM
Zip-lines, Rope Courses, Chairlift Rides, Airbag Jump & Drop Tower: Daily 10AM to 6PM
Schedule and operational hours subject to change depending on time of year. Please check their website below (under “resources”) for current status as well as for details regarding other events and activities.
Parking: free parking lot on site.
Cost:
Visitor Center & the Winter Sports/Olympic Museum is free of charge.
Gold Day Passes (which allow unlimited access to all events, excluding the bobsledding experience) can be purchased online or in person. Prices range from $45 to $80 depending on age & time of year.
Summer bobsled experience (May thru September) can be purchased online or in person for $72.
Individual activities must be purchased in person at the visitor center. Prices range from $7 to $50 depending on the activity and vary in availability depending on the time of year.
Time Commitment: Dependent on which activities you chose to participate in, but I would suggest setting aside 2-4 hours.
One of the greatest displays of pageantry known to humankind occurs every four years in the form of the Olympic Games. Even for the casual sports observer, it’s hard not to get swept up by the patriotic fervor that surrounds this global competition. It allows each country to become closer as a nation and ultimately as one world thanks to the spirit of sportsmanship, and while there will be always be critics of this intention (and some justifiably so), the reality doesn’t stray too far from that objective during its two week tenure. But one of the unfortunate repercussions of the Games concerns the fate of the numerous structures built specifically for Olympic use. Countless stadiums now sit as haunting graveyards in countries across the globe, no longer deemed worthy of service by their respective communities with the Olympics now in the rearview mirror.
Thankfully, one former Olympic city has managed to buck this trend, turning itself into a year-round activity center for future Olympic hopefuls and weekend warriors alike. Home of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation was created in part to ensure that the various venues of those Games would not go to waste afterwards, instead maintained as training and entertainment resources for generations to come while honoring its history as an Olympic host and the ambassadorship that comes along with that title. And while it would be natural to assume that the site of a former Winter Olympics would be best enjoyed in, well… winter, make no mistake that you can have just as much fun, if not more, during the summer months as well.
One of three locations that comprise the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, Utah Olympic Park in Park City offers a myriad of events and activities that doesn’t require any snow or single digit temperatures to partake, which already makes it a winner in my book! Zip-lining and rope courses are just the beginning, how about giving bobsledding a try? With a little bit of ingenuity that makes the track navigable on wheels, you can have your very own Cool Runnings experience at speeds of up to 60 mph! Even more creative, Utah Olympic Park transforms its Nordic Ski Jumps into extreme tubing hills that will definitely have you screaming in exhilaration as you descend… or crying if you’re a big ‘ol scaredy-pants like me. And if neither of those activities are enough to satisfy your adrenaline rush needs (we might need to refer you to a doctor), on select weekends you can dare to soar on one of the gnarliest slip ‘n’ slides ever created that will catapult you into a pool normally reserved for free-style aerial training. And you thought Utah was only good for skiing and inspiring hit Broadway musicals.
And if you fancy a visit to Park City during the warmer months, you might be interested in some of the other activities I’ve included below that will help give you a taste of Life Elevated.
