ILLINOIS

19
lost
areas

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Any information or pictures on the lost ski areas of Illinois would be greatly appreciated. please e-mail: mark@mwlsap.org

| lost | working on | never opened | still open |

LOST AREAS

Barberry Hills

Brickyard Mall / Brick Factory * - See Thunder Mountain

  • Chicago, IL

Buffalo Park / Buffalo Mountain * - See: Raging Buffalo

Camden Park Rope Tow (Mt. Camden)

Fox Trails Sports Area

Fox Valley Ski Hills / Fox River Valley

Fyre Lake

Gander Mountain

Hidden Valley* (see Lost Valley)

Holiday Park (Holiday Park Safari Resort / Holiday House?)

Illiniwek Forest Preserve

James Park (Mt. Trashmore)

Lincolnshire Resort (Marriott)

Lost Valley (originally named Hidden Valley)

Mt. Camden* - see Camden Park Rope Tow

Mt. Trashmore* (see James Park)

Pere Marquette

  • Grafton, IL (north of St. Louis) southwest Illinois (5 miles east of Pere Marquette State Park Lodge on Highway 100)
  • v: 420 ft.; o: 1972 (1974?)
  • Google Maps / Google Earth ???
    38.97456003321953, -90.47196906454677
    38°58'28.4"N 90°28'19.1"W
    Please email - mark@mwlsap.org - if you know a more precise location.
  • Ski Area To Be Ready In December - St. Louis Post dispatch, Sept. 24, 1972
  • Pere Marquette State Park - An Official Guide to History, Natural History, trails, and Drives by Richard c. Keating, 2017 missiouri Botanical Garder Press, page 16
  • SKI Magazine, Jan. 1972 - (link) brief mention
  • The Lost Ski Areas of Illinois - coloradoskihistory.com - Scroll down

Plumtree (also called Lake Carroll) - private

Quincy Park

  • Quincy, IL - west central Ilinois - York St.??
  • Google Maps / Google Earth ??
    39.92915105215366, -91.41513467637274
    39°55'44.9"N 91°24'54.5"W
  • SKI Mag, Sept. '67 ??
  • The Lost Ski Areas of Illinois - coloradoskihistory.com - Scroll down
    • "QUINCY PARK ( ?? ), [very obscure], New lift in 1967. [Sep 67 SKI] "

Raging Buffalo Snowboard Park (previously called Buffalo Park and later Buffalo Mountain )

Soldier Field * (see Winter Wonderland)

Terrapin Ridge Ski Area

Thunder Mountain - also called Brickyard Mall / Brick Factory

Wagon Wheel Resort

Winter Wonderland (at Soldier Field)

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WORKING ON:

Early Ski jumps:

  • Norge
  • Palos Park 1926??
  • Grand Beach MI 1923

location of Fox Valley Ski Hills

location of Pere Marquette

more on Quincy Park

 

Terrapin Ridge location -

  • info@galenahistorymuseum.org
  • https://www.galenahistory.org/museum/contact/
  •  

 

Terrapin Ridge Manor - WORKING ON

  • email sent to villageofelizabeth@gmail.com
  • Elizabeth, IL -northeast Illinois, 2 mi. E of Elizabeth on US Route 20, 30 mi. W of Freeport - "Four ski slopes across Route 20 to the north . . ."
  • o: 1962 - restaurant opened 1961
  • Google Maps / Google Earth ???
    42.314485225782406, -90.19185845250341
  • Ski Resorts Are Ready To Go - But Need Snow! - The Lanark Gazette (Lanark, Illinois) · Thu, Dec 20, 1962

Eagle Ridge Inn - XC SKIING ONLY / DH SKIING IS AT NEARBLY CHESTNUT MTN.

N of Volo, W side of Hwy 12 - maybe N of Chain 'O Lake Super Storage

Location of Fox Valley Ski Hills near Cary - 3 mi. N of Cary RR depot

near Raceway Woods - WORKING ON

  • Carpentersville, IL - northeast Illinois - N of Raceway Woods Forest Preserve; S of Miller Rd., W of Hwy 31
  • Skiers and Snowboarders of the Midwest Facebook Group - see comments by Steve Drecoll
    • "There were remnants of a rope tow (rims/wheels from cars attached to poles) just north of Raceway Woods on the same side of Rt 31. Not sure if they're still there."
    • "I think where the rope tow was is the property next to Raceway south of Miller Rd (about a mile south of Raging Buffalo), the house there is vacant, but with all the foliage I couldn't see the upper part of the hill. Might try another reconnaissance at a later date."

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PLANNED, BUT NEVER DEVELOPED:

Eastern Illinois University ? - NEVER OPENED

  • Charleston, IL EIU, SE of Greek Court
  • v: 35 ft
  • Eastern's "ski hill" shaping up - Herald and Review (Decatur, Illinois) · 28 Sep 1990
  • maybe XC skiing only

Highland Park, IL - NEVER OPENED

Mt. Hoy^ - NEVER OPENED

Mt. Ned - Ned Brown Forest Preserve (Busse Woods) - NEVER OPENED

Round Lake, IL - NEVER OPENED

The Windings - NEVER OPENED

Palos Park IL - NEVER OPENED

Zion Ski Hill - NEVER OPENED

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STILL OPEN (IL)

Chestnut Mountain Resort (formerly Chestnut Hills)

Four Lakes

Ski Snowstar Winter Sports Park

Snowpark at Alpine Hills

Villa Olivia

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1956

Lost Wisconsin Ski Areas Facebook Page - omissions noted
* renamed; closed
+ renamed; open
^ never opened

 

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