Is the competitive spirit from the 2024 Paris Olympics still pulsing through your veins? Or maybe you’re looking forward to the 2026 Winter Olympics happening in Italy, or the return of the Summer Olympics to the U.S. in Los Angeles in 2028. You don’t have to wait to create your own golden experiences at these five North American destinations with former Olympic venues and current Olympics training centers offering active adventures.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
aka Olympic City, USA
Colorado Springs’ Olympic ties are unrivaled. The area has natural training grounds for summer and winter sports – dare to tackle the 2,744-step Manitou Incline – as well as the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center, where you can tour facilities that attract 10,000 athletes each year. The city is home to the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee Headquarters along with dozens of national Olympic governing bodies, but the top reason to visit Colorado Springs is the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum. Opened in 2020, the attraction integrates technology and artifacts to bring to life inspiring personal stories culled from more than 12,000 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes across more than 100 years of Olympic and Paralympic history. Run a 30-meter dash against a virtual opponent or test your reflexes in goalball, a sport played by visually impaired athletes, in the Athlete Training gallery. You can also experience the parade of athletes and medal ceremonies among the 12 galleries in the 60,000-square-foot museum. It’s not unusual to run into former Olympians inside the museum; keep an eye on their event calendar for meet and greets.
Lake Placid, New York
Hosted 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games
This village built along Mirror Lake high in the Adirondack Mountains twice hosted the Winter Games. Four legacy sites are within 7 miles. At Olympic Center, skate on an outdoor speedskating oval or two historic indoor rinks, including the ice where the U.S. hockey team beat the Soviet Union in the “Miracle on Ice.” Olympic Jumping Complex has a year-round gondola ride and glass elevator for panoramic views atop the 128-meter ski jump and a seasonal zipline that replicates the thrill of ski jumping. At Mt. Van Hoevenberg, get a close-up view of sliding sports tracks on a walking/bus Legacy Tour or opt for a more adventurous visit, including the Bobsled Experience, a Discover Biathlon session or the Cliffside Coaster running alongside the historic 1932 and 1980 bobsled course. Beyond being an Olympic venue, Whiteface Mountain offers skiers the greatest vertical drop east of the Rockies. Explore the summit via the 15-minute Cloudsplitter Gondola or cover 2,500 feet over a 5-mile drive on Veterans’ Memorial Highway, then reach the summit by elevator or a 15-minute hike.
Atlanta, Georgia
Hosted 1996 Olympic Summer Games
While downtown Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park has an interactive Fountain of Rings, along with other sculptures and tributes to the games, you’ll want to travel to other parts of the state for an active Olympic experience. A long, straight stretch naturally bordered by trees made the calm waters of Lake Lanier in Gainesville the site for rowing and canoe/kayak competitions in 1996 and keep it in the echelon of top courses in the world. Rent recreational canoes, kayaks and paddleboards April through October; the best chance to paddle with the Olympic course set up, which consists of 2,000 hand-placed buoys, is February through May. The Upper Ocoee River was the site of the 1996 whitewater competition. It’s a natural mountain river in northwest Georgia though the quarter-mile segment used for the games was modified to increase intensity of the rapids and flow. People still come here to raft the resulting world-class slalom course. Bring your own ride to Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers to explore on horseback the former Olympic Equestrian Endurance Course or on bicycle the first Olympic mountain biking course, a 9-mile ride with 1,032 feet of elevation change.
Salt Lake City, Utah
Hosted 2002 Olympic Winter Games
Salt Lake City is the most recent U.S. destination to host the Olympics and these three venues developed specifically for the 2002 Winter Games are worth exploration within 50 miles of the city. Rent skates and take laps at Utah Olympic Oval, called “the fastest ice on Earth” because the 400-meter oval holds the most Olympic world records. They also offer speedskating and curling lessons at the indoor speedskating venue. The
400-acre Utah Olympic Park houses a sliding track, six Nordic ski jumps and two museums. Take tours or step up the adrenaline by hitting 70 mph on the bobsled experience. The course is run year-round, modifying the bobsled to roll on the track’s concrete surface from May through September. Other summer capers include tubing down the ski jump landing hills, an alpine slide, ziplines and aerial adventure courses. The complex also houses a ski museum, a winter games museum and winter sports virtual reality rides. Soldier Hollow Nordic Center is a nature reserve that offers nonstop recreation, including mountain bike rentals, winter tubing and a year-round biathlon experience.
Vancouver, British Columbia
Hosted the 2010 Olympic Winter Games
The 2010 venues in western Canada stretched 70 miles from the island city of Richmond, through downtown Vancouver and north to Whistler, a town built in the 1960s with hosting the games in mind. Head to Whistler Blackcomb, the largest ski resort in North America, to ski or snowboard on the Olympic/Paralympic courses. Also experience the Olympic legacy at Whistler Olympic Park with cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and tobogganing plus year-round biathlon. Winter or summer, on ice or on wheels, you can slide like an Olympian at the Whistler Sliding Centre. Passenger bobsled is available year-round and from December to March you can slide solo on your own skeleton sled. Once the long track skating events venue, Richmond Olympic Oval is now an indoor multi-sport and fitness center where you can public skate or relive other sports via virtual simulators inside the Richmond Olympic Experience. Developed with athletes to recreate their experiences, these include a sit-ski race down an Alberta slalom course, bobsledding the Vancouver Olympic track and surfing a Costa Rican wave.