California's Wildly Picturesque Alpine Community Is Right By Lake Tahoe With Olympic History And Resort Vibes

Nestled in the Sierra Nevada in California, merely 8 miles from Lake Tahoe, sits a picturesque mountain town that remains the smallest to ever host the Olympic Games. Influenced by the alpine ski resorts of Europe, Olympic Valley is an adorable ski community that was practically built to host the 1960 Winter Olympics. With a base elevation of 6,200 feet, it offers gorgeous mountain views and rugged terrain that's blanketed in deep snow — an annual average of 450" — for much of the year. That makes it a natural home for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports, just like the alpine resorts that inspired it.

Although its history has been problematic, Olympic Valley has tried to reckon with its past. If you aren't familiar with its name, that might be because it's new. Originally given a racially derogatory name, the community was rebranded to its current name in 2021, with its central ski resort now known as Palisades Tahoe. Olympic Valley also acknowledges it's on land long populated by the indigenous Washoe Tribe, whose voice and history the resort tries to promote.

Despite the fame and attention brought to the town during the 1960 Olympics, it remains a very small community today. Olympic Valley has a year-round population of just over 1,100. This is in addition to its up to 7,000 overnight guests and up to 25,000 day-trippers during the busy season. It became a town because of its Olympic ambitions, and remains charmingly quaint today. Luckily, Olympic Valley is convenient to get to. The city lies only an hour's drive from Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO), a little over 100 miles from Sacramento and its airport, and almost 200 miles from San Francisco, if you really want to turn it into a road trip.

Even before the name change, Olympic Valley couldn't be separated from its connection to the games. There was a hotel here before the 1960 Olympics, and the surrounding steep peaks turned it into an early hotbed for extreme skiing, but when hotel owner Alexander Cushing proposed the town as an Olympics site in 1954, it lacked the size and critical infrastructure needed for such an event. Rapid construction resulted in a small town by the time of the 1960 Games, with just enough of the necessary facilities to host 665 athletes from 30 nations.

The games themselves were historic in many ways. It was the first Winter Olympics to be televised live in the U.S., and those telecasts featured the first use of instant replay in televised sports, immediately becoming a defining feature of sports TV. You can explore that history at the Olympic Museum at Palisades Tahoe. Located at the resort's High Camp, the museum is full of memorabilia from the games. If you want to get a feel for what the resort looked like in 1960, a few of the buildings erected for the Olympics still exist. You can sleep where the athletes did at Olympic Village Inn. This resort converted some of the dorms the athletes slept in into hotel rooms and condos. Olympic Village Lodge at Palisades Tahoe features the large hall where athletes ate during the games— and where the Olympic Committee's Pageantry Chairman Walt Disney arranged for top comedians and singers to perform for them.

Olympic Valley's original and premier destination, Palisades Tahoe, has the kind of activities and amenities you'd expect from a modern resort. It's the highest-rated Lake Tahoe ski resort, based on its Google reviews. Located 7 miles west of Lake Tahoe and 36 miles from South Lake Tahoe, it's also considered one of the best ski towns in the U.S. for a getaway with friends. 

The main reason to visit Olympic Valley is for skiing. Palisades Tahoe is California's largest ski resort, with 270 skiing trails spread throughout thousands of acres between its two connected peaks. Skiers of all experience levels have multiple trails to pick from between the mountains of Palisades and Alpine. Palisades Tahoe was even named the best ski resort in the country by the Wall Street Journal in 2024. Winter sports is literally why the resort exists, and remains its primary focus. It's not the only thing to do there, though, and winter isn't the only time you can visit.

If you aren't interested in winter spots, you'll still find something to enjoy at Palisades Tahoe off the slopes. The Village at Palisades Tahoe is the resort's retail center, with a diverse assortment of shopping and dining options to choose from. The Village is also home to a never-ending series of events, including Oktoberfest and the Alpen Wine Fest — where guests can enjoy varietals from almost three dozen wineries. Amenities at the resort include hot tubs, a dry sauna, a billiards room, a game room, and three fitness facilities. Don't miss the Palisades Tahoe Aerial Tram, which Tripadvisor calls the number one attraction in Olympic Valley. This 10-minute trip, high among the Sierra Nevada mountains, brings guests to High Camp, which offers stunning glimpses of Lake Tahoe, wildflower-dotted meadows, cultural presentations on the Washoe Tribe, and the Olympic Museum.