Soldier Summit, Utah

Soldier Summit
One of several rows of foundations left at Soldier Summit
Elevation	7,477 ft (2,279 m)
Traversed by	US-6 Union Pacific Railroad
Location	Wasatch County, Utah United States
Range	Wasatch Mountains
Coordinates	39°55′43″N 111°04′59″W / 39.92861°N 111.08306°W / 39.92861; -111.08306Coordinates: 39°55′43″N 111°04′59″W / 39.92861°N 111.08306°W / 39.92861; -111.08306
Soldier Summit Location in Utah

Soldier Summit is the name of both a mountain pass in the Wasatch Mountains in Utah and a ghost town located at the pass. Soldier Summit has been an important transportation route between the Wasatch Front and Price, Utah, since the area was settled by the Mormon pioneers. It is on the route of both U.S. Route 6 and the old main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW), now owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. Located where the road makes a brief bend through the extreme southwest corner of Wasatch County, Soldier Summit historically had more to do with nearby Utah County.

At one time both the state highway department and the railroad had operations at the summit, but with the exception of a gas station that is sometimes open, the town site is now abandoned. Today it is a popular rest stop and photo spot for railfans. Many railfans also take pictures of the Gilluly loops, a series of horseshoe curves on the western approach to the summit. The California Zephyr Amtrak passenger train uses this route.

Spanish Friars Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante are credited with discovering the pass in 1776, but it was certainly used by Native Americans before them. The summit takes its name from a group of soldiers who were caught in an unexpected snowstorm on the summit in July 1861. These soldiers were Southerners, previously under Union General Philip St. George Cooke at Camp Floyd, on their way to join the Confederate Army. A few of them died in the storm and were buried on the summit.