Eden Lake started as a fur farm owned by a couple who raised minks. The entire property was 170 acres of land around a lake, and the fur farm was named Lake Eden Fur Farm, which is also how the lake got its name. In the mid-1950s it was purchased by Ray and Annie Quinlan, who developed a small summer resort featuring around eight cabins on the shoreline of the lake.

In 1966, this all changed when two brothers bought the resort and dramatically transformed it. These brothers were Willie and Erwin Zeiter, who had developed one of Alberta's biggest construction companies. Born in southern Ukraine, the two brothers and their mother immigrated to Canada in 1949. Willie and Erwin Zeiter developed Terrace Corporation and constructed Alberta's first seven-story apartment building, which is still standing today. The Zeiters' company continued to grow as they constructed many iconic buildings around Edmonton, such as the U of A Students' Union Building and the EPSB headquarters.

However, the Zeiters had a dream of developing their own four-season resort. Thus in 1966 they purchased the 170-acre Lake Eden property from Ray and Annie Quinlan and set about developing it. In the first few years, the brothers added additional cabins and drew up plans for a 30-room hotel.

The Zeiter brothers had their sights on continued development, and it had always been part of the master plan to develop skiing at Lake Eden. Unfortunately, the 87-foot hill was too small, so to compensate the brothers moved more than one million cubic feet of earth to bring the hill up to around 203 feet. To eliminate soil erosion issues and provide a nicer skiing experience, over 12,000 trees were planted to landscape the 35 ski acres. A 1972 Dopplemayr double chairlift, two Dopplemayr T-bars, and four rope tows were subsequently installed, and additionally a massive ski chalet was constructed, which became the hub of the resort in both summer and winter.

In 1972, the ski resort officially opened with the Lieutenant Governor and the Minister of Culture and Recreation riding up on the first chair. The chairlift cost the resort around $120,000, but it was a big success. Lake Eden's first year of operations drew 66,000 skiers to the mountain. The mountain was 100% covered by snow guns, which the Zeiters kept modernizing year after year. During the initial years, the brothers additionally kept expanding the day lodge, adding a rental shop and additional restaurants.

They had grand plans for the ski resort and wanted to build another man-made hill on the other side of the lake with another chairlift, and plans for the 30-room hotel were being finalized. However, all of these developments never got off the ground as the Zeiter brothers ran into financial problems. The resort continued operation through the next decade, though it suffered from mismanagement and deferred maintenance. Unfortunately, its local reputation deteriorated badly, to the point where local skiers were calling it the "rectum of the Alberta ski industry."

The Zeiter brothers were eventually forced to sell the resort in the late 1980s after their construction empire collapsed financially. A local investor purchased the resort and continued to develop master plans, including an 18-hole golf course on the other side of the lake, and had plans to modernize the skiing and lodge. Unfortunately, this investor didn't have the capital to do so, and he sold it to a group of Taiwanese investors who pledged to spend over $12 million to upgrade the existing facilities as well as to develop the golf course and a 100-room hotel. The investors also changed the name to Lake Eden Golf and Country Club, and additionally permanently closed the existing campgrounds along the lake, earning the ire of many local residents.

Just two seasons later, Lake Eden experienced one of its worst winters ever. This prompted the investors to pull the plug on skiing operations, announcing that it would not open for the 1992–93 ski season. They still planned the golf course and hotel but put skiing operations on indefinite hold. Just three years later, the summer resort closed after an unfortunate drowning incident. The closure cost the community around 50 jobs and left a void in the local skiing community, which was already feeling the impact of Swiss Valley closing.

The resort continued to deteriorate for years after closing, with the ski lodge falling into worse and worse shape each year, until 2012 when a fire ravaged the building. Whether it was a controlled burn or arson remains unclear. Virtually everything else at the ski hill is still on the mountain, though showing its age considerably. There have been development proposals for the former ski hill, but nothing has ever come of them. At this point, it is extremely unlikely that skiing operations will ever return to Eden Lake.