Wheat is the third major grain crop in the U.S after corn and soybeans. Winter wheat contributes about 70% of the total wheat produced in the country. Winter wheat production is affected by cold and freezing injury depending on the type of winters the farmers face. We are using SSR markers to map QTLs for cold tolerance and vernalization, and to identify markers that can be used for marker assisted selection for winter hardiness. Two RIL populations Norstar/Centurk78 and Karl/Z0031 are being used to map QTLs for cold tolerance. Both gwm and barc primers are being used for the populations. Initial screening has been done using SSR primers of the gwm and barc series, 119 primers are polymorphic for the Norstar/Centurk78 population and 137 polymorphic primers are identified for the Karl/Z0031 population. These two populations have been replicated and tested for their cold hardiness in the greenhouse, we used artificial freeze test and their LT50 values have been determined. The LT50 values were –12.43^oC for Z0031, –18.19^oC for Karl, -18.62^oC for Norstar and -16.01^oC for Centurk78 respectively. One putative QTL has been identified in the Norstar/Centurk population near gwm518 on chromosome 6BS. Two QTLs have been identified in the Karl/Z0031 population, one may be on chromosome 4B associated with the markers gwm368 and gwm165. The other may be on chromosome 5B associated with the markers gwm67 and gwm133 (the location of gwm133 has not been verified).