Big Sky's Fall Changeover, and Which Errands Still Mean a Trip Down the Canyon

Before First Tracks Tires opened, its three founders were already making the same drive many Big Sky homeowners make every fall. Tanner Dunlap met his future partners while he worked in local property management, and the job kept sending them down the canyon with clients' vehicles for seasonal tire swaps. As Explore Big Sky reported in September, everyone in Big Sky used to make that trip to Bozeman for tires and for a car wash.

"It's a waste of time to have to drive the canyon," Dunlap told the paper. "It's a very dangerous road, especially if you don't have snow tires."

This fall, Big Sky can handle about half of the late-season changeover. The vehicle errands have moved up the hill. Gear storage was supposed to follow by October, but it now lands about three weeks after the lifts start turning. That gap changes the order of everything else.

The vehicle half moved to Iron Loop Road

First Tracks Tires opened in 2022 at 167-G Iron Loop Road. Co-owners Dunlap and Chris Phillips have built the shop around the vehicles that do the hardest work in Big Sky. It now services cars for property management operations tied to Yellowstone Club, Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, Moonlight Basin and Two Pines Property Management. The shop's services page lists seasonal tire swaps and seasonal tire storage along with mounting, balancing and general maintenance. It says same-day service may be available and takes requests online or at 406-580-1722.

On Aug. 3, 2026, the shop opened Big Sky's first car wash to the public. It's a hand wash, not a tunnel. Dunlap told Explore Big Sky the choice came down partly to cost and partly to how many high-end vehicles are in town, since a hand wash is easier on paint and ceramic coatings. A ParrWash system catches the wash water and recycles about 70% of it. The rest goes to disposal tanks and is processed off-site. Dunlap spends his own time on the nearby Gallatin River and told the paper he can see algae rise in the river when runoff from town picks up.

The car wash page lists exterior hand washes from $45, weekday appointments by phone or online request, and an address of 167-F Iron Loop Road. Dunlap told Explore Big Sky the bay can also take boats, so a drift boat can get cleaned up before it goes away for the winter. Ask the shop for boat pricing. Call ahead for hours. The shop's own site shows 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and the Visit Big Sky directory shows the shop closing at 4.

Timing matters here too. Under Montana Code Annotated § 61-9-406, studded tires are allowed on Montana roads from Oct. 1 through May 31. Retractable studs may be carried all year, but outside that window they may not be extended on roads without ice or snow. The legal window opened Oct. 1. Until this year, using it meant driving the canyon on summer tires to get winter tires put on.

The storage half slipped past opening day

Big Sky Storage sits at 204 Blacksmith Loop in Gallatin Gateway, on Highway 191 between Buck's T-4 and the Conoco. It bills itself as Big Sky's first Class A climate-controlled storage. Co-developers Scott Hammond and John Romney designed it around the gear that comes with life here. Interior units start at 6x5, drive-up bays run up to 12x45 for RVs, boats and sleds, and every unit is heated in winter and cooled in summer. The drive-up bays have standard outlets and NEMA 14-50 plugs for charging an EV inside the unit. Access is 24/7.

The timeline has moved. A sponsored July 30 article in Explore Big Sky said Hammond was aiming for September or October. The idea was to open in time for second-home owners coming back before winter who want their gear put away before snow and ice. A company post dated Sept. 29 still said October. The facility's homepage now says December 2026. The building is up, interior work is being finished, and move-in is expected around Dec. 15, once the certificate of occupancy is issued.

The size of each unit decides what fits in it, so the clearances are worth knowing:

According to the facility's FAQ, a reservation takes a $49 deposit and monthly rent doesn't start until move-in. The company says it will reach out two to four weeks before move-in once the certificate of occupancy comes through. The sponsored July piece also described trail access straight from the building toward the Buck's Ridge area for snowmobiles and ATVs, so riders wouldn't have to trailer to a busy trailhead. If that holds, the sled comes out of storage and goes straight onto the trail. It just won't happen before mid-December.

How the order of errands changes

Put those two halves together and the order changes. Before this year, the whole changeover meant one or two long canyon trips, so it made sense to batch everything. Now the vehicle errands can be done in town whenever it suits you. The storage errand has a fixed start date about three weeks after the first chair. Here is how the next stretch lines up from the dates posted so far:

1. Now. The studded-tire window opened Oct. 1, and tire swaps and seasonal tire storage are available on Iron Loop Road.
2. Before the snow sticks. A $45 exterior hand wash gets the mud season off a vehicle before it's put away, and the bay can take a boat too.
3. Wednesday, Nov. 25. Big Sky Resort's opening day for 2026–27, with Mountain Village hours listed as 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
4. Friday, Dec. 11. The Big Sky Christmas Stroll starts in Meadow Village Center and continues Saturday in Big Sky Town Center.
5. Around Dec. 15. Expected move-in at Big Sky Storage, depending on the certificate of occupancy.

So summer gear has to sit somewhere through opening day. The sponsored July piece points out that many Big Sky homes have small garages and many condos and apartments have no garage or on-site storage at all. For those households, the bikes, rafts and ATVs stay in the garage or on the deck a few weeks longer than planned. Anyone who needs a unit before mid-December still has to find one down valley.

The canyon is busy at night right now

Some trips down Highway 191 are still on the list, and the road is a work zone after dark. The MDT construction report timestamped Oct. 17, 2026, lists road work on US-191 from mile marker 51 to 68.9, running 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Drivers should expect flaggers, pilot vehicles, lane closures, signal lights, a 35 mph limit and travel delays. The report gives no end date. In daylight, the drive down for a storage unit or a Bozeman errand works around that. A late return from Bozeman after a flight or dinner may hit the pilot car.

As winter sets in, MDT's 511 road-condition report runs November through April. MDT says it's updated twice a day or whenever conditions change significantly, and it isn't real time. Check it before heading out, then look at the road yourself.

Ski tuning never left town

One part of the changeover has always been done up the hill. Gallatin Alpine Sports, in business since 1995 at 169 Snowy Mountain Circle, lists ski tunes from $75 along with boot molding and custom footbeds. East Slope Outdoors, locally owned since 1984, lists a full tune at $65 and a sharpen-and-wax at $40. At the resort, Big Sky Sports Repair Shop handles tuning, waxing, mounting and repairs at Mountain Village and Madison Base during the winter season. These are posted rates, so confirm current pricing and any pre-season scheduling with the shop before dropping off skis in the week before Nov. 25.

Once Big Sky Storage opens in December, the gear can stay in the canyon instead of making the trip down valley.

The studded-tire dates in this post come from Montana statute and are general information, not legal advice, so check your own vehicle and equipment with the right professional. If the storage question is really about your home, like where the boat, the sled or the wine collection should live year-round, Michelle Horning has been here since 1994 and knows which Big Sky properties have the garage space and which don't. Schedule a free consultation and we'll go through it together.