Walking In Big Sky

 

Emma, Gina and Laszlo at Ousel Falls

Our daughter Gina studies neighborhood walkability as an indicator of heart disease or lack thereof. While her focus primarily centers on big cities, there is a community in rural Chino Hills, California, that is the focus of a related study by USC. I accompanied her when she visited that neighborhood, and I have to say by comparison it doesn’t hold a candle to Big Sky Town Center for walkability.




South Fork Cascades

Big Sky has a great mountain setting to entice residents to get outside and exercise. Despite the sometimes erratic weather that can seem to include four seasons in a summer day, Big Sky also ranks high in climate comfort relative to the rest of the United States. What makes it imminently walkable are all the great places to walk.









Ousel Falls

One of the best destinations is Ousel Falls. As odd as it sounds, for the last ten years we have spent a few days at a condo on Ousel Falls Road, and it never occurred to us to look for Ousel Falls until this trip. There’s a two mile trail from Town Center to Ousel Falls Park, where the trail becomes pretty amazing, leading over a bridge and along a river to beautiful waterfalls. We’ve been to the falls several times on this visit, although we usually drive to the park and then hike from the parking lot to Ousel Falls, which is .8 miles away.



Gina, Emma and Laszlo at the Bunker

Another easy walk from Town Center is the Arnold Palmer-designed golf course, which provides beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. I played there a few years ago, but on this visit, we’ve only gone to the Bunker, their patio restaurant and bar. On Tuesday nights, the Bunker features a burger and a beer for $7. This is not a small hamburger, but a third pound of delicious Montana beef, and the beer choices include drafts of local brews like my personal favorite, Cold Smoke Scotch Ale. On Sundays, they have a $3 menu with choices like Nathan’s quarter pound hot dogs with chips, chili or beer. The views across the golf course and up the tree-covered mountain slopes shouldn’t be missed.

 

Lone Peak Cinema

On Friday night, we walked over to the Lone Peak Cinema in Town Center to watch The Lone Ranger. I’ve had better popcorn, but the total night price for our standard combo of movie, large popcorn and large Diet Coke came out about the same as the matinee rate at Del Amo AMC in California. They also have a full bar with reasonable prices.

I’ve previously mentioned Music in the Mountains, which is an easy walk from anywhere in Big Sky Meadow.



California Honeydrops on Big Sky Town Center Stage

This past week, California Honeydrops put on an amazing show of Americana with a heavy dose of New Orleans that overcame a rainy beginning to entice dancing and singing among the crowd, in which vacationers outnumbered locals.

Nick Bluhm and the Gramblers at Brewfest

Speaking of music, I guess we could theoretically have hiked to Big Sky Mountain Village, which is about 7 miles uphill from Town Center. In winter, there’s world class skiing at Big Sky Mountain, and in summer, downhill biking, bungee trampolines and other outdoor activities to raise your pulse. We drove up on Saturday for Brewfest, a combination of beer sampling and live music. All three bands were great, but Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers deserved their top billing. Nicki is a wonderful vocalist and performer, but every member of the band shine on their respective instruments and vocal leads.

View of Town Center from the Stage in the Amphitheatre

The lead guitarist frequently tried to slip into the background, but his flawless riffs deserved a center stage spotlight, although the outdoor venue didn’t make spotlights an option. Like the California Honeydrops, they made songs I’d never heard sound like greatest hits.

Unfortunately, my Jeep wouldn’t start when we tried to head home, and a call to AAA resulted in it being towed to a nearby auto shop to get a new starter, meaning we would get to experience being carless for a few days.

The Hungry Moose

While being able to walk to Hungry Moose Grocery Store and several great restaurants meant we wouldn’t starve, it did point out a glaring gap in Big Sky amenities. Daughter Gina and granddaughter Emma were scheduled to arrive on Sunday morning into BZN airport in Belgrade. We learned that on weekends, the Big Sky transportation companies are not available, and there are zero car rentals unless we somehow got to Bozeman or West Yellowstone. Even taxis are not available, as the Bozeman taxi company that did answer its phone has an agreement with the local Big Sky company to not travel to Big Sky, while the Big Sky taxi company phone goes straight to voicemail with a message that they’re available Monday through Friday.



Julie, granddaughter Emma and Wes at the Bunker

The best we could have done on short notice for Sunday morning was to have Gina and Emma take a taxi to Gallatin Valley Shopping Center, where we would have met them at about 10:30 AM after coming into Bozeman on the Skyline Bus, and then return to Big Sky on the Skyline Bus together five hours later.

Airport congestion in Denver resulted in Gina and Emma being bumped to a Monday morning flight, which allowed us to get them scheduled for a door-to-door shuttle ride with Karst Stage, but the fact that Karst is closed to incoming calls for the weekend seems odd.

Another view of Ousel Falls
 

Only an advanced reservation made it possible for pickup on the weekend. However, on Monday morning at 8 AM, I was able to set up a 10 AM pickup, and Karst Stage and its driver exceeded expectations, allowing me to book passage for Gina and Emma with only two hour advance notice. The driver shared a book of area pictures as well as general information about the area with Gina and Emma as they rode, and he took them directly to our driveway with a smile.



With only about 2300 residents, you can’t expect round-the-clock services you find in a big city. Once in Big Sky, however, this is a wonderful, walkable community.