Big Sky, Montana - Your #1 Destination in 2026!

Big Sky, Montana is named the top travel destination for 2026. The transformation is driven by a decade-long plan, Big Sky 2025 vision, with goals to upgrade infrastructure, become year-round, and address social issues. Investments include luxury ski lifts and properties, a gondola to Long Peak, and a glass viewing platform. The target is affluent, experience-driven travelers, leading to high costs and housing issues. The town aims for a car-optional lifestyle with public transit. Community tensions arise from overdevelopment and lack of affordable housing. Sustainability efforts include using treated water for snowmaking. Okay, let's just jump right in, because this headline, it's genuinely staggering. It is. Big Sky, Montana. This little mountain town is now officially the number one trending travel destination for 2026. And this is according to Expedia's Big Unpacked 26 report, right? So we're talking about, what, data from 24,000 travelers all over the world? All over the world. That's the part that gets me. This isn't just a North American thing. Big Sky beat out, I mean, places people dream of going. We're talking Okinawa, in Japan, Sardinia, in Italy. Yeah, that global context really validates the hype. The raw data you shared, it's just explosive. A 92% increase in travel searches year over year. Right. That's not just a good snow season. That's a fundamental shift in how the world sees this place. So that's our mission today, right? To get past that headline and figure out what is actually driving this. Exactly. This transformation, it's not an accident. It's been driven by this decade-long, multi-billion dollar plan they've been calling the Big Sky 2025 vision. Okay. So this is a calculated business move, not just pretty mountain pictures. What's at the core of that vision? At its heart, it had three main goals. First, completely overhaul the ski resort's infrastructure to make it truly world-class. Okay. Second, pivot to being a year-round destination to stabilize the economy. And third, well, trying to deal with the social pressures that come with all that growth, especially housing. And it seems like they've definitely succeeded on those first two points because the awards are rolling in. They are. Our sources confirm SGI Magazine just named Big Sky Resort the number one ski resort in the West. That was just back in October. Yeah. You don't get that kind of recognition without massive, tangible investment. And when we talk infrastructure, we're talking about luxury on the mountain itself. So let's start with the big one for capacity, the Madison 8 Lift. Right. Unveiled in 2025, it's the longest eight-passenger chairlift in all of North America. Wow. But it's not just about moving people. It's an experience. It's got heated seats, a weather-protective bubble. It's pure comfort. But the real game-changer, from what I'm reading, seems to be that new connection up to the summit of Long Peak. Oh, absolutely. The Explorer Gondola. It's a high-speed, 10-person gondola opening for this coming winter season. And that's the one that creates the seamless link from the base village. Directly to the Long Peak Tram. Yeah. Exactly. So you get continuous lift access from the bottom all the way up to over 11,000 feet. So is that about speed for skiers, or is it more of a marketing thing? You know, creating the longest continuous vertical in North America? It's both. Yeah. But, you know, it's increasingly about the experience at the very top. The Kirkliff. The Kirkliff. It's this all-glass viewing platform that just juts out over the edge of the mountain. You get these 360-degree views. You can see three states, two national parks. Yellowstone and the Tetons. Yeah. And it takes this view that was once just for expert skiers, and, well, now it's for anyone who can ride a gondola. Which feeds directly into that ultra-affluent market they're chasing. Correct. I mean, the Explorer Gondola is specifically designed to serve the new luxury properties opening up there. Like the one and only Moonlight Basin Resort. Exactly. Which is a huge deal. You know, it's the brand's first ever U.S. resort. I saw that. It's massive, too. It's huge. Seventy-three rooms and suites, 19 cabins, 62 private homes. It's that full integration of high-end infrastructure with high-end real estate. And, of course, the dining has to match. Of course. They've announced M by the Alenia Group as a four-month residency with Michelin-starred chef Grant Achatz. Wow. Yeah, it's about putting Big Sky on the map as a place where, you know, rugged Montana meets its incredible global sophistication. That Michelin-star level of experience definitely anchors the winter season. But for that kind of investment to pay off, they need a true year-round economy. So, what's the story with summer? The ambition there is huge. Some of the data suggests summer visitation could actually surpass winter revenue in the next five years. Really? Yeah, they're working hard to start being seen as just a ski town. So, beyond the skiing, which, I mean, is enormous, over 5,800 acres, what do you do in Big Sky when the snow melts? Well, you've got your classic Montana stuff right. Yeah, horseback riding, world-class fly fishing, whitewater rafting, hiking. But they're also focusing on what they call soft adventure. Precisely. They're using their winter hardware for summer appeal. That Explorer gondola isn't just for skiers. It runs all summer. All summer. And, critically, it's ADA-compliant. Mm-hmm. So, that incredible 11,000-foot view is now accessible to, well, everyone. They're also getting creative with the social scene. I was really intrigued by that new press ski spot. Ah, the Alpine Igloo. Yes. It's opening in February 2026. It's a literal snow igloo and ice bar right next to the tram, seats about 60 people. It's just a totally unique, high-alpine kind of experience. That sounds incredible. And probably very, very cold. I imagine they serve the drink fast, but it all points to creating these memorable, unique moments. Okay. So, let's pin down who is funding all of this. Who is the target traveler? Well, they're definitely targeting affluent, experience-driven travelers. The average annual income for their target guest is over $150,000. And it's a younger demographic, right? Yeah. Which is interesting. The largest visitor group is now under 50, but they still have that really high level of wealth. Which explains why the Bozeman Airport, BZN, has poured so much money into direct flights from certain cities. Yes. And they focus their marketing on five core markets. New York, New Jersey, Chicago, L.A., Seattle, and San Francisco. They are literally flying wealth directly into the Valley. Pretty much. So, if the target is that affluent traveler, we have to talk about cost. I mean, you can't have this kind of transformation without a pretty serious price tag. The price of Paradise is exceptionally high. I'll bet. Yeah. When they surveyed visitors, the number one complaint from people whose expectations were not met was the cost. Lift tickets, lodging, food, you name it. And those lodging numbers are just eye-watering. Visitors spent over $400 million on hotels and rentals in 2023 alone. It's a huge economic driver, but it's partly because of a supply issue. Big Sky just didn't have enough traditional hotel rooms, so short-term rentals boomed. And they're trying to fix that now. They are. Two new hotels are opening, and a third is breaking ground in 2025. I mean, the context for all this is the local housing market. Oh, I saw this number. It's just wild. It is. The median sale price for a home in Big Sky as of October of 2025 was $3 million. $3 million. That's up almost 55% in one year. Right. And that kind of wealth pouring in affects the cost of absolutely everything in the region. Which brings us to getting around. With all these people and all this money, how are they managing traffic? Well, the Big Sky Transportation District, the BSTD, they see the writing on the wall. Congestion is a massive problem. So what's the plan? Their long-term vision is to create a car-optional lifestyle. That is a huge promise for a remote mountain town. How could they possibly pull that off? The goal is to build out a public transit network with bike paths and everything so that you could fly into Bozeman, take a shuttle to town, and never need a rental car. What's really fascinating, though, is how that transit system has to serve both regular tourists and, well, the ultra-exclusive private resorts. That's where the strategy gets really interesting. They're proposing a new route, the Link Express. And this route is explicitly designed to service the Yellowstone Club, Spanish Peaks, and the Montage. So for anyone listening who doesn't know, those aren't public ski hills. The Yellowstone Club, that's the members-only billionaire's resort. The most exclusive in the world, yes. So they're designing public transit to serve private clubs. It shows you where the priority is. It's about maximizing service for the high-value visitor who is funding this entire ecosystem. Okay. So the focus is clearly on growth and serving that visitor. But we have to talk about the other side of this, the community tensions that come with this kind of explosive luxury-focused development. Absolutely. And the tension points are severe. The first one is just keeping a workforce. Because no one can afford to live there. Exactly. And some sources show that 74% of Big Sky's entire workforce lives outside the area. They're commuting in. That's insane. If the median home is $3 million, you're not just importing wealth, you're exporting your entire middle class. And you can see that strain in how the residents feel. In one survey, 44% of residents said tourism was heading in the wrong direction. And what were their main complaints? Too much overdevelopment, the lack of affordable housing, and this feeling that the town is only for the ultra-wealthy and elite crowds. It's that classic mountain town paradox, isn't it? The growth you need to survive ends up threatening the very identity of the place. It is. But to their credit, they are making some really innovative investments in sustainability to try and mitigate some of the environmental impact. Especially with water, right? How are they handling snowmaking in a region that's so concerned about water? This part is actually brilliant. They're using a closed-loop system. They treat it effluent from the water plant, clean it to a really high standard. And use that for snowmaking. Exactly. So they make the snow base with it, and then as it slowly melts in the spring, it recharges the underground aquifer. It's an incredibly smart solution. And that car optional plan isn't just about traffic, it's also about the environment. Correct. The Transit District wants to switch its in-town fleet to all-electric buses. No direct emissions, less noise. The Tourism Board is pushing hard on responsible visitation, educating guests on how to be good stewards. So if we pull all of this together, what's the one key takeaway that explains why Big Sky is suddenly number one in the world? It really isn't luck. It's the direct result of a decade of continuous, massive investment, all focused on creating this integrated, world-class luxury experience. They successfully positioned themselves as the place where the rugged American West meets global sophistication. And the economic numbers are just staggering. $2.276 billion in total economic impact. That's nearly 5% of Montana's entire GDP. It's a huge economic engine. An incredible engine. But it's also clear that this aggressive focus on luxury is creating real friction with residents over costs and community identity. Right. The challenge now is shifting from just pure growth to something more sustainable. Which brings us to our final question for you to think about. Big Sky is betting big that public transit can solve its problems with traffic and the environment. But can a bus system, which is designed for high-density public use, really cater to both billionaire clients and private clubs, and the thousands of workers commuting hours just to serve them? The entire future of this trending destination might just depend on whether they can solve that one single paradox.