It’s Saturday night and you’re thinking you need a break from your normal routine. You are suddenly hit with the bright idea of a family road trip, someplace not too far, definitely beautiful, and relaxing. You think to yourself, why not take the family on a road trip to Big Sky on Sunday?
Normally, I would say that sounds like it could be a lot of fun! Big Sky is a short and beautiful drive along the Gallatin River and once there, you could grab breakfast at one of the trendiest restaurants in Big Sky. Then, you can take the family on a two hour hike down to Ousel Falls, check out the fun shops in Town Center, and perhaps hang at one of the breweries before heading back to Bozeman. Man, that does sound fun. Except, Big Sky on Sundays can feel like a modern mountain ghost town.
The drive is undeniably beautiful, but once you are there your breakfast options are severely limited by staffing issues, wacky operating hours, and more. Ousel Falls is crowded with people at any given weekend day during the summer, so snapping that awesome pic for the ‘gram without getting photo bombed will be challenging. Shops around Town Center suffer the same fate as Big Sky restaurants do. In short, your Sunday fun plans may be ruined by unexpected disappointment.
The team here at BigSkyBozeman.com suffered from this very same disappointment we speak of first hand. We left from our headquarters in Bozeman right away in the morning and arrived at Big Sky by 9:30am. It was a great drive without the usual amount of traffic from heavy vehicles and slow tourists. However, once we got there we spent the first half of our morning searching for a place to have breakfast.
Most places in Big Sky Town Center were closed and as delicious as it may be, some of us were not prepared to shell out $35 a head for Horn & Cantle’s amazing brunch. Our solution, Caliber Cafe & Spirits; always open with good food and decent prices. The Breakfast Tacos were a team favorite.
We don’t want to discourage you from heading to Ousel Falls for a nice morning hike, but know that you will be accompanied by lots of families and little kids. Still, it is alway a fun hike getting to the waterfalls. We enjoyed a cool mountain summer morning weather throughout the entire hike and even though we were surrounded by many other hikers, we were still able to have a great time getting to Ousel Falls.
Once at the falls, you can snag that epic shot for your ‘gram or do like Bri and fulfill your need to get in the water and touch the waterfall. Needless to say that she ended up getting soaked! Regardless, she had a great time fulfilling her waterfall wishes and we definitely got a kick out of her joyous moment.
If you’re thinking about lunch after your hike, your options will still be limited. A great solution is to head for one of the two breweries in town. We love going to Beehive Basin because of their great selection of brews, open atmosphere, and never overly crowded.
We love going to Big Sky, and we would recommend heading there just about any time. However, knowing what to expect and having a solid plan before your next Sunday outing can make a great difference. Have you ever had major disappointment when heading down to Big Sky? We want to know about it, so please leave a comment down below. That’s it for us this time, but be sure to follow us on Instagram and check us out of Facebook for more awesome content.
Steve and Bri driving towards Big Sky
BigSkyBozeman.com team members figuring out what to do in Big Sky on a Sunday morning
BigSkyBozeman.com team members heading into the Caliber Cafe & Spirits
People hiking on Ousel Fall trail
Bri, touching the waterfall