Under the Big Sky Festival Has One Major Issue

My friend told me that Under the Big Sky might be the perfect place for a music festival. It's hard to argue with her when you're standing at Big Mountain Ranch looking out at the serene mountains and timberlines.

Charles Wesley Godwin at UTBS 2026. Credit: Ace Sauerwein

We attended the Sunday festivities of Under the Big Sky this year. Jamestown Revival, Charles Wesley Godwin, Max McNown, and Chris Stapleton provided an epic night of live music. Emphasis on Stapleton. He was phenomenal. He was, actually, at the top of my concert bucket list going into the weekend.

The festival, put on by The Outriders, is really well run. There are enough beer tents, food vendors, water stations, and plenty of entertainment. Everything is good to great—except for one glaring issue...

The parking.

We screwed up and decided to park on site. That was the biggest mistake of the weekend. It took us a whopping 1:45:00 to get out of the lot.

Heck, it took us over an hour just to MOVE AN INCH. It was terrible. Hundreds or thousands of cars all in a free-for-all to beeline it to the exit. The result is the kind of terrible congestion you'd expect in Seattle, Denver or Minneapolis.

My suggestion to you: Park in downtown Whitefish and take the shuttle out to the festival grounds. The lines will still be long to get onto the shuttle, and you'll have to wait, but I don't think it can be as bad as escaping the parking monsoon.

Now, if you have an expert tip on how or where to park, please let me know. Fill me in on your secret, and I promise I won't reveal your secret strategy to anybody else.