By Ryan Hamilton, Big Sky Town Center
BIG SKY – The Big Sky Spur Road is now, once and for all, Lone Mountain Trail.
The Big Sky Chamber of Commerce led an effort to choose this historic name for MT Highway 64, aiming to clean up maps, reduce confusion, unite the Big Sky and further its brand. On June 26 the Gallatin County Commission voted unanimously in favor of Lone Mountain Trail. The commission received 10 letters supporting the change.
Allen Armstrong, manager of the Gallatin County GIS Department, explained to the commission that the name Lone Mountain Trail dates back to maps from the Chet Huntley era, and that every road name sign along its length currently bears that moniker. Online mapping services such as Google and Bing, and consumer GPS units also show Lone Mountain Trail as the road name of the road, Armstrong pointed out.
Now the Chamber and others in Big Sky will update maps and other publications to show the new official road name, as directed by Gallatin County.
In February, a Chamber email poll of stakeholders and Big Sky business owners showed majority approval of the name Lone Mountain Trail. This information was presented at a Town Hall-type meeting in April, where Armstrong reviewed the process for changing the name of the road to Lone Mountain Trail and answered questions.
The state’s designation of Highway 64 will also remain in place.
