Alta Opens November 20. The Ski Bus From Sandy Doesn't Start Until December.
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
When does ski season actually start if you live in Sandy? Alta's homepage says Friday, November 20, conditions permitting. If you ride the bus from Historic Sandy Station, though, your season starts on Sunday, December 6. That's when UTA plans to begin its seasonal canyon service. And if you plan your weekends around Alta's parking reservations, nothing changes until December 11.
The canyon opens in pieces over about a month, and each piece changes how you get from your driveway to the lift. The weeks before every piece is in place behave differently from the rest of the winter, and this year that early stretch includes Thanksgiving weekend.
Here is the 2026-27 sequence as the resorts, UTA and UDOT have published it so far:
Put Alta's opening next to the first bus and you get 16 days of lift-served skiing with no seasonal UTA service up the canyon. At Snowbird the gap is nine days, and it starts on Thanksgiving weekend.
Route 994 is the line most of Sandy rides. On UTA's schedule page it runs from Historic Sandy Station to the 9400 S & 2000 E Park-and-Ride, then up to Snowbird Entrance 1, Snowbird Center and Alta's Gold Miner stop. None of that runs before December 6. UTA also said trip times and further changes would be posted in early November, so check the current timetable before you build a routine around it. UTA's notice also says CS3 is sponsored service that depends on a partnering agreement with UDOT.
That makes the early season a driving season, and a driving season means tires. Two things matter this year.
First, the sticker program. It's free and voluntary, and UDOT says having a sticker cuts the time officers spend checking your car during enforcement. Sandy police have committed to inspecting vehicles at the mouth of Little Cottonwood, and Cottonwood Heights police will do the same at Big Cottonwood. The public sticker distribution event is set for the UDOT Cottonwood Maintenance Shed at 6601 S 3000 E in Cottonwood Heights. Its November date was still TBD as of this writing, and public sign-up forms are slated to go live on the Cottonwood Canyons website. UDOT's older public sticker page still shows last season's dates, so go by the 2026-27 partner portal until the public page is updated.
Second, the traction law itself. According to UDOT's Cottonwood Canyons traction law page, when the beacons are flashing, tires need at least 5/32-inch of tread. AWD and 4WD vehicles need M+S or snow tires on all wheels. Two-wheel-drive vehicles need three-peak mountain snowflake tires on all wheels or traction devices on at least two drive wheels. UDOT says enforcement focuses on uphill traffic in the morning and downhill traffic in the evening, with Sandy City Police at Little Cottonwood's mouth. This is general information, not legal advice, and the requirements can change, so confirm them on UDOT's page before you drive up.
Once the bus starts, parking rules start too, and they differ more from resort to resort than most people expect. In order of when they take effect:
Alta, from December 11. Reservations are required Friday through Sunday and during holiday periods from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and again on closing day. Alta has changed the rules for 2026-27. Each account can now hold no more than four active reservations, free and paid combined. Same-day reservations don't count toward that limit. Your first no-show gets a warning, every no-show after that costs $100, and a reminder text goes out 24 hours before each reservation. Cancellations have to happen before 8 a.m. on the day, and Alta releases additional reservations every Sunday at 3 p.m. during the season. Some season guides say Alta's rules haven't changed since last year. Alta's own parking page says they have.
Solitude, from December 18 through March 28, 2027. The Moonbeam lot requires reservations before 11 a.m. on Fridays, weekends and holidays. Cars with one to three people pay $35, and cars with four or more park free with a reservation. Parking is free without a reservation after 11 a.m. and on non-holiday Monday through Thursday.
Brighton. Reservations are required before noon on Fridays, weekends and listed holidays, except December 25. The 2026-27 rates are $25 for one to three occupants and $10 for four or more. Weekday, after-noon and passholder parking are free under the conditions Brighton lists.
Snowbird. Most parking stays free and first-come, first-served. New this season, passholders get one free rolling reservation for the Upper Gad Valley Lot. Reserved paid daily parking is still available, and carpools of three or more get designated spaces. Snowbird's parking page still tells visitors to check back for 2026-27 daily paid-parking rates.
The pricing pushes the same way at every resort. Brighton charges less for full cars, Solitude lets them park free, and Snowbird sets aside carpool spaces. Every resort uses the price of a parking space to fill cars on the busiest days.
The bus is the other way to skip the lot. UTA's ski service costs $5 one way, or $2 for qualified reduced-fare riders. You can pay with the Transit app, exact cash or FAREPAY, and qualifying resort, Ikon and Super Passes are accepted. Snowbird says 2026-27 Summit and Alta-Bird passholders get a free UTA Ski Bus season fare. If you hold one of those passes and live in Sandy, that makes Route 994 from the 9400 S & 2000 E park-and-ride the one way up the canyon that costs nothing and needs no reservation, starting December 6.
Both Little Cottonwood resorts made changes over the summer that you'll see on your first day.
At Alta, the Deseret News reports, the expanded Albion Day Lodge adds 3,400 square feet of dining space and more patio seating at the Albion Grill. The lower level has a new fireside lounge, day-use cubbies, more seasonal rental lockers and a larger Alta Java café with indoor and outdoor service. A new east wing holds 12 employee housing units and administrative offices.
At Snowbird, the same Deseret News roundup reports that the Chickadee beginner lift has been replaced with a SkyTrac fixed-grip quad, the terrain under it has been expanded, and the learning area has been realigned. Snowbird also added 11 fully automated snowmaking guns aimed at early-season skiing. In the weeks before the bus starts, the snowmaking upgrade matters most, because natural snow alone decides what's open in late November.
If you ski Snowbird but don't buy a full pass, the resort's Flex-5 pass gives five days with no blackout dates at $112 per day.
Tolls, mobility hubs and the gondola won't affect the 2026-27 season.
UDOT's selected plan for Little Cottonwood is still Gondola Alternative B with phased bus improvements, according to the Little Cottonwood EIS site. KUER reported in June 2026 that Phase 1 for both canyons, which covers buses and tolling, is targeted to start operating in fall 2028. The gondola is Phase 3. In the same story, KUER described a Phase 2 that would widen Wasatch Boulevard and add avalanche sheds, and said the mobility hub structure would ideally break ground in spring 2027. UDOT's May 2026 Big Cottonwood decision describes a variable-priced toll, a 1,750-stall mobility hub near the canyon mouth, and bus priority improvements that could begin as early as winter 2028.
The gondola's timeline is longer still. In June 2026, UDOT bought an 8-acre parcel for the proposed Little Cottonwood gondola base for $7.95 million, and The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the gondola could be 20 years away. KUER noted that it's unfunded and faces pending lawsuits.
For the 2026-27 season, then, the canyon runs on the same basic system as recent winters, with tighter reservation rules at Alta, a free rolling Upper Gad Valley reservation for Snowbird passholders, and a bus that doesn't start running until two weeks after the first lifts turn.
If you're weighing whether a home closer to the 9400 S & 2000 E park-and-ride or the mouth of Little Cottonwood would change your winter routine, I'm happy to walk through how different parts of Sandy line up with these routes. Hannah Smith knows this canyon commute well. Let's Connect, and while you're at it, Get Your Free Home Valuation.
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