The free gondola between Mountain Village and Telluride runs its last summer day on Sunday, October 25, 2026. It reopens for winter on Friday, November 20. For the 25 days in between, the gondola, the Town's Dial-A-Ride and most of the village's evening routine are offline at once. SMART's green buses carry the connection to Telluride instead. The closure is short and it happens every year. This fall it also comes as the Town of Telluride and Mountain Village plan for a gondola replacement that could close the system for six months. That makes this year's shoulder season a small version of that closure.
The Calendar Between Now and the Last Ride
October in Mountain Village is packed into the weeks before the gondola stops. The dates, in order:
- September 24–27: The Telluride Autumn Classic runs at the Telluride Ski & Golf Driving Range and Heritage Plaza.
- October 9–11: Mountain Village Oktoberfest, which grows this year from a single day into a full weekend. Saturday, October 10 is the main day, with family activities in Heritage Plaza's Bavarian Village from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The beer garden and live music run in Conference Center Plaza from noon to 8 p.m. Second Chance Humane Society hosts the Puppy Parade & Costume Contest. Sunday closes with an Oktoberfest Brunch at Dunton Kitchen from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- October 11: The last Sunday Rehab at Alloy Kitchen, which pairs free morning yoga and a sound bath with afternoon poolside DJs.
- October 16: The last night of free live music at Alloy Kitchen, which runs Thursday through Sunday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
- October 24: Gaiascope, the interactive nighttime artwork in Heritage Plaza, ends its run, which began August 26.
- October 25: Last day of summer gondola service. The gondola runs from 6:30 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, until it closes.
Oktoberfest general admission is free and includes the festival market, live music, family activities, the Puppy Parade and the Auf-mazing Race. Beer Garden access costs $30 and includes two beer tokens. Reserved Tent Seating costs $60, with sessions at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., and includes two tokens and a shared German smorgasbord. "After last year's successful Oktoberfest relaunch, we are thrilled to bring the festivities to Mountain Village for the entire weekend this year," said Molly Norton, the Town's Business Development Manager. Tickets are available at mountainvillageoktoberfest.com.
After October 25 the calendar is mostly empty until the ski resort opens.
What Goes Offline on October 26
The gondola opened in 1996. The Town describes it as the first and only free public transportation system of its kind in the United States. Several other services are built around it, and during the shoulder season those stop too.
| Service | Regular season | October 26 – November 19, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Gondola, Telluride to Mountain Village Center to Market Plaza | 6:30 a.m. to midnight, daily | Closed for fall maintenance |
| Dial-A-Ride | 6 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. through October 25 | Not offered in shoulder seasons |
| Meadows bus to Mountain Village Center | Summer route; winter until the chondola opens | Not listed as a fall service |
| SMART bus to Telluride | Off-season gondola replacement | Free; stops in Lawson Hill, Mountain Village and Telluride, plus a Market Plaza to Courthouse express |
| Weekend daytime parking, Heritage Garage and North and South Village Center lots | Paid in peak seasons | Free until the ski resort opens |
For people who use Dial-A-Ride, losing it matters most. The service is a TMVOA benefit tied to a valid Mountain Village residential address and a unique access code. Rides are booked through the app or at 970-728-8888. In the shoulder season it is not available at all, so it cannot fill in for the gondola.
Groceries are affected as well. The Town lists The Village Market at 455 Mountain Village Blvd. as open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily in summer and winter, but notes that shoulder-season hours may vary. Many restaurants in the village core also close for part of the shoulder season, and each sets its own dates. As of late September, no 2026 fall closure list has been published.
The Bus Covers the Trip. The 2026 Schedule Hasn't Been Posted Yet.
SMART, the San Miguel Authority for Regional Transportation, runs the free replacement service with its green buses. The Town's spring 2026 notice described buses running throughout the day with stops in Lawson Hill, Mountain Village and Telluride, plus an express between Market Plaza and the Telluride Courthouse. As of September 24, SMART has not posted a fall 2026 timetable with hours and frequency. Older schedules from earlier shoulder seasons are online, but they are not this fall's times. Check the Town's bus and Dial-A-Ride page and SMART's schedules closer to October 26.
The gondola connects two stations at the top of a mountain. A bus has to take the road between them. The gondola climbs as high as 10,540 feet on a single free ride. The bus covers the same trip on the road and runs on a posted schedule.
Free parking helps in the meantime. Since August 15, weekend daytime parking has been free at Heritage Garage and the North and South Village Center lots, and it stays free until the ski resort opens. Daytime parking at the Gondola Garage and Meadows Lot was already free. Telluride Ski Resort is targeting November 26, 2026 for opening day, depending on weather and conditions. The gondola returns on November 20, six days before that target.
Why the Replacement Team Is Watching These Weeks
On September 14, KOTO reported on an update the Gondola Subcommittee gave to Telluride Town Council earlier in the month. The proposed 2027 project budget is about $6.526 million, including a 30% contingency that KOTO attributes to the Federal Transit Administration and that is expected to grow as the project enters its development phase this fall. SMART would pay half, and the Town of Telluride and Mountain Village would split the other half equally.
Chris Brewer, an economic consultant on the project, told the subcommittee that buses could not match the gondola's capacity. He estimated that losing the gondola would mean 10 to 20% fewer visitor trips between the two towns. "These are trips that won't happen, meaning the resident will stay in Mountain Village and not go to Telluride, or they will forgo the trip entirely and go somewhere else," he said. Council member Elena Levin added that over time, running buses in place of the gondola would cost more than maintaining a rebuilt one.
Council member Ashley Von Spreecken said the planners want a long closure to happen on a schedule rather than after a breakdown:
"We are going to be communicating heavily with our business owners so that we can help everyone prepare for a potential six month closure while the gondola is being replaced. The alternative to that is if you don't have a replacement plan, and you plan to kind of just run the machine until it has a catastrophic failure, that six-month timeline of 'we're going to have to bootstrap and figure out how to get through and like support our businesses,' turns into a multi-year timeline."
The six-month closure is a planning scenario and has not been scheduled. Next, the Gondola Leadership Committee will take up whether the project is paid for with federal or local money. The project is posting updates at ourgondola.org. The cabins are already changing. The Town auctioned 10 refurbished cabins this month, with proceeds going to Mountain Munchkins, the Town-owned childcare program. Bids were due September 30, and buyers must remove their cabins by November 1, 2026.
This fall's 25-day closure uses the same backup plan the planners would rely on for six months: buses on the road, no gondola, and Dial-A-Ride suspended. Any friction during these weeks shows up at small scale, and with a firm end date of November 20.
Before October 25
- Sign up for the Town's gondola text alerts. The Town uses the same system to announce unplanned closures and the switch to buses.
- Save SMART's schedule page and check it again the week before October 26. The fall 2026 times are not posted yet.
- If you rely on Dial-A-Ride, plan other rides for October 26 through November 19.
- Call ahead to The Village Market and your usual Mountain Village Center restaurants to confirm shoulder-season hours.
- Use the free weekend parking at Heritage Garage and the Village Center lots if you are driving to the core. It lasts until the ski resort opens.
- Make gondola-dependent evening plans, including Gaiascope's last night on October 24, before the final ride on the 25th.
The replacement project will affect business traffic, visitor trips and, if it goes ahead, how property in the village core is used and valued for six months. If you are weighing a purchase, a sale or a development timeline in Mountain Village and want to plan around the gondola project, O'Neill Stetina Group can walk you through what we are tracking. Schedule a Private Consultation.
