Christmas lights in Elk Grove, California

We track 4 displays in Elk Grove. Every one of them is free to visit.

When to go

Displays here switch on around sunset. In Elk Grove that means about 4:45 PM in early December and 4:46 PM by mid-month — the earliest sunsets of the year fall right in the middle of lights season. It is properly dark by about 5:16 PM, which is when the displays look their best. December nights in Elk Grove typically drop to around 38°F.

Date	Sunset	Fully dark
Dec 1	4:45 PM	5:15 PM
Dec 15	4:46 PM	5:16 PM
Dec 25	4:51 PM	5:20 PM

The Elk Grove lights loop — 4 stops

We ordered every display in Elk Grove into the shortest sensible driving loop: roughly 13.7 miles and 49 minutes of driving, before you count time spent parked and looking. Start wherever is closest to you and follow it round.

6721 Sao Tiago Way display — 6721 Sao Tiago Way
8767 San Pedro Way display — 8767 San Pedro Way
8486 Mainstay Court display — 8486 Mainstay Court
3316 Lake Terrace Drive display — 3316 Lake Terrace Drive

Driving estimate assumes a 25 mph average on residential streets plus four minutes stopped per display. Straight-line distances with a road-network allowance — treat it as a planning figure, not a satnav route.

Practicalities

Residential displays have no facilities of their own — no parking, no toilets, nowhere to warm up — so it is worth knowing what is around. Within about three miles of the Elk Grove cluster, OpenStreetMap maps 0 public car parks and 0 public toilets. There is no shortage of cafés and takeaways for a hot drink on the way round. Note the lack of public toilets in particular if you are taking children.