Christmas lights in Highlands Ranch, Colorado

We track 5 displays in Highlands Ranch — the 4th-densest city for lights in Colorado. Every one of them is free to visit.

When to go

Displays here switch on around sunset. In Highlands Ranch that means about 4:37 PM in early December and 4:37 PM by mid-month — the earliest sunsets of the year fall right in the middle of lights season. It is properly dark by about 5:07 PM, which is when the displays look their best. December nights in Highlands Ranch typically drop to around 21°F.

The Highlands Ranch lights loop — 5 stops

We ordered every display in Highlands Ranch into the shortest sensible driving loop: roughly 0 miles and 20 minutes of driving, before you count time spent parked and looking. Start wherever is closest to you and follow it round.

1. Cottoncreek Manor — 9971 Cottoncreek Dr.
2. Hazard Family Gingerbread House — 10221 Fairgate Way
3. Name All the Reindeer Display — 9656 Adelaide Circle
4. Star Wars: Battle for the North Pole — 9973 Blackbird Place
5. The Gingerbread House — 10221 S. Fairgate Way

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 Highlands Ranch cluster, OpenStreetMap maps 13 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.

All 5 displays in Highlands Ranch

Nearby towns

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