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The lights go up across the valley right around Thanksgiving. Some are free walks you can do on a whim, some need a timed ticket, and one is a single residential street that has been lighting up since 1947. Here is where to go, from downtown to Draper.
The grounds around Temple Square have been the valley's best-known Christmas lights for decades. The display is free, the paths are flat and easy with a stroller, and it sits right next to City Creek Center if you want to keep walking. In 2025 the lights ran from the day after Thanksgiving through New Year's Day.
The zoo turns its paths into glowing animal and holiday displays, with animated tunnels and big light sculptures. It runs on select nights from late November into early January and needs a ticket. Hot cocoa and photos with Santa are part of the night.
Residents of Glen Arbor Street, between 1500 East and 1600 East, started stringing lights between their houses in 1947, just after World War II. The street still lights up every December, with a neon sign hung across the road and a tree at the center. It is a residential cul-de-sac, so you walk it rather than drive it.
Draper switches on its park display at the city tree lighting, which is set for Monday, November 30, 2026, with Santa, cookies and hot chocolate. After that the lights stay on every evening and early morning through New Year's Day. It is free, and it saves south valley families the drive downtown.
The historic mill village runs its Christmas in the Village season from November 21 through December 31, 2026, with lights, decorated shops and elf displays hidden around the grounds for kids to find. In past seasons there was no admission fee to walk the village. Some activities, like Breakfast with Santa, are booked separately.
The park's pioneer village is lit with lanterns, with carolers on the streets, open historic homes, holiday crafts and a live Nativity. For 2026 it runs December 8 to 23, Monday through Saturday evenings. It needs a ticket.
Each house on this Taylorsville block decorates a page of the poem A Visit From St. Nicholas, and painted storyboards walk you through it in order. Families have kept it going for decades, and volunteers recently repainted the boards. You can walk or drive it.
Both downtown shopping centers decorate for the season, and they bracket a walk that can include Temple Square and the Gallivan Center. It is an easy way to see a lot of lights with restaurants and warm stores along the way.
Thanksgiving Point turns Ashton Gardens into a long walk-through light show every holiday season, with timed entry. It is outside Salt Lake County, but many valley families make the drive once a year. Tickets sell out on the busiest nights.
Start with what kind of night you want. If you want to walk for free and see the biggest display downtown, go to Temple Square and pair it with the windows and decorations at City Creek Center across the street. If you have kids who want animals and tunnels of light, ZooLights at Hogle Zoo is the ticketed pick, and it sells out on the busiest nights.
For something that feels like a neighborhood tradition, walk Christmas Street in Sugar House or the Night Before Christmas street in Taylorsville, where the houses do the work. South valley families can skip the downtown traffic entirely: Draper City Park lights up after the city's tree lighting, and Gardner Village in West Jordan runs its Christmas in the Village season through the end of December. Dates for the big ticketed displays are announced each fall, so check the official page before you buy.
Keep exploring Salt Lake Valley: The Best Date Night Spots in the Salt Lake Valley · Free Things to Do in the Salt Lake Valley · The Best Farmers Markets in the Salt Lake Valley. Need a local pro? Browse Valley Approved businesses. Planning the weekend? See the Events Hub.
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