Holidays

Christmas Tree Lane Just Shared Important Tips for Visiting

The twinkly Altadena tradition celebrated its 100th birthday in 2020; find out how to see the free seasonal attraction before it opens.

Karol Franks

What to Know

  • Christmas Tree Lane opens for its seasonal run on Saturday, Dec. 10; it will shine nightly from 5:30 p.m. to midnight for the rest of the month
  • The free Altadena attraction has been twinkly for over a century along Santa Rosa Avenue
  • A new 2022 FAQ, shared on the attraction's Instagram, provides clarity on seeing the sparkling sight in your car or on foot

There are so many Southern Californian delights and seasonal lights on our Christmassy calendars each year.

Still, we do keep in mind that there are a few especially magical — and popular — attractions that require a little extra forethought, should we desire a hiccup-free experience. (Occasional hiccups and the holidays go hand-in-hand, of course, so making peace with that is probably a wise idea.)

These delightful draws need additional consideration for a few reasons. They might happen along one street, in a neighborhood, and assuring that the stream of slow-rolling automobiles flows smoothly, and those visitors that would like to view the sparkle without a car can, are at the forefront of organizers' minds.

Christmas Tree Lane has been quite a popular happening for several decades now, and when we say "several decades" we're talking about a century.

Hold up: Make that a century plus a couple of years, which means just about everyone who loves holiday lights in Southern California, and well beyond, knows to make their way to Altadena's tall trees come the middle of December.

And now that the colossal deodar cedars of Christmas Tree Lane have been festively strung with ethereal bulbs, an effort that takes dedicated volunteers months to complete, the big show is ready: It all opens on Dec. 10, 2022.

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That will be a big night, even with rain in the forecast, and there will be several more busy nights to come. The lights will begin twinkling each night at 5:30 p.m., staying on through midnight, "through December."

Your best bet before rounding up your most festive friends and deodar devotees?

Peruse the new 2022 FAQ just shared on Instagram by lovers of the lane. Questions like "Should I Walk or Drive the Lane" are covered — "That's entirely up to you!" begins the helpful answer — as are questions of admission.

As always, visiting Christmas Tree Lane is complimentary, but the association behind the major push to get all of those pretty lights up and bright welcomes donations.

For the Christmas-cool carousel of helpful must-knows, check out the attraction's Instagram now, and prepare for your night at one of our state's most celebrated holiday favorites, a gem found on both the California State Landmark list and the National Register of Historic Places.

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