Downtown Castle Rock's Holiday Lights Have a Different Ride for Every Night of the Week

The Town of Castle Rock's Season of the Star announcement says you can see the downtown light displays "on foot, by car or via trolley." The calendar adds a catch. Each of those options, along with the horse-drawn carriage the Town's list leaves out, runs only on certain nights.

The lights come on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the same moment as the Star and stay lit until Jan. 23. For most of that stretch, the night of the week decides how you'll see them. Mondays and Tuesdays have a free trolley and no tickets. Wednesday through Sunday has carriages you book ahead. For the final 20 nights nothing runs, and you see the lights on foot. If you plan your December around the day of the week instead of the date, you'll avoid most of the cold waiting.

Saturday Is the One Afternoon Everything Happens at Once

On Saturday, Nov. 21, the Castle Rock Chamber's Starlighting runs 2 to 6 p.m. at Historic Wilcox Square and Festival Park. Admission is free. The star first lit up atop the Rock in 1936, and the Chamber started this celebration around it in 1962.

The schedule puts the best parts for kids early in the afternoon and the main event after dark, so families with young kids end up waiting around in between:

• 2:00 to 4:15 p.m. Santa visits in Festival Park.
• 2:00 to 4:45 p.m. The Biff Gore Band plays the Main Stage at 4th and Wilcox.
• 5:00 p.m. The ceremony begins, hosted by FOX31's Kirk Yuhnke, Great Day Colorado's Denise Plante and DCSO's Deborah Takahara.
• About 5:30 p.m. The star lights up and fireworks follow right away, weather and conditions permitting.

Santa wraps up 45 minutes before the ceremony starts and roughly an hour and a quarter before the star lights. If a photo with Santa is the goal, plan on getting there early in the afternoon. The Kids Zone fills part of the wait. It's on 4th Street just west of Wilcox, with face painting, a petting zoo, games and a Humvee. The Castle Rock Professional Firefighters serve the 90th Annual Chili Supper at Fire Station 151 with beef chili, nachos, hot dogs and desserts. The Chamber is also running four beverage tents. Bring a card, because Chamber events are cashless.

Getting Downtown Starts Earlier This Year

Free shuttles run 1 to 8 p.m. That's a half hour earlier than the 1:30 p.m. start on last year's map.

Return shuttles pick up where riders were dropped off downtown. Board the one marked for your lot. If you'd rather drive in, the Chamber points to the Encore Parking Garage at Perry and South and the Douglas County Parking Garage at 3rd and Jerry. The 2026 event map warns that cars parked on or near the train tracks will be towed.

From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., these streets are closed: Perry Street from 5th to 2nd, North Wilcox from 5th to 3rd, 4th Street from Jerry to Perry, and 3rd and 2nd streets between Wilcox and Perry. If you live in or near that grid, plan to move your car before morning.

After Saturday, Plan by Day of the Week

Starting the next evening, the way to see the lights depends on the day.

The trolley runs Nov. 23 through Dec. 29. Carriages run Nov. 22 through Jan. 3, except Nov. 26, Dec. 24, Dec. 25 and Dec. 31. From the Sunday after Starlighting through Dec. 29, a ride runs nearly every night. The exceptions are Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which all land on carriage nights this year.

Mondays and Tuesdays Have the Easiest Ride

The free downtown trolley, run by the Castle Rock Downtown Alliance, doesn't need a ticket, a reservation or a line at the library. It runs a figure-eight loop. It starts at the Encore Parking Garage entrance on South Street between Wilcox and Perry, goes north on Wilcox, stops at the crosswalk on Third, and finishes at the Douglas County School District lot entrance on 6th Street. The loop takes about 12 minutes, so the wait at any stop is short.

With a two-hour window and a 12-minute loop, a Monday or Tuesday can fit dinner and a ride. The Third Street stop is a block from Third and Wilcox. That's where What Now Denver reported Homegrown Tap & Dough was opening on Dec. 26, 2025, at 221 Wilcox St., serving pizza, pasta, burgers and bowls. Wild Blue Yonder Brewing Co. sits at the north end of the corridor at 519 Wilcox St.

Wednesday Through Sunday Means Booking a Carriage

The Downtown Castle Rock carriage rides are the busiest part of the week. They're also the part with the fewest spots. The Alliance has 560 rides for the season, run by two carriages five nights a week. The program started years ago with one carriage one night a week.

What the Alliance lists for each ride:

• Price. $59 reserves the whole carriage, which comes to $14.75 each with four riders. The Alliance says ticket and sponsorship sales cover only about half the cost, and the Alliance pays the rest.
• Capacity. Four people. In some cases two adults and three children under 10 can ride together.
• Length. 8 to 15 minutes depending on lights and traffic. Most rides take about 10.
• Pickup. By the big tree in Festival Park. Arrive a few minutes before your time.
• Weather. Rides go out in rain, snow or shine and are canceled only in extreme conditions. The carriage is open-air.

The horses come from Kodiak Ranch. The Alliance says rides are kept short so the horses get breaks between them. Tickets are limited to one per person, and each ticket reserves a full carriage. Payment is by credit card only. An in-person sale on Oct. 29 at the Philip & Jerry Miller Library offered 75 tickets. The Alliance scheduled online sales for Wednesday, Nov. 18, at noon, with the link posted on its carriage page and social channels. The Alliance itself says that even with rides every night of the week, not everyone who wants one would get one. If you missed a ticket, Wednesday through Sunday still works for walking the lights. You just won't be in a carriage.

For carriage-night parking, the Alliance lists the Encore garage, the Philip & Jerry Miller Library, the Douglas County garage and The View at Castle Rock garage.

Two December Saturdays Bring Three More Events

The weekly schedule fills most evenings. The Town's Season of the Star calendar adds three events across two December Saturdays, and two of them fall on the same day.

1. Festival Park Starlight Market, Friday, Dec. 4, 3 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 5, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. It has more than 40 craft and food vendors at 300 Second St., plus roasted nuts, tamales, food trucks, live music and the 40-foot tree.
2. Reindeer Games, Saturday, Dec. 5, 1 to 4 p.m. This free event is at the Amphitheater and Millhouse at Philip S. Miller Park, 1375 W. Plum Creek Parkway, with live reindeer, Santa photos, crafts and hot chocolate.
3. Storytellers and S'mores, Saturday, Dec. 12, 5 to 7 p.m. This free event has Santa and friends reading holiday classics from a giant storyteller's chair in Festival Park, with a drop box for letters to Santa and s'mores.

Dec. 5 can fill a whole day. Reindeer Games at Philip S. Miller Park ends at 4 p.m., the market in Festival Park runs until 7, and carriages start rolling from the same tree at 5.

The Final 20 Nights Are Lights Only

The Town keeps the tree and decorations lit until Jan. 23, the end of the National Western Stock Show. The trolley stops after Dec. 29 and the carriages stop after Jan. 3. From Jan. 4 to Jan. 23, the lights stay up with no ride running. Those nights are the quietest time to walk the lights, with no carriages slowing traffic on Wilcox and no ticket to buy. Park in the Encore garage, walk up Wilcox to Festival Park and loop back by Third and Perry. It's the same route the trolley drives, just on foot.

If your holiday plans include hosting family in Castle Rock and you want to know which downtown blocks are easy walks in the evening, I'm happy to talk through it. And if this is the year you're wondering what your own place near downtown is worth, Brandon Kass can get you an instant home valuation before the Star comes down on Jan. 23.