The Lighter Side

A A A Comments By Amber Taufen Thursday, Dec 31 2009

By now, most of us are more than ready to say "Bah, humbug!" to the plethora of light displays and other festivities that have dominated the past month or more. But if you’re not quite ready to hang up that Santa hat, two of Denver’s best light displays are still showing tonight only: Blossoms of Light and Trail of Lights.

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“Denver Botanic Gardens is one of the few public gardens in the middle of a city, so when people come to Blossoms of Light, it's more of a city feel," says spokesman Will Jones. "It's much more intimate; the lights are right there on top of you." And now that the DBG has opened a bistro at its 1005 York Street location, you can grab dinner in addition to hot cocoa and cider before or after you cruise the lights.

Trail of Lights, at the DBG annex at Chatfield, 8500 Deer Creek Canyon Road in Littleton, has a different feel to it. It's a working farm with more than 700 acres of land. As a result, the lights are more spread out — although, with half a million lights scattered across the trails, it's still stunning. "Usually the animals aren't out because it's so cold, but you can walk through the farm area and see them," notes Jones. "We have an old ranch house decorated for Christmas, as well, so people can go inside and see what the homes looked like many, many years ago."

The light shows run from 5:30 to 10 p.m. on this final viewing night. Tickets are $4 to $9; visit www.botanicgardens.org.
Dec. 4-Jan. 3, 5:30-10 p.m., 2009

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