Descanso Gardens Enchanted

La Cañada - Flintridge, California

November 17, 2024-January 5, 2025, 5:30-10 p.m.
closed November 23 and December 24 & 25

Descanso Gardens
1418 Descanso Drive
La Canada Flintridge, CA
$22-45, descansogardens.org

1 mile walking path, approx. 1 hour to complete

Enchanted Forest of Light is a seasonal holiday attraction experienced after dark at Descanso Gardens, an urban retreat located 20 minutes from downtown Los Angeles. The lighted forest tour is approx. one mile in length, containing 8 distinct lighting displays in  the botanical garden's beloved areas. 

Some displays feature interactive lights that visitors can manipulate, while other exhibits let you dance or jump on the lights as they change color. Sparkling, swirling installations from HYBYCOZO on the Main Lawn, Flower Power on the Promenade and exquisite lighting effects in the Ancient Forest are familiar to those who've visited before.

Exhibits have included:

• Flower Power is the first experience in the gardens. This  magical field of December tulips features thousands of tulip-shaped lights aglow, rippling into reds and yellows, and dancing to music. 
• Rainbow Sycamores is a series of lighted column shapes that react to touch and change colors. 
• Starlight Garden, a walkway of stars, leads into the collection of stained glass structures (you can walk through several of them,) shimmering in the moonlight. New in 2021-2022 season, this town of magical creations built in the Rose Garden by contemporary sculptor Tom Fruin are made out of recycled materials.
• Lightwave Lake (pictured) contain large globe-shaped light reflecting on the a man-made pond or lake in hues primarily of purple and blue.
• Symphony of Oaks features interactive lights & music you can alter by standing and moving around near the base of actual trees.
• Fantasy Forest features uplights that bathe oaks and redwoods in shades of blue and green. The gently-changing lights create a beautiful tapestry of nature at night.
• Pixel Grove with its maze-like path breaks down the light experience with the sensation of walking through light, much like pixels form the elements of a picture.
• Japanese Garden of Good Fortune with a sea of red lanterns lighting visible water elements may symbolize the New Year and new beginnings, a fitting, forward-looking tribute to the future as one exits the fantasy lights display. 

At the Enchanted Forest of Light  attraction at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles County, you can play with light and shadow while soaking up smooth sounds and vibrations along the 1-mile walking path. Descanso Gardens features nine botanical collections, a (ride-able) miniature railroad, and greets more than half a million visitors annually.

Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia also offers a holiday lights experience for 2021-2022 season called Lightscape. In LA County the lighted walking tours don't stop at arboretums and botanical gardens, however.

There's Holiday Road USA at King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas, Los Angeles Zoo's Zoo Lights in Griffith Park, and the incredible drive through attractions such as Santa's Speedway Christmas Lights Drive-Thru Spectacular at Irwindale Speedway. 

Events are not guaranteed. It is your responsibility to confirm before going.