What to Know
- Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena
- The annual attraction will twinkle nightly through the holiday season beginning Dec. 7
- Join the Winter Festival, the lane's kick-off event, from 3 to 9 p.m. at the Altadena Public Library at 600 E. Mariposa Street
- The lighting ceremony will take place at 6 p.m.
- Christmas Tree Lane is located on Santa Rosa Avenue between Woodbury and Altadena Drives
Altadena has always possessed an amazing, up-above-it-all kind of aura, but don't mistake us: We mean this in the best sense, not in a snobby or snooty way.
The "alta" tells the "high up there" part of the city's tale, as does the mountain-snug spot's frequent appearances in films and television shows, the stories that require a scenic setting that is lovely, tree-filled, and a little out-of-this-realm.
And few attractions bolster Altadena's epic alta-ness as easily as Christmas Tree Lane, that utterly ethereal and enduring gift to the community.
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The seasonal offering is open for a few weeks each season — the 2024 kick-off is Saturday, Dec. 7 — and, as always, no admission is charged.
Visitors simply need to slowly roll under the decorated deodar cedars, trees that glitter block after block after block, while marveling at the vintage and vivacious display.
Christmas Tree Lane is a true arboreal icon, a living landmark that marked its centennial a few years back.
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"The Mile of Christmas Trees" — a sobriquet so special it appears on the attraction's official historical marker — has been drawing the curious since 1920, though the stately deodar cedars that line Santa Rosa Avenue, trees that were planted in the late 1800s, surely had their fandom well before the attraction was first illuminated.
F.C. Nash, a department store owner, helped get the lane's legacy going, and what a legacy it has become: The dazzling destination is a must-visit for Southern Californians needing some olden Christmas spirit and some authentic Altadena magic, all for free.
If you'd like to be at the light-filled launch, make for the Altadena Public Library party in the mid-afternoon Dec. 7; food trucks will be there, and craft vendors, and booths selling Christmas Tree Lane hoodies and such.
The ceremony begins at 6 p.m., but, again, the lights will be on nightly through the holidays and, usually, a little after; just keep an eye on the lane's social pages for the final January 2025 date, when the trees shall cease shimmering, at least through the 2025 holidays.
January, by the by, is a great time to see the lights if you'd like a little less "holiday love" in the mix, though, of course, there's a merry spirit every evening of the attraction's annual engagement.
But let's reserve the biggest portion of holiday love for the volunteers who decorate the trees, a truly huge effort that is busily underway months before the official flipping of the switch.
