Schweiger Ranch's Holiday Lights Are Meant to Be Seen From Havana Street

Where do you stand to see a holiday display you aren't allowed to walk into? Schweiger Ranch points visitors to its parking lot, to South Havana Street, and to the East West Trail. This winter, every one of those spots sits inside a cluster of construction projects that is rebuilding the ground around the ranch for people on foot and on bikes.

The ranch's Holiday Display of Lights starts the evening of November 26 and runs through January 24, 2027. Schweiger Ranch says the display follows the Colorado custom of keeping holiday lights up through the end of the National Western Stock Show. The historic Austrian homestead at 10822 S. Havana St. is one of the oldest sites on Lone Tree's east side. For two months of the year, people see it the way you see a landmark from a distance.

The Gates Stay Closed, So the Street Does the Work

The ranch's event listing is direct about how the display works:

Please note the Ranch complex will be closed and entrance within the gates is not permitted.

The same page names three ways to see the lights. You can stay warm in your car in the ranch parking lot, take them in along Havana Street, or, "if you're up for a winter evening walk," get a closer view from the East West Trail.

Two of those three options happen on public ground outside the ranch fence. Douglas County lists both RidgeGate Parkway and Schweiger Ranch as connectors to the East/West Regional Trail, and the City of Lone Tree names both as trail access points. The county also lists car parking at its RidgeGate Trailhead. For people coming by light rail, Schweiger Ranch's own directions point out that the RTD RidgeGate Station parking garage is directly across the street.

So the walk to see the lights is a walk along Havana Street, between the station and the trail. That stretch is where the city, the county and two special districts are all working right now.

Five Projects Inside a Few Blocks

In an article titled "Connecting the Dots," the City of Lone Tree describes how much is under construction "in a remarkably compact area around Havana Street, RidgeGate Parkway, historic Schweiger Ranch and Happy Canyon Creek." The city says the work zones are so close together that "their construction limits actually overlap." Instead of several contractors restoring the same ground at different times, the agencies coordinated the work. Here is where each piece stands for the holiday season:

• South Havana Street Bikeway. This runs from Rail Way to Surrey Drive and adds dedicated bike facilities, pedestrian improvements, ADA-compliant ramps and a new fully signalized intersection. The city says it is in its final stages, with completion expected this winter. It fills a missing link between RidgeGate Parkway and the Happy Canyon Creek Regional Trail, with better access to the RTD station, Schweiger Ranch and Tall Tales Ranch. The City of Lone Tree owns the project. Funding comes from the Colorado Department of Transportation and Rampart Range Metropolitan District.
• Happy Canyon Creek pedestrian bridge. In January, Douglas County commissioners took up a $215,150 contract with Wheeler Lumber, LLC for a 140-foot prefabricated Corten steel bridge with a 12-foot-wide concrete deck. It is part of a trail link of about 800 feet that runs from the Havana Street sidewalk near Tall Tales Ranch, across the creek, to the Happy Canyon Creek Regional Trail.
• Happy Canyon Creek stream improvements. Mile High Flood District manages this work, which began in June 2023. It stabilizes the creek's channels and banks to handle higher flows from new development and adds segments of the Happy Canyon Regional Trail. The city's project page projects completion in late 2026.
• High Note Park, Phase One. The 80-acre regional park along Happy Canyon Creek broke ground in April. According to South Suburban Parks and Recreation, Phase One is expected to open in late summer 2027. It includes two lighted synthetic multipurpose fields, a playground, a water-play feature, a 200-seat beer garden, a food-truck area, separate large- and small-dog park areas, and Happy Canyon Trail links to Schweiger Ranch and the East West Trail.
• Tall Tales Ranch. This planned community broke ground in August on four acres of Schweiger Ranch land leased from the Schweiger Ranch Foundation, directly across from the RidgeGate Parkway light rail station.

Each project has a different owner, funding source and schedule. All of them lead to the same few acres around the ranch house. The city ties this back to Lone Tree's first Comprehensive Plan, which envisioned "a network of tree-lined streets and trails connecting attractive community facilities."

For a walk to see the lights this season, that means you'll be on a street still being finished. The display runs into late January, which overlaps the bikeway's expected winter completion. Someone who walks Havana Street on opening night and again in January may find the sidewalk in a different state between the two visits.

One Weekend, Both Sides of I-25

The ranch lights run for two months, but Lone Tree's main holiday events fall on two back-to-back days, one on each side of the interstate.

1. Friday, December 4, Merry Days at the Lone Tree Arts Center, 6 to 8 p.m. The City Holiday Tree lighting is at 6:30 p.m., with remarks from Mayor Harmon. There's a hot cocoa and s'mores bar, music from The Denver Dolls, a holiday market and a Santa visit. Across the street, Lone Tree Library has story times at 7, 7:15 and 7:30 p.m. MorningStar Senior Living hosts a Gingerbread Village with cookie decorating, a photo booth, a Holiday Bazaar and a place to write letters to Santa. Details are on the City's Merry Days page.
2. Saturday, December 5, Austrian Christmas at Schweiger Ranch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is the ranch's 10th annual event, and admission is free with no registration. It includes Santa with real reindeer, horse-drawn carriage rides, Austrian food and music, and a Christkindl Markt for handmade gifts. The ranch's Austrian Christmas page lists the date as December 5.
3. Saturday evening, December 5, the lights. The display has been running for more than a week by then. After Austrian Christmas, you can come back after dark and see the lights from the lot, from Havana Street or from the East West Trail. The gates that were open for the daytime event are closed again for the display.

Austrian Christmas is one of the only times this season that people can go inside the ranch gates. The ranch's regular Open Days, such as the September 19 event, offered self-guided access to the historic house, outbuildings and grounds from noon to 4 p.m. No November Open Day appears on the ranch calendar. Austrian Christmas is the December date to go inside before the lights take over the rest of the winter.

The Arts Center Side of the Calendar

Merry Days takes place at the Arts Center, and its holiday programming continues around that weekend. The Lone Tree Arts Center's 2026–2027 Main Stage season includes:

• Suzy Bogguss: A Swingin' Little Christmas, Sunday, November 29
• Kalani Peʻa's Hawaiian Christmas, Wednesday, December 2
• Sensory Inclusive: The Holidays are for Phamaly and the Colorado Symphony, Tuesday, December 8
• The Swingles: Together at Christmas!, Thursday, December 10
• Motones and Jerseys: Holiday Hi-Fi, Wednesday, December 16 through Sunday, December 20
• Holiday Family Movie, A Muppet Christmas Carol, Wednesday, December 23

The Suzy Bogguss show is three nights after the ranch lights come on. An evening could start with a short drive along Havana Street past the homestead and end at the Arts Center on the west side. After Christmas, the Arts Center's holiday shows are over, and the ranch lights stay up for another four weeks, through January 24.

By next summer, the walk around the ranch should look different. The bikeway is expected to be done this winter, the creek work is projected to wrap up in late 2026, and High Note Park's lighted fields, water play and beer garden are scheduled to open nearby in late summer 2027. This season, the ranch lights still sit at the edge of an active construction zone.

If you live near Havana Street or RidgeGate and wonder how the new trails, bridge and park could change the way your part of Lone Tree is valued, Joni Jagger has followed southeast Denver's east side for decades and is happy to talk it through. Request Your Home Valuation.