Alton, Illinois lies just 20 miles north of St. Louis, Missouri and every holiday season this small city puts on a spectacular Christmas light display at Rock Springs Park. With more than 2.5 million lights that adorn trees and displays, a trip though the park is sure to delight both the young and the old.
Alton is known for its hilly landscape and Rock Springs Park has many colorful, lighted displays tucked away in its vast hills and valleys so you have to look close and drive slowly to see everything. One great thing about the Christmas light display in Rock Springs Park is that a portion of the area is free to drive through.
Entering the park you make a left and are instructed to turn out your vehicle lights. You proceed up a hill adorned on each side of the road with colored light displays such as Spiderman, ornaments, and white lighted snowflakes hanging in trees. You drive through a curved canopy of blinking white lights to the top of the hill. At the top there are brightly colored light displays of Christmas packages, lollipops, Raggedy Ann and Andy, and small make-believe buildings.
Going down the other side of the hill into a deep valley reveals a spectacular winter wonderland forest scene done in all white lights. There are lighted snowflakes and strands of lights hanging from trees, illuminated deer and other animals. Along each side of the road are strings of half circle lights helping to light your way through to the next area.
When you come out of the small valley, you can either turn right and exit the park, or turn left and pay a small fee to continue on to view the best the park has to offer. After paying your fee, you enter an area of the park that takes you back in time. The displays in this area are of olden days when women wore long dresses and men wore top hats. There are cut outs of lighted ice skaters skating on a lighted pond and old time buildings, and decorated Christmas trees with children playing about.
Leaving this scene and proceeding up another hill we see more single lighted displays of lollipops, buildings, carolers, and animals. On the hill to the left are long lines of blue blinking lights representing a water fall and more of these lights are at the bottom of the hill representing water in a creek.
At the top of the hill children have the opportunity of visiting Santa Claus and telling him what they most desire for Christmas. Bring your camera or have Santa’s staff snap a picture of the kids on Santa’s lap. Next to Santa’s house is a small barn filled with live goats, sheep, and other animals. Children can pet the animals or feed them a small sack of grain purchased from inside Santa’s house. Further down from Santa’s house is a display of Christmas trees decorated by area businesses and groups that can be voted on for being the most beautifully decorated tree.
The road on the way out of the park is illuminated with more colorful lighted displays. Greeters at the end of the park will take your ballots for the Christmas tree contest and wish you a ‘Merry Christmas’.
The fee ti view the light display $7.00 per car and small vans, and $1.00 per person for vehicles with ten or more persons. Hours are from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, November 23 to December 27, 2007. Carriage rides are offered by Greatting Horse Farm Monday through Thursday, based on weather and availability. Cost is $20.00 for the first person and $5.00 for each additional person and reservations are advised.
Source: All Around Alton
