Your Guide to the Best Christmas Light Displays in Butte County

For those who want a mas­sive dose of col­or and com­mu­ni­ty spir­it, these parades are the high­light of the sea­son, and per­fect for an abun­dance of hol­i­day cheer with­out too much dri­ving around.

• Gri­d­ley Parade of Lights: A small-town favorite that trans­forms down­town Gri­d­ley into a glow­ing win­ter won­der­land. Come for the parade and stay for their Win­ter Won­der­land Fes­ti­val that’s always on the same night.
  • When: Annu­al­ly on the first Wednes­day in December.
• Par­adise Light­ed Truck Parade: A high-ener­gy Par­adise Ridge tra­di­tion fea­tur­ing mas­sive trucks and vehi­cles decked out in thou­sands of lights. Bring a non-per­ish­able food item for this beloved canned food dri­ve that lights up the Skyway.
  • When: Annu­al­ly on the first Sat­ur­day in December.
• Oroville Parade of Lights: Watch the streets of his­toric Oroville glow as local busi­ness­es and orga­ni­za­tions show­case their best fes­tive floats. With a new theme each year, the daz­zling dis­play always offers some­thing new to enjoy.
  • When: Annu­al­ly on the sec­ond Sat­ur­day in December

Ready to go on a hol­i­day scav­enger hunt? These neigh­bor­hoods and orga­nized dis­plays are worth the drive.

• Lights of Hope: There’s no big­ger Christ­mas lights dis­play than the one at Lights of Hope. Fea­tur­ing hun­dreds of thou­sands of lights and a free light walk that takes you through each and every one of them, Lights of Hope is a hol­i­day fam­i­ly favorite for a rea­son. Open 18 nights each Decem­ber; check their web­site for this year’s dates.

• Waf­fle Court: If you’re vis­it­ing Lights of Hope, we rec­om­mend a five-minute detour to Waf­fle Court, which fea­tures an over-the-top light­ed inflat­able display.

• Oroville Lights Map: For a more clas­sic neigh­bor­hood lights expe­ri­ence, use the crowd-sourced Oroville lights map to find homes with dec­o­ra­tions rang­ing from under­stat­ed to outsized.

Arguably the best neigh­bor­hood dis­play in the coun­ty is on Van Ness Way in Durham, just 15 min­utes south of Chico.

Not only is each house decked out from top to bot­tom, but there is a park in the mid­dle of the ​“P‑shaped” neigh­bor­hood with a beau­ti­ful dis­play cov­er­ing the green space. As you enter, you’ll see a sign instruct­ing you to tune your radio to 99.5 FM to enjoy the dis­play with hol­i­day music.

Chico’s neigh­bor­hoods take hol­i­day dec­o­rat­ing seri­ous­ly, with sev­er­al ​“des­ti­na­tion” streets that draw vis­i­tors from all over the North State.

• Song­bird Dri­ve (off Keefer Road): When locals think of the best neigh­bor­hood in Chico for Christ­mas lights dis­play, Song­bird Dri­ve is often at the top of their list. It’s a pop­u­lar dri­ve-through loop and even fea­tures homes that have lights synced to music that plays over FM radio.
  • Pro-Tip: Take Gar­ner Lane to get there. It’s a mini-tour in itself, show­cas­ing pock­ets of great neigh­bor­hood dis­plays, includ­ing one house with a fes­tive U‑shaped ​“dri­ve-through” dri­ve­way dis­play. Oth­er near­by streets worth a vis­it include Augus­ta Lane, Nighthawk Way, and Roberts Court.
• Enloe Health Park: A quaint yet dense­ly dec­o­rat­ed spot for those who want to get out and stretch their legs. Walk among the twin­kling trees and be sure to drop off a let­ter to San­ta in the park’s ded­i­cat­ed mailbox.
• The Neigh­bor­hood Tours:
  • Amber Grove: A fan­tas­tic neigh­bor­hood for a slow hol­i­day stroll.
  • Han­cock Park: Known for its large, ele­gant dis­plays and fes­tive atmosphere.
  • Mari­posa Ave / Ruby Riv­er Rd: A great area to explore more cre­ative and col­or­ful res­i­den­tial setups.

For more infor­ma­tion on neigh­bor­hood dis­plays in Chico, check out Trav­el Chico.

Nav­i­gat­ing hol­i­day crowds requires a lit­tle bit of plan­ning. Keep these tips in mind to ensure your vis­its are noth­ing but mer­ry and bright.

• Beat the Crowds: Des­ti­na­tion spots like Song­bird Dri­ve get incred­i­bly busy on week­ends as Christ­mas approach­es. Vis­it dur­ing the week or ear­li­er in Decem­ber to avoid long wait times.
• Be Mind­ful of Neigh­bors: Remem­ber that these are res­i­den­tial streets. Keep your music at a respect­ful vol­ume, dim your head­lights when pos­si­ble and safe, and nev­er block driveways.
• Dress for the Weath­er: Even if you plan on stay­ing in the car, bring coats and blan­kets for spots like Enloe Health Park where walk­ing is part of the fun.
• Safe­ty First: Keep an eye out for chil­dren walk­ing in dark­er neigh­bor­hoods. Stay alert and dri­ve slowly.