WildLights Holiday Light Display at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens
WildLights – Christmas Lighting display with a Zoo twist!
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens’ WildLights Holiday lighting display: If you are looking for a Christmas light display different and more interesting than the norm, try this! It can be found south-east of Palm Springs in the southern area of Palm Desert. The Zoo is normally only open until around 5pm in the winter. During select nights of December and late November the park reopens after 6pm for a huge light display. Their light display was once voted as one of the top 5 “Best Zoo Lights” by USA today. The display basically spans the entire park as a walk-through attraction while listening to all your favorite Christmas tunes.
Historical Stuff – Who knew?
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens was conceptualized in 1970: Several concerned trustees of the Palm Springs Desert Museum came up with it together. They were worried about the impact of resort development on the desert eco-system. Their solution began as an interpretive nature trail and preserve in Palm Desert. With the vision of trustees like Philip L Boyd (also founder of the Riverside Campus of the University of California), and with the added guidance of the talented and accomplished naturalist and wildlife biologist Karen Sausman (whom they hired as the first on-site naturalist), it soon became so much more. Ms. Sausman also had experience as a zookeeper and park ranger. She went on to be the President and CEO of The Living Desert for 40 years.
What is the purpose of The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens?
For more than 50 years, the staff, volunteers, and supporters of The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens have been continuing their important work; Preserving, conserving, and interpreting the desert and all its varied plant and animal life .
According to the Zoo’s website it is a nonprofit, accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Their goal for themselves is to ensure the highest standards of all aspects of animal care, education, conservation, public service, and operations. The Zoo states that it is active in conservation research, habitat protection and breeding programs. We read that they are also involved with education initiatives around the world, and also in the surrounding community.
The Important Tasks of The Living Desert Zoo and Garden Include:
- Preserving and restoring a portion of the Colorado Desert in its natural state.
- Breeding of desert animals and cultivation of plants threatened with extinction.
- Fostering in visitors an awareness of and appreciation for the variety of plants and animals in worldwide desert ecosystems.
- Promoting and ensuring environmental, energy and natural resource sustainability for The Living Desert and Coachella Valley region.
What is it like at The WildLights Holiday Light Display?
Since we are YouTube content creators, we arrived early to get a feeling for the location and to film a little outside the entrance. We were able to see the park emptying at 5pm (entrance to the zoo during the day doesn’t entitle you to entrance to the lights display). A few people stood around for the hour, but many others began turning up as well until there was quite a small crowd loosely hanging around the entrance. Once the display opened it took a good 20-30 minutes for the waiting crowd to be let in, and it seemed to stay quite busy.
Some Highlights of the WildLights holiday lighting display:
- A tall, pulsing-to-music Christmas tree stands near the front gate ready for selfies.
- All the paths, have beautiful light strings in various colors.
- Various characters drawn in lights, some animated in 2d, can be found (look out for the golfer getting a hole in one)
- There is a herd of life-size animal lanterns sure to please children of all ages.
- You can walk through a tunnel of lights synchronized to the music
- Be mesmerized by a huge cube in the form of a bow wrapped present pulsing to the music
- Kids can enjoy playing on the partly lit playground and the much better lit merry-go-round.
But it’s not just all about lights.
Other Things to Enjoy at WildLights :
- A s’mores kit to roast over the provided bonfires
- A delicious cup of hot chocolate
- Churros (at the Churro Stop)
- Grilled food (at Palm Garden Outdoor Grill)
- Various snacks.
There was a lot going on!
Does there have to be a downside?
The popularity of the event means it can get crowded, and that it’s important to go buy your ticket online early some time before you plan to go. Then you can get the evening you want, and the entry time that suits you. It’s good to be able to say that it’s a very successful event for the zoo, and on some days attendance sells out! Be organized, buy your tickets early, arrive a little early to get parking, and choose to be patient if it’s crowded so that you can relax and enjoy the lights with your loved ones.
One thing we noticed is that the playground area was quite dark, and we could hear kids playing loudly, but couldn’t really see them, which we thought could be quite concerning for parents… obviously a judgement call for each individual.
Our Verdict: is it “Ready for Takeoff” or should you “Find another Getaway”?
It was an impressive light show, not too expensive for entry, with a lot of attention to detail and the feeling that the Zoo was invested in making it a wonderful event. We suggest: Go!
How to Get to The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens
Surrounded by mountains, this desert region is only accessible by a few arterial roads:
From the Los Angeles Area
If driving from the Los Angeles area take I-10 all the way until exit 131 to reach Monterey Ave and travel south. From Monterey continue onto CA-74 before eventually taking a left turn onto Haystack Rd. A Right off Haystack takes you onto Portola Ave and the carpark entrance for The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens will be on your left.
From San Diego
From the San Diego area taking I-15 North and then you have two options.
Option 1: Mountainous and Windy
- For the Mountainous and windy (but less time-consuming) path you would take exit 58 onto CA-79 South (which takes you through the city of Temecula) and then continue for 18 miles until taking a left turn on to CA-371 east. Drive for around 20 miles and then turn Right onto CA-74 East. After about 23 miles a right turn onto Haystack Road which you follow all the way to the end. Turn Right on Portola Ave, and the carpark entrance for The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens will be on your left.
Option 2: Les Windy, but more complicated
- For a less windy, but more complicated, path you would continue on I- 15 North until it forks and follow -215 North towards Riverside/San Bernadino. Take exit 10 for Newport Road in the Menifee area. Here you will follow a series of roads through various smaller towns heading generally North East until you reach I-10 and travel east. At exit 131 (on I-10E) you get off to follow Monterey Ave south. From Monterey continue onto CA-74 before eventually taking a left turn onto Haystack Rd. A Right off Haystack takes you onto Portola Ave and the carpark entrance for The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens will be on your left.
From the East
Lastly from the East (traveling from Phoenix, or South East from Las Vegas) make your way to the I-10W. Follow I-10 west until exit 139 to go to Jefferson St (use the left two lanes). Once on Jefferson stay to the right so you can stay on Jefferson (it turns to the right after 3 cross streets) and then turn to the right onto Fred Waring Drive. From Fred Waring Drive you’ll turn onto Portola Avenue. After a couple of miles Portola leads you to the carpark entrance for The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens which will be on your left.
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO!
- TICKETS: Buy your tickets on-line before you go. Some days during the event they sell out, and there is a limited purchase of tickets at each time-slot. It would be quite disappointing to arrive to find that you need to wait hours to get it, or worse, not be able to get in on that day.
- WHEN: Make sure your check the days that it is open; it’s not open every evening, and some evenings at the beginning are reserved for Zoo members.
- PARKING: Arrive early to get a good park, the carpark gets quite full and often overflows onto the street. You can end up with a long walk ahead of you before you even start viewing the lights if you are unlucky.
Eating and Sleeping: some of the body’s essential needs
- FOOD: Food is available on premises, but it’s a busy event most nights and you’ll have to line up to get it, or use the ChowNow app to order from the Thorn Tree Grille. Bring snacks and drinks if you don’t want to spend money or time on acquiring food.
- NEARBY ACCOMODATION: There are many hotels, resorts and also Airbnb’s in the area to chose from, so accommodation will hopefully not be too difficult to find.
You are in a desert at night… It’s cold and dark!
- SAFETY: There are a lot of decorative lights, but it also creates a lot of dark spaces (such as around the smore’s station, and the Gecko Gulch play park, surprisingly). It doesn’t feel dangerous, but extra precautions with young kids would be recommended. As a minimum, be thoughtful that for them its easy to get disorientated in the dark, but also areas with monochromatic lights can cause confusion too and they might follow the wrong “adult shape” without realizing.
- CLIMATE: You may be in a desert, but it’s only warm during the day… at night it can get quite cold (and its winter during the event), so dress warmly for the evening.
Answers to Important Questions
There are many bathrooms made available for the public, with some even available to the right of the front entrance before you step through the gate, and a second set available just inside the front entrance to the left. A further nine (9) bathroom facilities are to be found spread strategically throughout the park, easily found on the Visitor Map. We did not check them all, and some may be inside venues that are temporarily closed during the light display.
There are plenty of options for food and drink at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens outlets:
- The Thorn Tree Grille (Burgers and “American” style fast food – Use the ChowNow app to pre-order and pickup)
- Kookaburra Cafe (fresh made-to-order sandwiches, soups, deserts etc.)
- Crash Cafe (Snacks, soft serve icecream, popcorn, frozen drinks, etc.)
- Churro Stop
- Safari Soft Serve (Soft serve icecream with toppings, milkshakes, fresh fruit smoothies, ICEE beverages, Nachos, popcorn, draft beer, wine, and more)
- Water stations can be found spread throughout the premises
The Living Desert Zoo and Garden allow well behaved service dogs inside when accompanied by their owners. Non-service animals are not permitted (presumably for the sake of the health and wellbeing of the animals being cared for in the zoo).
Drone flight would require permission of the zoo management, we recommend you find other places to fly.
