Lone Tree's Holiday Season Runs Through One Corner of Havana Street
On the evening of Thanksgiving, the lights go on at an Austrian homestead across the street from a light rail parking garage. Schweiger Ranch, at 10822 S. Havana St., keeps them lit from November 26, 2026, through January 24, 2027. The ranch follows the Colorado tradition of leaving holiday lights up through the end of the National Western Stock Show. The gates stay closed during the display. You see it from the parking lot, from Havana Street, or by walking the East West Trail.
The way you see those lights fits the rest of this season. From Thanksgiving through the first weekend of December, much of Lone Tree's holiday calendar sits in a small area east of I-25. That area includes Havana Street, RidgeGate Parkway, the RidgeGate light rail station, a ranch founded in 1874, and the construction fencing along Happy Canyon Creek. The fencing is the part that will outlast the season.
Schweiger Ranch began in 1874 with three Austrian brothers, John, Joseph and Jacob Schweiger. The restored complex still has the house, barn, stable, loafing shed, silo, chicken coop, tractor shed and corral. It runs as a living history site, with self-guided Open Days like the one held August 15 and guided tours that require registration.
The City also uses the ranch for its own events. Lone Tree's Fall Festival was held there on October 4, 2026, with pumpkins, wagon rides, crafts, animal activities, music and food vendors. The holiday lights start the next stretch at the same spot, and the ranch's biggest day of the year comes nine days later.
Two community events fall on consecutive days, about as far apart as the Arts Center and the light rail line.
Friday, December 4. The City's Merry Days runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lone Tree Arts Center. The City Holiday Tree lighting is at 6:30, and the evening also has a holiday market, Santa, music, crafts and activities from community partners. The City's September/October issue of Timberlines lists the venue address as 10075 Commons St.
Saturday, December 5. Schweiger Ranch holds its 10th annual Austrian Christmas from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The ranch describes it as a celebration of the Christmas traditions of the Austrians who settled the land in 1874. There will be Santa with real reindeer, horse-drawn carriage rides, face painting, Austrian food and music, and the Christkindl Markt, which sells locally handcrafted gifts. Admission is free and registration is not required. The top of the ranch's event page still shows last year's date, December 6, 2025. The current listing below it gives Saturday, December 5.
A few rules from the ranch's FAQ that are easy to miss:
For Austrian Christmas, the ranch sends general parking to the RTD RidgeGate Station garage directly across Havana Street. Enter from the garage's north entrance. Parking fees are waived during the event. You cross the street at the RTD south entrance driveway, where a Lone Tree Community Safety Officer directs foot traffic. Golf carts and shuttles run from the RTD south surface lot, the accessible parking area and the main gate. Accessible parking is in the ranch's own lot just inside the driveway.
On December 5, a safety officer and a golf cart get visitors from the garage to the ranch. The projects going in around both are meant to make that connection permanent.
The City of Lone Tree explains the construction along Havana in an article titled "Connecting the Dots." Several public, private and nonprofit projects are being built at the same time in a small area around Havana Street, RidgeGate Parkway, Schweiger Ranch and Happy Canyon Creek. Their construction limits overlap closely enough that the agencies and contractors are coordinating so the same ground isn't restored more than once.
| Project | Who leads it | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| South Havana Street Bikeway, Rail Way to Surrey Drive | City of Lone Tree, funded by CDOT and Rampart Range Metropolitan District | Final stages, completion expected this winter |
| Happy Canyon Creek pedestrian bridge and trail link | Douglas County, with Lone Tree, Tall Tales Ranch, Parker Water and Sanitation District and South Suburban Parks and Recreation | Contract approved January 2026 |
| Happy Canyon Creek stream improvements | Mile High Flood District, with Lone Tree and Rampart Range Metropolitan District | Stabilizing the channel and banks, adding sections of regional trail |
| Tall Tales Ranch | Tall Tales Ranch, on land leased from the Schweiger Ranch Foundation | Broke ground August 12, 2026, residents expected spring 2028 |
| High Note Park, Phase One | Lone Tree and South Suburban Parks and Recreation, with Douglas County and other partners | Broke ground April 2026, opening expected late summer 2027 |
The bikeway connects the rest. Havana Street is already a popular recreational cycling route in northern Douglas County. The project adds dedicated bike facilities, pedestrian improvements, ADA-compliant ramps and a new signalized intersection. The City calls it the missing link between RidgeGate Parkway and the Happy Canyon Creek Regional Trail, and it improves access to RTD facilities, Schweiger Ranch and Tall Tales Ranch. Completion is forecast for "this winter," not a specific date. Plan on December 5 being a crosswalk-and-shuttle day, not a bike-path day.
The creek crossing comes next. The Douglas County News-Press reported that the pedestrian bridge is a 140-foot span on a trail connection about 800 feet long and 10 feet wide. South Suburban will maintain it once construction is finished. It will run from the Havana Street sidewalk near Tall Tales Ranch, across Happy Canyon Creek, to the regional trail. Douglas County has named mobility and access to open space as the main benefits.
Tall Tales Ranch will add a gathering place on four leased acres of Schweiger Ranch land, directly across from the RidgeGate Parkway light rail station. According to CCD Magazine, the inclusive residential community for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities will have 28 rent-restricted units, a community and event barn, and the Tall Tales Coffee Company.
High Note Park is the largest piece. The 80-acre regional park along Happy Canyon Creek has been part of the long-range plan since residents approved the RidgeGate annexation in 2000. Phase One will connect the park to the Happy Canyon Creek Trail, and from there to Schweiger Ranch and the East West Regional Trail. The opening is expected in late summer 2027.
The City connects all of this to its first Comprehensive Plan, written soon after Lone Tree incorporated. That plan called for "a network of tree-lined streets and trails connecting attractive community facilities." The City says that idea is now visible on the ground just east of I-25.
Lone Tree Arts Center, on the other side of I-25, fills the dates around the ranch weekend. The November main stage schedule includes Time for Three on November 13, Ali Stroker on November 14, and Stephen Wilkes: America at 250 on November 20. The 2026–27 season holiday run follows:
Suzy Bogguss plays the Sunday after Thanksgiving, three nights after the ranch lights come on. The tree lighting and the Austrian Christmas fall on the following Friday and Saturday. From November 26 through December 5, the holiday events move back and forth across I-25, and the stretch closes on Saturday at Havana and RidgeGate Parkway.
At Pinette Realty Group, we follow details like the RTD garage parking and the walk across Havana because they shape how a part of town works day to day, long after the reindeer leave. If you'd like to know how the bikeway, the creek trail or High Note Park will connect to your own street, Nicole Pinette can walk you through what's being built nearby.
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