Last chances coming up to look at these holiday lights

Animal enrichment activities are part of the fun at Chattanooga Zoo's Holiday Lights at the Zoo. (Chattanooga Zoo Photo)
Animal enrichment activities are part of the fun at Chattanooga Zoo's Holiday Lights at the Zoo. (Chattanooga Zoo Photo)

Three local attractions' holiday light extravaganzas are winding down as Christmas approaches. Here are the days remaining for last looks at lights in Ruby Falls, Rock City Gardens and Chattanooga Zoo.

Holiday Lights at the Zoo

» Where: Chattanooga Zoo, 301 N. Holtzclaw Ave.

» When: 5:30-8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Dec. 21-22

» Admission: $12 adults, $8 children, zoo members receive 50 percent discount

» For more information: www.chattzoo.org

Enjoy seeing the zoo covered in lights while you visit the animals and watch them open gifts. Activities include holiday-themed animal enrichment programs, letters to Santa, carolers, cookie decorating, bingo, Hidden Elf on the Shelf, ornament crafting and storytime.

Activities available for extra fee: snack carts, camel feedings, train rides and carousel rides. Photos with Santa are an additional $7 per print.

Christmas Underground

» Where: Ruby Falls, 1720 S. Scenic Highway, Lookout Mountain

photo At Ruby Falls' Christmas Underground, an interactive journey through the underground cavern leads to Santa's miners collecting Joystones to spread Christmas cheer. (Ruby Falls Contributed Photo)

» When: Noon-8 p.m. daily through Sunday, Dec. 23

» Admission: $11.95 ages 3 and older; add on Ruby Falls tour for $13 per adult, $5 per child ages 3-12

» For more information: RubyFalls.com

Christmas Underground is a journey to the North Pole through a secret passage in the Ruby Falls cavern. The interactive adventure leads to a wonderland where Santa's miners are collecting "Joystones" to spread Christmas cheer.

Children can discover the hidden brilliance inside a keepsake geode, see Sugar Plum Fairy Village along with Penguin Palace, and experience a whimsical version of Ruby Falls' own aurora borealis.

Snow flurries and a charming, new grove of hand-crafted, fully synchronized, musical Christmas trees will delight guests. A glittering ice cave leads to a visit with Santa in his cozy North Pole cavern.

Christmas Underground utilizes timed-entry ticketing. Guests may purchase tickets based on the time they would like to check in at Ruby Falls for their Journey to the North Pole. Several ticket options are offered, including discount tickets combining a visit to Christmas Underground and a waterfall tour.

Enchanted Garden of Lights

» Where: Rock City Gardens, 1400 Patten Road, Lookout Mountain

» When: 5 p.m. gates open, 6 p.m. Magic Forest opens, daily through Dec. 31. Closed Christmas Eve night.

» Admission: $11.95-$28.95

photo Santa and Mrs. Claus can be found in North Pole Village at Rock City's Enchanted Garden of Lights. (Rock City Contributed Photo)

» For more information: 706-820-2531

A holiday tradition for 24 years, Rock City's Enchanted Gardens is a light extravaganza with more than a million LED lights and 30 holiday scenes twinkling throughout the Lookout Mountain attraction.

New this year is a walk-through Christmas tree. The 43-foot, walk-through Christmas tree is the first of its kind anywhere, and features thousands of programmable LEDs swirling and spinning to music, with a 40-foot archway tunnel of colored lights.

After entering the North Pole Highway, guests then choose one of four themed realms to venture through first.

The Magic Forest is a wonderland of colorful dancing trees, orbs and arches twinkling and flashing to an original score of festive music leading to Fairyland Caverns. In the Arctic Kingdom, Blizzard's Pass highlights icy gardens with lighted penguins fishing alongside animatronic polar bears.

Yule Town is the traditional route through the trail, displaying a vintage theme with classic holiday icons. North Pole Village hosts Santa and Mrs. Claus, where kids can enjoy cookie decorating while warming up with hot cocoa and listening to performances in the North Pole Lodge.

A portion of each ticket sold will be donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Chattanooga, which assists families of hospitalized children.

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