Put a smile on a child’s face by driving to a local neighborhood to view the best places to see Christmas light displays in Reno, Nevada.

Update: This article was updated on December 18, 2018 to add new places we’ve found since last year and to remove some that are no longer with us. Take a look below and you might find something new for your viewing of Christmas light displays in Reno, Nevada. – Enjoy.


Holiday magic brings with it the opportunity to view neighborhood Christmas light displays with your children. Reno, Nevada is no different in offering many places where you can take your children to view Christmas lights. The twinkling of the reds and the blues, the yellows and the greens, the pinks and the purples, the snowmen, the stars, the snowflakes, and nativity scenes, all bring excitement and wonder to children peering through frosty and often fogged-up car windows.

Two locations in the Reno/ Sparks, Nevada area come to mind when thinking about taking our kids out to look at Christmas lights. Hidden Valley and the Lights of Tanea.

When I was a kid and through high school, I would make the annual trip out to Hidden Valley off of East McCarran Boulevard, past Rosewood Lakes Golf Course, to view the Hidden Valley Parade of Lights throughout the entire Hidden Valley neighborhood. In fact, when moving back to Reno, this memory came to mind as something that I could share with my kids and it put a smile on my face just knowing I could share a piece of my childhood with them. When we came home for Christmas last year, we took a trip out to Hidden Valley and shared with our kids many of the houses that put up Christmas light displays. However, during that visit last year, it seems as though many of the lights had disappeared from the front lawns and yards in that neighborhood. Even though there were many houses with lights, there were not as many as there once were when I was younger. In fact, the local fire department would park their truck at the entrance and hand out candy canes. No such luck last year. I can only hope that it once again becomes as big and beautiful as it once was for the sake of people like me who want to share this memory with their children. It’s a Reno tradition; at least by my standards.