Even on a clear day, it’s tricky to “See Seven States” (as a marker encourages) from Rock City Gardens atop Lookout Mountain, Georgia. But after dark, from November 15 through January 4, it’s nigh impossible to miss the millions of glowing bulbs that make up the park’s Enchanted Garden of Lights, which marks thirty years this season.
“There are now grandchildren here with their grandparents, who came when they were children,” says Will Jackson, Rock City’s senior manager of innovation. “We take that seriously.”
Jackson and his team work year-round to perfect the immersive displays that transform the park’s fourteen acres of winding paths, craggy passageways, lush native landscaping, famous gnomes, and fairy-tale dioramas into a holiday spectacle.
For the first time, the public also will be welcomed into Carter Cliffs, the stone-brick house built in 1936 by Rock City founders Garnet and Frieda Carter, home to three subsequent generations of the park’s family ownership, and now an ideal venue for fireside chats with Santa.
At a time when it’s easier than ever for aspiring Clark Griswolds to Amazon-order their way to holiday glory, Jackson knows his team offers something special. “All these lights—we can put them out in a parking lot and have a show,” he says. “But the only place you can have an Enchanted Garden of Lights is in this space. There’s no other Rock City.”