On the hill south of the Highlands Ranch Mansion, an old windmill stands above open pastureland and a cluster of 13 outbuildings. Until this spring, that land belonged to a homebuilder. On April 30, 2026, Shea Homes conveyed about 197 acres around the Mansion to the Highlands Ranch Metro District. That grew Historic Park to almost 250 acres.

So the December holiday celebration at 9950 E. Gateway Dr. is the first one held since the Mansion's surroundings became community land. It's also the one community holiday event in Highlands Ranch this year you can't drive straight to. All three of the season's Saturdays are free, and each one has a market or vendors at its center. The real difference is how you get in, and the Mansion is the date that needs a plan.

This Saturday at Eastridge, the Only Plan Is Showing Up

The HRCA Holiday Gift Fair runs this Saturday, Nov. 14, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Eastridge Recreation Center. Admission is free and open to the public.

You park at a rec center many households already use and walk inside. The setup shows up a day early, though. HRCA's closure calendar lists the Eastridge basketball courts and track as closed on Friday, Nov. 13, to get ready for the fair, so plan for that if Friday morning laps are part of your week.

The same calendar covers the rest of the season. All HRCA rec centers close on Thanksgiving Day and return to normal hours on Friday, Nov. 27. They're open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve, closed on Christmas Day, and close at 5 p.m. on New Year's Eve.

Dec. 5 Starts in a High School Parking Lot

The Highlands Ranch Mansion Holiday Celebration runs Saturday, Dec. 5, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Every activity is free, and the Mansion lists no tickets or registration. The program includes hayrides, Santa, self-guided tours of the house, reindeer games, face painting, school choirs and vendors, and food is for sale. The Metro District's event listing also includes Nutcracker selections by local dancers and holiday story times.

Getting there is the part you need to plan. Parking at the Mansion is for vehicles with a disability placard or plate only. Everyone else parks off-site, and the morning goes like this:

1. Drive to Mountain Vista High School and park in the west lot, which is the student parking lot.
2. Shuttle buses start running at 9:30 a.m., half an hour before the celebration opens.
3. Ride up to the Mansion grounds at 9950 E. Gateway Dr.

The shuttle changes how the day works. With a five-hour window and a bus at each end, it's harder to drop by for half an hour on the way somewhere else. Families with small children, extra layers and maybe a stroller should plan for both bus trips.

The Grounds Around the Hayrides Just Changed Hands

The shuttle drops you at a property that's different from what it was a year ago. According to the Metro District, the land conveyed on April 30 includes pastureland, 13 existing outbuildings and the windmill on the hill south of the Mansion. The District says it intends "to preserve the history of the property while providing opportunities, programs and amenities to help all ages explore the heritage of our region."

The District has set out three phases for Historic Park:

• Planning. The District gathers ideas from residents, local businesses and Douglas County partners. A consultant then drafts a conceptual plan with possible amenities, estimated costs and an operating approach. Conceptual planning is scheduled for 2027.
• Design. The conceptual plan becomes a final design, with more community feedback along the way.
• Construction. Timing and phasing will be set once the design is finished, including whether amenities are built all at once or added over time.

For now, Dec. 5 is a holiday party next to a park whose future the community hasn't designed yet. Next year's planning conversations will be about the land you see from the hayride.

Weekday Afternoons at the Mansion Skip the Shuttle

If you'd rather not deal with the Saturday shuttle, the Mansion's regular open hours are another way to see the house. Historic tours are free. Reservations are recommended and are required for groups of eight or more.

Tuesday and Thursday sessions run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday sessions run from 3 to 6 p.m. Here are the dates left on the November and December calendars after this week:

• November: Tuesday the 17th and 24th, Wednesday the 18th and 25th, Thursday the 19th
• December: Tuesday the 1st, 8th, 22nd and 29th; Wednesday the 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd; Thursday the 3rd and 10th

The Wednesday 3-to-6 p.m. sessions are the ones that fit after school or work. The Dec. 23 Wednesday session falls two days before Christmas, which makes it a calm option if family is in town and wants to see the house without the Dec. 5 crowd.

Dec. 12 Lands on a Block That's Still Changing

A week after the Mansion, the season moves to Town Center for HRCA's Hometown Holiday on Saturday, Dec. 12, from noon to 5 p.m. at 9315 Dorchester St. It's free and includes Santa photos, a holiday gift market, live music, food trucks, seasonal drinks and a lighting ceremony. HRCA lists free parking nearby and mentions Link on Demand as a way to get there.

This one sits on a block built for walking. Civic Green Park at 9370 Ridgeline Blvd. sits next to the Highlands Ranch Library at 9292 S. Ridgeline Blvd. and the Town Center parking garage. According to Douglas County Libraries, the library's terrace overlooks the park.

That same park has been under construction all fall. The Metro District closed the 19-year-old Civic Green Park playground for replacement on Sept. 8 and expected the work to run through late November. The overlook shelter next to it was fenced off, and the upper fountains and wading stream were turned off early for the season.

The replacement swaps the old wood chips for continuous rubber surfacing on a larger footprint, and it's built in layers by age:

The fountains, the wading stream and the book sculptures stay as they are. The District posts the reopening date for Civic Green on its Playground Replacement page, so check there before you promise kids a new slide on their way to Santa.

Town Center also has something this year that it didn't have last December. Joy Batch Cookies & Coffee opened its first storefront at 9315 Dorchester St. on Oct. 8, according to the Highlands Ranch Herald. The Herald reported hours of Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with small-batch cookies and curated coffee blends. On Dec. 12, the shop's posted hours overlap the first three hours of Hometown Holiday, so arriving at noon leaves time for a cookie before the shop closes at 3.

The Drive Between Them Runs Through Highlands Ranch Parkway Work

If your route to any of these dates uses Highlands Ranch Parkway, plan for the Douglas County reconstruction project between Broadway and Burntwood Way. The county's Nov. 6 update said work was ongoing. For the next couple of weeks, there were no left turns into or out of Burntwood Way, and sidewalks on the north side between Broadway and Burntwood Way stayed closed.

The trail between East Highlands Ranch Parkway and Ridgeglen Way stays closed for the rest of the project. The county expects traffic-signal work through November and December, with occasional traffic holds on Highlands Ranch Parkway and nearby streets. Allow a few extra minutes on the Mansion Saturday, when you have to reach the Mountain Vista lot before you can board a shuttle.

Holiday Saturdays are also when family and friends from out of town come to see where you live, and the Mansion grounds are a good place to show them where Highlands Ranch is headed next. If you're thinking about how this community's next few years might shape your own plans, Anne Dresser Kocur is glad to talk it through over coffee at Town Center. Book an Appointment whenever the timing suits you.