I’ve visited many festive drive-through Christmas light displays in Pennsylvania, and the Christmas Light Drive-Thru at Stone Gables Estate is definitely among the largest.
Stone Gables Estate is located in Elizabethtown in western Lancaster County and is a popular event and wedding venue. Their light show has been running annually since 2018.
At three miles in length, this is definitely one of the longest drive-through displays in Pennsylvania.
Interestingly there is a fair bit of driving before you reach the ticket window. This part of the display is rather wooded, so it has a different feel that the part after the ticket window.
Tickets for the display can be purchased ahead of time online. The cost for the display is $25-30 (depending on the night), which is a lower cost than most other drive-through light displays in the area, and less expensive than most walk-through displays unless you are only visiting with one or two people.
That makes the million lights at Stone Gables a great value.
Shortly after passing through the ticket window, you’ll come to one of the highlights of the display: the estate’s covered bridge. While this bridge isn’t historic (despite what the estate claims), they do an excellent job of decorating it and making it a highlight of the display.
Don’t get so distracted by the bridge that you miss the beautifully-decorated train that sites just on the far side of it to your right.
While this train isn’t historic either, it’s a replica of an 1860s train and is a stunning train, even without the lights.
Beyond the covered bridge and train, the Christmas display at Stone Gables Estate opens up and most of the rest of the lights are along the rolling fields of the property.
These lights primarily consist of decorated trees, but there are also some fun and unique displays. Just don’t expect the type of animated displays that you’ll find at a lot of other drive-through displays in PA, such as Sweet Lights in Hershey.
The highlights of the second half of the display are the decorated buildings, in particular the historic Star Barn which was moved here in 2015 to save it from destruction. The lights on these barns are really well done and quite classy, making for a beautiful look as you’re driving the roads around them.
On the other hand, there’s a bit of dead space in the display during the second half in an area called “Trees of the World”.
In this section, there aren’t a ton of lights and the displays consist primarily of photos of Christmas trees from other countries. This is a really neat idea since trees in other countries do often have a different look. However, the photos aren’t overly large, so it’s kind of hard to really notice and appreciate these differences when passing by them in your car.
Hopefully, this portion of the display will improve in future years as there’s a lot of space here to work with.
It’s worth noting that you might want to plan ahead with your own music. The show doesn’t have its own music, and while they do have a recommend local radio station to tune into, this is a regular commercial radio station, so portions of your drive might have you listening to commercials instead of music.
You’ll likely enjoy the show more if you bring your own holiday tunes along with you.
Overall, the display here is really well done, and my family and I quite enjoyed our drive through the Christmas Lights at Stone Gables Estate. While it might be lacking a bit in the moving and more whimsical displays that you often see at similar types of shows, the lights on the historic buildings, the train, and the covered bridge are really well done and something you don’t see at other light displays.
Ultimately, I’m sure the million twinkling lights at Stone Gables in Elizabethtown, PA are sure to entertain.
In 2024, the Christmas Lights at Stone Gables Estate is open most nights other than Sundays from November 29 through January 5. The cost is $25 per car Monday through Thursday evenings and $30 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Looking for more things to do in the area? Check out the Christmas Spirit Light Show in Lancaster, the nearby Village of Lights, and Christmas Magic in York.
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