Happy Holiday Hiking in Kansas City!
Ho ho hiking holidays! Get outside and enjoy the season in Kansas City
Celebrate, get some exercise and enjoy the great outdoors – holiday style.
If you’re reading this article, you either love the outdoors or are interested – at least to some degree – in health and fitness. The holiday season can toss a lump of coal into both passions. But it doesn’t have to! Why not combine your love of nature and/or fitness with holiday activities. Yes, Virginia, you can have happy hiking holidays. Here, we list 11 nature-oriented and outdoor events to get you out, moving and joyful during this season (you may see fewer of them as we update this calendar). I can hear “bah-humbug!” Scrooges saying, “Well these aren’t technically hikes. Walking through a beautifully lit park isn’t a hike.” No worries! You can skip all these and tangle with bears, lions, thorns and thistles until you’re heart is full of joy. But as for the rest of us: Happy holidays and carpe diem!
Brighten your season at the Powell Gardens Festival of Lights
This destination botanical garden pulls out all the stops for the season.
Nov. 16-Dec. 30, Wednesdays-Sundays, 5-10 p.m.
A mile-long path winds through 25 acres of illuminated nature. Twenty miles of lights are displayed along the walkway. Warm beverages are available for sale throughout the display. In addition, ready-made “selfie-stands” are set up to help you capture holiday memories.
New this year
Neon Magic Tree
Crystal Chambers by Quixotic
Visit the Powell Gardens Festival of Lights web page to learn more and buy tickets.
New to Powell Gardens? It’s a private botanical garden open to the public. In season, it features 1,000 acres including 175 acres of gardens in addition to nature trails.
Dates Nov. 16-Dec. 30, Wednesdays-Sundays, 5-10 p.m.,
Tickets Buy in advance, costs range from $8 to $16; attendance is limited so purchase tickets before you go.
Parking $10 per vehicle
Location Powell Gardens, 1609 N.W. U.S. Highway 50, Kingsville, Mo., 64061
Holiday lights are bright at Sar-Ko-Aglow in Lenexa
A luminous lake and bedazzled buildings are highlights of this Johnson County favorite.
Lenexa, Kan., Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 - Friday, Jan. 15, 2024, 6 to 11 p.m. nightly
This annual event, called Sar-Ko Aglow, takes place at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park in Lenexa. No tickets are required and the event is free (and so is parking!). The park, which is already scenic during daylight, is transformed into a series of lights adorning the outlines of buildings, trees, bridges and walkways that surround a small lake. Walk the half-mile loop as often and long as you want.
Official lighting ceremony Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, at 6 p.m. at the park’s Grand Pavilion
Address Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park, 87th Street Parkway & Lackman Road, Lenexa, KS 66215
Parking Free at Indian Trails Aquatic Center (8801 Greenway Lane, Lenexa, Kan., 66215) and Foundry Church (8835 Lackman Road, Lenexa, Kan., 66219)
Overland Park Arboretum Luminary Walk
Photos courtesy of Overland Park Arboretum
Gardens and woods are enchanted with sights and sounds of the Season.
The Luminary Walk transforms the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens into a winter wonderland of candlelit pathways, Gnome and Fairy Villages, serene winter woods and a Children's Garden. Other features include music of the season, thousands of lights and Santa in his Woodland Depot.
“Trees, buildings, and bridges are all part of the show, with thousands of lights aglow.”
Dates When purchasing tickets, you’ll need to select an arrival time.
Nov. 24-25 • 5-9 p.m.
Dec. 1-2 • 5-9 p.m.
Dec. 7, 8, 9 • 5-9 p.m.
Dec. 15-16 • 5-9 p.m.
Cost is $15 per person with free parking (overflow parking is available at Wolf Springs Elementary school); children age 5 and under are free.
Address Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, 8909 W. 179th Street, Overland Park, Kan., 66013
Overland Park Arboretum Electric Glow
Luminary Walk photo courtesy of Overland Park Arboretum
Enjoy this quieter version of the Luminary Walk on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Nov. 28-Dec. 20.
The Overland Park Arboretum describes Electric Glow as “a low-key version of the Luminary Walk where only the electric lights are on. No Santa, no candlelit woods, no musicians, no free cider, no trains running, and NO CROWDS. Capacity will be significantly limited on these nights, making them ideal for wandering through the lighted gardens and studying the intricate gnome and fairy houses.”
Dates When purchasing tickets, you’ll need to select an arrival time.
Tuesday, Nov. 28, 4:30-8 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 29, 4:30-8 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 5, 4:30-8 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 6, 4:30-8 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 12, 4:30-8 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 13, 4:30-8 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 19, 4:30-8 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 20, 4:30-8 p.m.
Cost is $10 per person with free parking (overflow parking is available at Wolf Springs Elementary school); children age 5 and under are free.
Address Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, 8909 W. 179th Street, Overland Park, Kan., 66013
Learn to make holiday tea from local plants
This is not technically a holiday event, but who can pass up winter tea and some recipes?
Sip tea and learn how to make your own teas from native plants found in and around Kansas City.
Date Saturday, Dec. 16, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Cost This event is free and for all ages. Registration is not required.
Address Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center, 4750 Troost Ave, Kansas City, Mo., 64110