Celebrate the Christmas holiday by doing something a little different and the best part is – it’s free!
More than 100,000 bulbs and 40 lit displays decorate the Turtle Back Zoo, located in West Orange, Essex County, NJ. The zoo’s annual Holiday Lights Spectacular offers visitors an alternate view of the facility, all decked out for the holidays. Hours are Friday through Sunday from 5 pm to 9 pm the first three weekends in December and 5 pm to 9 pm December 19 to 23, December 26 to 31 and January 1.
Admission is free because you won’t really be able to see most of the animals. However, if you walk up and around to the Essex Farm (the top part of the zoo map), the barn is open for people to view the farm animals including a large pig, a cow, chickens, goats, horses and an enormous draft horse.
Another animal treat was we were lucky enough to see four wolves frolicking with each other in their pen. We have been to the zoo on other occasions and never saw more than a furry lump in the far end of the exhibit so we were thrilled to see them up close and playing.
Santa arrived for photos with children inside the cafe at 6 pm but we decided to skip that.
Besides the lights, some fun for the kiddies include meeting some holiday characters and riding the carousel. My daughter loved meeting and hugging Rudolph, Frosty and the zoo’s turtle mascot. These characters happily wave and pose for photos near the zoo entrance.
For a few dollars, kids can ride the carousel and the line moved quickly despite the crowd. While you wait, you can grab a cup of hot chocolate.
The zoo offers a train during the normal season but it is not open during the Holiday Lights event.
This is the second time we’ve taken the kids to the Holiday Lights Spectacular and although we were a little disappointed that there weren’t as many colorful displays as last year, it still is beautifully decorated, the kids love it and you can’t beat free admission. The other nice thing is you get a chance to help charities. After greeting Rudolph and the gang, just drop off your donation of non-perishable food, winter coats and unwrapped new toys for the needy in the bins near the entrance – and then enjoy the lights.
If you can’t make it to Turtle Back Zoo, there are still lots of Santa Photos, Christmas parades and other holiday events in New Jersey.