"Handicapped and stroller access is available from City Hall by following the sidewalk nearest the dumpster cage, around the building to the back." That line is on the City of Lakeway's Trail of Lights listing for 2026, and it tells you the most useful thing about Lakeway's holiday season. The whole thing happens behind a municipal building, on foot, on a path most people only see during these weeks.
From The Hills or Flintrock Falls, you don't need to plan the season like an outing. Almost every city holiday event this December happens at two neighboring addresses, City Hall at 1102 Lohmans Crossing Road and the Activity Center at 105 Cross Creek. The trail's listings run every night for close to a month, and the ceremony is a single evening on the city calendar. Most other nights, you're simply out for a walk.
Friday, Dec. 4 is the one night with a program
The city calendar puts two events on the same Friday night. The Trail of Lights has its first listing on Dec. 4 at 6 p.m., and Lights On! follows at City Hall from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Lights On! is the ceremony that switches the trail on, and the city has called it an annual event since at least its 2013 listing.
The 2026 listing gives the time and the place. A December 2023 city newsletter described Lights On! as the night Santa and Mrs. Claus officially turned on the trail, with games, treats and live music. For the 2025 season, Community Impact described it as a free kickoff with Santa, Mrs. Claus and elves, live music, s'mores, food vendors and activities. Treat those as descriptions of past years. The city's Trail of Lights page is where 2026 details will appear.
After that Friday, the calendar changes. The trail has its own entry for every remaining night of December at 6 p.m., ending with a final listing on Friday, Jan. 1, 2027. That's 29 listed nights from Dec. 4 through New Year's Day, and only one of them has a ceremony.
What the trail actually is
The size explains why it suits a quick evening walk. A city calendar entry from the 2011 season described a crushed-granite path of a little over one-tenth of a mile, decorated with holiday displays. By 2019 the city was describing thousands of lights and tableaus set to seasonal music behind City Hall.
In its 2021 Trail of Lights listing, the city called it this:
"One of Lakeway's most cherished traditions is the Trail of Lights!"
The same listing set out how the trail ran that season. It was self-guided. No vendors or attendants were on site. Parking and entry were free, and the trail was open from 6 p.m. to midnight every night through Jan. 2. Community Impact reported the same 6 p.m. to midnight hours for the 2025 season, which ran Dec. 5 to Jan. 1. The 2026 calendar confirms the 6 p.m. start on every listed night.
Put together, those details describe a short loop with no staff and, in past seasons, a closing time well after most December plans end. You can walk it after a club dinner, after a late flight lands, or with visiting family on a weeknight once the kids have been fed. And the walk is short enough that you can go more than once.
Two ways in, one campus
Plan your parking more carefully than your timing. The 2026 listing names City Hall Trail at 1102 Lohmans Crossing Rd. as the location. The city's earlier listings gave two access points:
- Activity Center side: the lower level of the parking lot at 105 Cross Creek.
- City Hall side: parking behind City Hall, at the corner of Lohmans Crossing and Sailmaster.
- Strollers and wheelchairs: start at City Hall and take the sidewalk nearest the dumpster cage around to the back of the building. The 2026 listing repeats this route.
The two lots matter because the rest of the city's December events use the same campus. Once you know which lot suits you, you know where you're going all month.
The rest of December, mostly from the same two buildings
The dates below come from the City of Lakeway's December 2026 calendar, except the trail's final night, which is on the January 2027 calendar. Two of the five take place at the Activity Center, a short walk from the trail.
- Friday, Dec. 4, 6:30–9 p.m.: Lights On! at City Hall, with the Trail of Lights' first listed night starting at 6 p.m.
- Sunday, Dec. 6, 2 p.m.: Lakeway Sings! Presents North Pole Rock & Roll at the Activity Center, 105 Cross Creek.
- Sunday, Dec. 13, 5 p.m.: The Nutcracker with Metamorphosis Dance at the Activity Center. The City of Lakeway Arts Committee presents it, and the program is excerpts from the ballet.
- Thursday, Dec. 31, 10 a.m.: the Polar Bear Plunge at the Lakeway Swim Center.
- Friday, Jan. 1, 6 p.m.: the Trail of Lights' last listed night of the season.
The timing works in your favor. The Nutcracker starts at 5 p.m. on Dec. 13, and the trail's listing for that night starts at 6. If you park once at the Activity Center's lower lot, you can see the performance and then walk the lights in the same evening. The Lakeway Sings! afternoon on Dec. 6 can be paired with the trail the same way if you wait until dark.
The Polar Bear Plunge is the exception. It's a morning event at the Swim Center, and it closes out the city's December calendar the day before the trail's final night.
If the evening needs a second stop
For an evening that goes past the lights, SAF Wine Bar & Nosh is on the same road at 2127 Lohmans Crossing Road, Suite 304. Community Impact reported that owner Jon Graham reopened the remodeled space in May. It has local live music five nights a week and a Friday salsa class every other week from October through June, so the class season covers the whole time the trail is lit.
If you're hosting golfers for the holidays, there's a second December stop for the daytime. Fit 4 Birdies opened Oct. 22 at 2300 Lohmans Spur, Suite 122. It does club fitting and repairs and has a practice bay with a simulator, according to a Community Impact business roundup.
For questions about the trail, the contact number on the city's 2026 listing is 512-314-7532, and the email listed there is [email protected].
If a walk on the trail with visiting family turns into a conversation about longer stays or a move closer to The Hills or Flintrock Falls, Nicole Cooper and Eamon McShane are happy to talk it through. Request a Live Video Call whenever it suits you.
