Black Hills Christmas Events: Parades & Holiday Train (Just Updated)

The Black Hills Christmas season opens Thanksgiving weekend: Storybook Island lights up on Friday, November 27, and Rapid City holds its Winter Market and Festival of Lights Parade at Main Street Square on Saturday, November 28. The 1880 Train Holiday Express runs from Hill City on select dates from November 25 to January 2, and the Deadwood, Sturgis, Hot Springs, Custer and Spearfish celebrations fall on December 4 and 5.

Each date below links to the organizer's own page. We left out events we could only find on third-party calendars. For what else is open those weeks, see the Black Hills in November and Black Hills in December guides.

2026 Dates at a Glance

Rapid City: Winter Market and Festival of Lights Parade

Saturday, November 28 is the biggest single day of the season. Visit Rapid City's schedule has the ice rink opening at noon, the vendor market from 1:00 to 5:00 pm, Santa at the Christmas tree from 1:00 to 5:00 pm and Black Hills Figure Skating performances at 2:00 and 4:00 pm. Mayor Jason Salamun speaks at 4:50 pm, the tree lighting countdown is at 4:57 pm, and the Festival of Lights Parade starts at 6:00 pm. The floats run down Main Street and back up Saint Joseph Street. The rink stays open until 8:00 pm.

The market is free and outdoors. Skating costs $10 for a rink day pass plus $5 for skate rental, with $1 off for military, first responders, seniors and students. Bring real winter layers: Rapid City's NOAA normal low in December is 13.9°F.

Staying downtown means you can walk to the square and skip parade-night parking. The Hotel Alex Johnson is the downtown pick on our Rapid City hotels list.

Storybook Island Christmas Nights of Light

Storybook Island, the free children's park at 1301 Sheridan Lake Road in Rapid City, opens Christmas Nights of Light on Friday, November 27. Hours are 5:30 to 8:30 pm with last admission at 8:00 pm, and Storybook Island lists tickets at $5 per person, free for children 12 months and under. It is the park's one fundraiser of the year, and it pays for free summer admission.

The park's homepage lists November 27-29 and December 4-6, 11-13, 18-23 and 26-30. Its events page leaves out December 26, and Visit Rapid City shows a shorter list ending December 27, so check the park's site before you plan around a late-December night. Visit Rapid City also lists a $12 VIP ticket with a train ride, an indoor carousel ride and hot cocoa, and Santa and his reindeer on some evenings.

The Nights of Light opening and the parade are on back-to-back nights, so one Rapid City booking covers both. Best Western Plus Rapid City Rushmore is the top-ranked hotel on our list.

1880 Train Holiday Express

The Holiday Express leaves the Hill City depot at 222 Railroad Ave for a one-hour round trip to the North Pole, where Santa boards and visits each child on the ride back. Passengers get hot cocoa, a sugar cookie and a candy cane, and every child gets a bell. First Class adds unlimited hot chocolate in a commemorative mug and extra time with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Every 4:15 pm departure also sells the 21+ Make It Spiked option: spiked hot chocolate in a keepsake mug and seats in an adults-only car. The schedule below is from 1880train.com, which says it is subject to change. Book there or call (605) 574-2222.

Per the Holiday Express page, regular tickets are $50 for adults and $33 for kids 2 to 12, and kids 1 and under ride free. First Class is $83 for adults, $60 for kids 2 to 12 and $25 for kids 1 and under. Make It Spiked is $73, adults 21 and over only. Seats are assigned, sales are final, and the train runs in any weather. Pick up tickets at the Hill City depot 30 minutes before departure. There are no runs on December 25.

Sleeping in Hill City puts you a few blocks from the depot; these two come from our Hill City hotels guide.

Deadwood Community Christmas and Tree Lighting

Deadwood lights its tree at 6:00 pm on Friday, December 4, at Outlaw Square, which also marks the square's sixth anniversary. Per Deadwood.com, skating at the rink is free from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, there are s'mores, holiday treats and cocoa from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, and bumper car rides are half price from 3:00 to 5:00 and 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Santa arrives with gifts right after the lighting, and the Deadwood Chamber announces its community awards at 5:30 pm. The whole event is free.

Outlaw Square is on Main Street, so a hotel in the historic district lets you walk over. Both of these are on our Deadwood hotels list. If you want to ski the next morning, Terry Peak is close by, but it had not posted a 2026-27 opening date when we checked.

Other Town Parades and Lights

• Sturgis Parade of Lights, Friday, December 4, 6:00-7:30 pm. Lit business floats compete for judges' awards. The route starts on Ball Park Road and ends at Main and 4th Street, and the Sturgis chamber holds its tree lighting at Harley-Davidson Rally Point on Saturday, November 28, from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.
• Hot Springs Christmas in the Hills, December 4-5. The Hot Springs chamber lists a Cookie Cruise downtown on Friday from 4:00 to 6:00 pm and the Journey of Lights Parade at 6:00 pm from the State Veterans Home, then a Handcrafters Marketplace at the Mueller Civic Center on Saturday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
• Custer Christmas Parade, Saturday, December 5, 5:30 pm. The Custer chamber route starts at 8th Street by Lynn's Dakotamart, runs west on Mt. Rushmore Road and ends at Way Park on 4th Street for the Juanita Fish Memorial Tree Lighting.
• Spearfish Holidazzle Parade, Saturday, December 5, 6:00 pm. Per Visit Spearfish, it starts at the Spearfish High School parking lot, follows Hillsview Road and North Avenue to Main Street, and ends off Grant Street. The community tree is lit as Santa passes.
• Box Elder Parade of Trees, December 1-26. Decorated trees fill The Box Elder Events Center at 631 WaTiki Way, free to view from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm daily. The City of Box Elder's Winter Wonderland night there is December 10, 5:00 to 8:00 pm, with free photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

The Custer and Spearfish parades are on the same night at opposite ends of the Hills, so pick one. For Custer, the town has its own hotel list; for Spearfish, see Spearfish hotels.

Where to Stay for Each Event

Thanksgiving weekend is the tightest, because the train, Storybook Island and the Rapid City parade all land on November 27 and 28. Groups who want a kitchen can look at Black Hills cabins and vacation rentals. Many Keystone hotels close for the winter, so check each one's dates first. We did not find a sourced holiday rate comparison, so we are not quoting prices here. To compare more properties, search Rapid City hotels (opens in a new tab) or the wider Black Hills (opens in a new tab) on Expedia. We earn a commission from qualifying bookings at no extra cost to you.

What's Closed on Christmas Day

Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday. At Mount Rushmore (13000 Highway 244, Keystone), all buildings are closed on December 25, but the grounds and parking structure stay open, weather permitting, and the sculpture is lit nightly from sunset to 9:00 pm through March 9. The visitor facilities close early, at 4:00 pm, on December 24 and 31 (NPS hours).

The Jewel Cave visitor center, open Tuesday to Saturday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm in the off-season, is closed on Thanksgiving, December 25 and January 1, so no cave tours run that day. Wind Cave's park roads and surface are open 24 hours, but its hours page did not list holiday visitor center hours when we checked, so call (605) 745-4600 before you go. Crazy Horse Memorial had not posted 2026 Christmas Day hours on its hours page, so call (605) 673-4681. The 1880 Train skips December 25, and Storybook Island is closed December 24 and 25.

December Weather by Town

These are NOAA's 1991-2020 December normals for the weather stations in each town, from NCEI. Hill City has the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights of the four, so dress for the low on the 1880 Train platform. NOAA publishes no December snowfall normal for the Deadwood station.

Winter Driving and the US-16A Keystone Closure

• US-16A in Keystone: closed at the S.D. Highway 40 intersection since October 5, 2026, for a bridge replacement, and SDDOT plans to reopen it by April 23, 2027. A short signed detour loops through town with temporary signals, a 12-foot width limit and a 50-foot length limit.
• Parades run after dark. Every parade here starts at 5:30 or 6:00 pm, so the drive back to your hotel is on cold, dark roads. Check SD511 before you leave.
• Plan on cold. NOAA's December normals at Rapid City Regional Airport are a 37.2°F high and 13.9°F low, with 6.7 inches of snow. Month-by-month numbers are on our Black Hills weather page.

Black Hills Christmas Events FAQ