With Christmas less than a week away and Winter Break in full swing, now is the time to check out these two limited holiday season spots here in Turlock. Both are outdoors and both could make a great date night or a nice family outing.
Ice Skating
First, I would start the night off by visiting the Turlock Fields of Ice. They are open every day, including weekends. All sessions are an hour and a half and there are different rates for weekdays and weekends:
Weekends/Holidays: |
Weekdays: |
Child: $14 |
Child: $12 |
Regular Admission: $16 |
Regular Admission $14 |
Skate Buddy Rental $8 |
Skate Buddy Rental $8 |
On top of the fun of the skating rink, there are also pictures with Santa! Check out their calendar to see when Santa will be back in town for the kiddos.
From experience I would say this is a fun way to get out of the house and enjoy meeting your community and to create memories with your loved ones. I'd say at first, it’s definitely a shock if you’re not used to skating but don't worry, they have Skate Buddies (PVC walkers) for those that need help.
The Ice-Skating Rink is currently open and will stay open until January 16th 2023. Later in the year, R.A.M. Farms turns their lot into a pumpkin patch/corn maze a few months prior to transforming everything into a wonderland. But because we're still in the Winter season, let's continue on our holiday night out.
Christmas Tree Lane
After you tumble down and hopefully are able to stay on your feet for at least half of your sessions, drive on down to the Turlock Christmas Tree Lane. It's not a huge route but still a fun route for sure.
The Turlock Christmas Tree Lane is at 1375 Michael Way and is about the shape of a backwards E. If you don't want to cruise through, there is free parking at the First Presbyterian Church right next to it on N Berkley Ave. The last couple of years, the church next-door would have smores and hot chocolate available for free during weekends. They also had multiple fire pits available for visitors to roast marshmallows but this year I didn't see the fire pits. Not sure what happened or if they weren't available but hoping they'll be back next year.
Overall if I were to rate our Christmas Tree Lane, I would give it a solid 6/10. For being a smaller route, I want to say there's about 40 houses and maybe half go all out with their decorations. There is a mixture of inflatable decorations, painted wood cutouts and the traditional use of lights. If I were to compare this year's to last year's, I would say that it felt like there were a few less fully decorated houses but still a good handful.
I think with this generation being so tech savvy and photogenic, I've also noticed the increase of picture-perfect spots on the route. There were more arches to stand under and signs to pose in front of for a selfie. I'm curious to know when or if any of the homeowners, maybe even the City of Turlock, would create some kind of GeoTag for people to use while they are there. It would be pretty cool to see some kind of “Christmas in Turlock” filter for Snapchat or Instagram.
I'm really curious on where these homeowners pack and store all of their decorations and buckets on buckets of lights. I would think they also have a good size collection of ladders to get all of those lights and decorations to hang up properly. We don't even have that many decorations at my house but already take up so much room in our garage.
Turlock Self Storage
If you are one of the Christmas Tree Lane Homeowners or might even have a large collection of lights or decorations, it might be a good idea to get yourself a unit at our business at Turlock Self Storage at 528 Dianne Dr in Turlock. We have units ranging from 50 Sq. Ft., at only $28.50 which is 50% off for your first two months, to 5,000 Sq. Ft. at only $97.50 which is also 50% for your first two months. So don’t wait up on these Holiday Deals!
Fields of Ice
716 N Daunbenberger Rd.
Turlock, CA 95380
Christmas Tree Lane Turlock
1375 Michael Way
Turlock, CA 95382