Photos: Miracle at Big Rock
The winter wonderland is back for its second year of lights, holiday cheer and more.
The snow is aglow at Big Rock Creek thanks to the Miracle at Big Rock holiday lights event. “We’ve always really loved the holidays and lights and thought it would be really cool for families to come to and enjoy,” says Teresa Hansen, one of the original founders of the event. “We happened to be lucky enough to have this piece of property [at Big Rock Creek] that brings it together.”
Hansen says that her family’s goal was to make something beyond a drive-through holiday light show (although there is a drive-through component on Mondays and Tuesdays). Instead, the Hansen family set out to construct a winter wonderland where families could spend an entire evening experiencing the joy of the holidays together.
The Grand Barn
“People park, they get out of their cars, they take a [tractor-drawn] wagon or they walk down to the property,” says media relations consultant Katie Welch Len. “The actual experience of Miracle at Big Rock is that people stay for hours.”
When visitors aren’t wandering through the light displays, they’re having cookies with Santa, gift shopping at the holiday boutique, making s’mores around an outdoor stove and exploring the decorated Enchanted Forest, just for starters.
Enchanted Forest
“[There is] a ‘Visit the Moon’ section this year, which is really cool,” Welch Len says.
Hansen says that the family spent the last year throwing around new ideas for how to improve Miracle at Big Rock. “The moon display this year is an example of that,” she says. The three dimensional moon was first a prop for the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, then a backdrop for a wedding, before the Hansen family bought it. “We just thought it was so cool,” Hansen says. “For this year’s event, the moon will be a backdrop for photos and will have Santa and reindeer in front of it. It’s about 14-feet in diameter.”
Miracle at Big Rock runs from November 25 through January 1. For more information on hours, events, ticket prices and more, visit miracleatbigrock.com
Miracle at Big Rock
1674 WI-87, St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin; 715.501.8172
Facebook: Miracle At Big Rock
Instagram: @miracleatbigrock
