Snoqualmie Lights Two Holiday Trees This Year, Six Days Apart

Railroad Avenue SE carries both of Snoqualmie's holiday trees this year. Salish Lodge & Spa sits at 6501 Railroad Ave SE, above the falls. The city's Railroad Park & Centennial Log Pavilion is at 7971 Railroad Ave SE in the historic downtown. One tree goes up on Sunday, Nov. 29 and the other on Saturday, Dec. 5.

Each step has its own host. The shops go first, the lodge at the falls goes second, and the city closes it out downtown. Once you know which weekend belongs to which host, the season fits into a family calendar much more easily.

November 14: The Shops Go First

The season starts in the storefronts, two weeks before anyone flips a switch on a tree. The City of Snoqualmie's calendar lists a Holiday Open House on Saturday, Nov. 14, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The listing covers both the Downtown and Ridge districts, with merchants and restaurants offering tastings, specials and giveaways. Because it covers the whole city, it's a day for moving around town, unlike the two tree lightings that follow.

The same afternoon, the Holiday Maker's Market at No Boat runs from noon to 5 p.m. at No Boat Brewing Co., 35214 SE Center St #2. The market's noon-to-5 window falls entirely inside the open house's hours. You can start at the brewery in the early afternoon and still have time to visit other storefronts before the open house wraps up at 6.

That Saturday is also the same day Salish Lodge holds its Friendsgiving with Sparkman Cellars. So by mid-November, both ends of Railroad Avenue already have something going on.

November 29: The First Tree Goes Up at the Falls

Two weeks later the season moves up to the lodge. On Sunday, Nov. 29, from 4 to 7 p.m., Salish Lodge & Spa hosts its Annual Holiday Tree Lighting. The event page describes it this way:

"Join Salish Lodge & Spa, Encompass NW and the Snoqualmie Community for the Annual Holiday Tree Lighting! Enjoy hot cocoa, holiday treats, children's activities, feed the reindeer and of course, meet Santa!"

Two things set this evening apart from the downtown lighting a week later. It's co-hosted with Encompass NW, so a lodge event doubles as a community gathering with a local nonprofit. It also has reindeer, which nothing else on the city's December schedule offers. The 4 p.m. start comes three days after Thanksgiving, and the lodge serves a coursed Thanksgiving dinner at The Restaurant on Nov. 26. For families hosting relatives that week, the tree lighting gives visiting guests a Sunday-evening outing before they head home.

Earlier that same Sunday, the lodge starts its Santa brunch. Santa Visits The Restaurant runs from 10 a.m. to noon on Sundays, with the listing's dates running from Nov. 29 through Dec. 20. The event page has a "Book a Table" link, and The Restaurant's page recommends brunch reservations for both hotel guests and visitors. The brunch repeats every Sunday, so a family that skips the Nov. 29 crowd has three more December Sundays to choose from.

Thursdays in December: The Lodge Keeps Going

Between the two tree lightings, the lodge adds a weeknight. Sip and Shop at Salish runs on Thursdays from Dec. 3 through Dec. 17. You can shop in The Shop, taste wines and homemade bites, use local discounts and meet local vendors. The listing says "No RSVP necessary."

That's three Thursdays. The first one, Dec. 3, falls two days before the downtown market. That gives you a quieter weeknight version of holiday shopping ahead of the busier Saturday outdoors.

December 5: The Second Tree, Downtown

The city's own day comes six days after the lodge lights its tree, and it fills a Saturday afternoon. Two listings on the City of Snoqualmie calendar overlap.

The Snoqualmie Winter Market is a free outdoor holiday market in Historic Downtown Snoqualmie, open from noon to 6 p.m. The city describes it as a place to "shop for artisan gifts, festive goodies, and holiday cheer," and invites visitors to "Shop early and stay for Santa's arrival and the tree lighting at 5:30pm."

Snoqualmie Winter Lights runs from 3 to 6 p.m. at Railroad Park & Centennial Log Pavilion, 7971 Railroad Ave SE. It's free, and the tree lighting is at 5:30 p.m.

Together, the two listings shape the afternoon like this:

1. Noon. The Winter Market opens in Historic Downtown.
2. 3 p.m. Winter Lights begins at Railroad Park & Centennial Log Pavilion while the market is still open.
3. 5:30 p.m. Santa arrives and the city's tree is lit.
4. 6 p.m. Both the market and Winter Lights close.

That gives you six hours from the market's opening to the lighting's close. Families with young children can arrive mid-afternoon and still catch the lighting. Anyone shopping for gifts gets most of the day in daylight before the crowd builds toward 5:30.

Last December's edition shows what the afternoon can look like. The city's announcement for the Dec. 6, 2025 event listed a stage lineup with the Snoqualmie Elementary Cougar Chorus, Snoqualmie Middle School Jazz Band, Timber Ridge Elementary Choir, Mount Si High School Dance team, the Mt Si Carolers and SnoValley Winds. Activities that year included Santa letters and photos by a tree decorated by Carousel, face painting at Art Major, cookie decorating by Chickadee Bakeshop, cocoa from the Historic Downtown Merchant Association and Downtown Church, an ice-sculpture photo spot, and a Sno-King Ice Arena skate demo. Santa arrived on what the city called a "special sleigh." That was the 2025 program, and the 2026 lineup will be its own. Last year's list does show that downtown's tree lighting draws on the downtown shops and the valley's school groups. The Salish lighting draws on the lodge and Encompass NW.

The Season on One Page

After Both Trees Are Lit

With both trees lit by Dec. 5, the season keeps going. The lodge's Santa brunch continues on Sundays through Dec. 20 and Sip and Shop continues on Thursdays through Dec. 17. The City of Snoqualmie calendar lists a Visit with Santa on Sunday, Dec. 13, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. That's an afternoon slot on a Sunday the lodge brunch also covers in the morning, so a family could do both on the same day.

The sequence starts in the storefronts on Nov. 14, moves up to the falls on Nov. 29 and ends back at the depot district on Dec. 5. For six days between the two lightings, the tree at the falls is lit and the downtown tree is not.

At Pacific NW Houses, we like a town that puts its holiday season on one street and spreads it over five weeks. If you love the stretch of Railroad Avenue between the falls and the pavilion and want to see what's available near it, we'd be glad to help you explore Pacific Northwest homes in Snoqualmie.