Entry No. 87 — the Grand Junction file — filed under: after-dark

Water Lights at Night

Each autumn the city floats hundreds of LED-lit lanterns across the Butterfly Pond at Las Colonias Park, turning the water into a slow drift of warm glowing lights at sunset. You decorate your own lantern kit before the launch, and once it is fully dark a drone light show by a regional drone-show company takes over the sky. Food trucks line the park, making it a full evening rather than a quick photo stop. The 2026 edition runs October 10.

The move: Buy a lantern kit, decorate it together at a picnic table, then launch it onto the pond at dusk and stay for the after-dark drone show over the water.

📍 Before you go One-night-a-year seasonal event (mid-October); lantern kits run about $8 each or six for $42, and lanterns launch shortly after the ~6:45 p.m. sunset.

• 📍 Grand Junction
• 💸 $
• ⚡ Low-key
• 🌗 Outdoors

Where: Butterfly Pond, Las Colonias Park, 1695 Las Colonias Lndg, Grand Junction, CO 81501

Hours: Added 2026-06-23 — confirm current hours before you go.

⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3

last checked: 2026-06-23