The giant Light Bright wall stands in the eastern section of the Fred & Barbara Erb Discovery Trails, near a set of glowing swings and a light-up teeter-totter. The trails didn't open until May 2026, so last year's Wild Lights had none of this. On Saturday, Nov. 21, it opens to visitors at night for the first time.
Royal Oak households who have been to the Detroit Zoo since May know the Erb Discovery Trails as a daytime place, with goats to brush, stingrays to touch, and toddlers in the Little Sprouts area. Wild Lights 2026 changes that. Much of what the zoo lists as new for this season sits on the trails, so this year's walk covers ground that last year's didn't.
Seven acres that took nine years
The trails opened after a ribbon cutting on May 22, 2026. Hometownlife reported that Detroit Zoological Society CEO Dr. Hayley Murphy called the seven-acre, $49 million project a "new zoo within the zoo," and that planning went back to 2017 before the pandemic delayed it.
Not much of that money is visible from the path. Murphy told MLive that "$18 million of that was in the ground," spent on infrastructure nearly a century old, where "every time we put a shovel in the ground, it seemed like we were met with a new challenge."
The name has local roots. Fred and Barbara Erb owned Erb Lumber, and the zoo's grant announcement connects the family's history to Royal Oak. The Erb Family Foundation gave $6 million toward the trails. At the opening, Leslie Erb Liedtke told Hometownlife, "My parents would be so proud."
Over the summer the trails showed what they were built for. They hold nine new habitats, including the zoo's first stingrays and bamboo sharks, plus a canopy trail that lifts guests 14 feet off the ground. Wild Lights asks something different of them. The play structures and raised walkways now share the evening with 500-plus light displays.
What the lights reach this year
The zoo's Wild Lights 2026 page lists six additions for the season. Several of them are on the new trails or tied to them:
- Fred & Barbara Erb Discovery Trails. The newly lit eastern section, with the giant Light Bright wall, glowing swings and the light-up teeter-totter.
- Wild Explorer VR. A holiday virtual reality ride showing Polar Odyssey or Elf Power. The Discovery Trails page lists Wild Explorer VR among the trails' separately priced experiences.
- The Igloo. A heated 21+ lounge with fire pits, passed appetizers, adult hot chocolate, and live music on Fridays and Saturdays, sponsored by KeyBank.
- Color, Fly, Butterfly. An art exhibit at the Ford Education Center where a butterfly you color comes to life on screen.
- A souvenir cocoa cup shaped like a giant holiday light bulb, with unlimited refills.
- New illuminated sculptures, including a snow leopard, Asian elephant, orangutan, two red pandas and a Bengal tiger.
The familiar pieces are back too: the Field of Light synced to holiday music, the Tunnel of Light, Toyland, the talking Wishing Tree, the Stepping Tones floor, s'mores at the fire pits, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 4D. Santa is there every night through Dec. 23.
Wild Lights uses only the front half of the zoo. The back half and its habitats close in the evening to protect the animals' well-being. Within that smaller footprint, the eastern trails add a stretch of new walking that didn't exist last winter.
What a night costs, and where the gate price bites
Prices depend on the date, the time and demand, and the zoo says buying online beats the gate every night. The gap is easy to see side by side.
| Ticket | Online | At the gate |
|---|---|---|
| Wild Lights admission | $17 to $25 | $27 |
| Admission, zoo members | $15.30 to $22.50 | $24 |
| Total Experience package | $60 | $65 |
| Total Experience, members | $54 | $58 |
| 21+ VIP Igloo Experience | $40 | $50 |
On the lowest-priced nights, the gate costs $10 more per person than buying ahead, so a family of four pays $40 for the walk-up. Everyone age 2 and older needs a ticket, and parking costs $8 per vehicle.
The Total Experience package is easiest to judge against the add-on menu. Bought one at a time, its extras cost $8 for VR, $6 for the 4D theater, $15 for the cocoa cup, $3 for a carousel ride and $8 for parking. That's $40 before the pizza-or-burger voucher and before admission. With $17 to $25 admission added, the same pieces come to $57 to $65, so for a guest who wants all of it, the $60 package saves money on any night when online admission is above $20.
Two smaller details can save money. If you kept last year's Glow-with-the-Show lanyard, you can bring it back free and pick up replacement batteries there. A new one is $14. The Igloo add-on is $23, sold only online, with limited nightly capacity and ID required.
Zoo members get 10% off general admission and free parking, though the member discount doesn't apply to add-ons.
The zoo's nights against Royal Oak's own calendar
Wild Lights runs 30 nights between Nov. 21 and Jan. 3. Fridays and Saturdays go from 5 to 10:30 p.m., and all other nights, including the January dates, from 5 to 9 p.m. It's closed Dec. 24 and 25 and Jan. 1. The zoo warns that tickets sell fast.
Downtown Royal Oak's season starts at the same time, so a few weeks this winter will be crowded with events:
- Friday, Nov. 20. Lighting of the Park at Centennial Commons, 4 to 9 p.m., with skating, Santa, food trucks, live music, and the lighting of the park and the Giant Oak Tree. The ceremony is on the Royal Oak Public Library steps.
- Saturday, Nov. 21. Wild Lights opens the next evening and also runs Nov. 22 and Nov. 27 through 29.
- Thursday, Dec. 3. Holiday Magic Marketplace at the Royal Oak Farmers Market, 316 E. 11 Mile Road, 4 to 9 p.m. It's free, with 60-plus vendors, the courthouse tree lighting at 6:30 p.m. and Santa from 6:40 to 8 p.m. Wild Lights is dark that night.
- Dec. 4 through 20. Royal Oak Holidays fills three free weekends downtown with markets, the Cookie Crawl, Santa and Grinch visits, skating at The Rink, horse-and-wagon rides and ice sculptures. Wild Lights runs Dec. 4 through 6, then every night from Dec. 10 to Dec. 23.
The Saturday Farmers Market keeps its 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. hours through November and December, according to the Downtown Royal Oak calendars for November and December. That leaves room for a morning at the market and an evening at the zoo on the same December Saturday.
The Sunday-through-Thursday nights between Dec. 10 and Dec. 23 are the only Wild Lights nights with no downtown weekend program on the calendar. The zoo closes at 9 p.m. on those nights, and Santa is still there through Dec. 23.
Built for more kinds of visitors
The trails were designed with access in mind, and that carries over to the evening. Paved, ADA-accessible paths cover most of the Erb Discovery Trails. You can reach the top of the Treetop Crossing play structure by netted climbers, stairs or a ramp. The restrooms include single-stall facilities at adult and child ADA heights, push-assist automatic doors and child changing tables. The zoo also offers sensory bags, wheelchair loans and social narratives to help families plan a visit.
Before booking, families should know the zoo's caution about the lights. The Wild Lights page says the event may not suit guests with light sensitivity or epilepsy because of flashing lights, and gives the same warning for the Glow-with-the-Show lanyards. Families who know their own triggers can use that, along with the zoo's accessibility resources, to choose the right night or plan a daytime visit to the trails.
From Nov. 28 through Jan. 31, the zoo collects old, broken or unwanted holiday lights for responsible recycling. If a strand on your porch fails this year, you can bring it along on your Wild Lights night.
Planning winter nights around the zoo and downtown is part of living near both. If you'd like help picturing how a Royal Oak home fits the evenings you want, from walking distance to Centennial Commons to a quick drive to 10 Mile, Kathy Remski is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
