"This event sells out each year, so families are encouraged to purchase early." That line is from the City of Rocklin's listing for Breakfast with Santa, and tickets go on sale today, Thursday, November 5, at 10 a.m.
For anyone at Springfield at Whitney Oaks hosting grandchildren this December, that sale is the first real decision of the season. Rocklin's holiday events happen at two addresses, Quarry Park and the City Ballroom at 2650 Sunset Boulevard. Most of them are free and open to walk-ins. The few pieces with a limited supply, a nonrefundable ticket or a price deadline all come due before December. If you plan by deadline and leave the December dates for later, the month mostly takes care of itself.
The Breakfast That Decides the Rest of the Calendar
Scout Troop 29 hosts Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, December 12, at the Ballroom, 2650 Sunset Boulevard. Kids and grown-ups eat breakfast together, make holiday crafts and visit with Santa for family photos. There are four seatings, each one hour long:
- 8:00 to 9:00 a.m.
- 9:15 to 10:15 a.m.
- 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
- 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
Tickets are $15.71 each and are sold online only, through Eventbrite. Every sale is final. Tickets are nonrefundable and can't be moved to another seating. The city asks guests to arrive no more than 10 minutes before their seating.
Because tickets can't be changed, the seating you pick locks in the morning of December 12 for everyone in the group. If the grandkids are driving in that weekend, settle their arrival time before 10 a.m. today. The 8 a.m. seating suits a household that's already in place. The 11:45 seating gives a family arriving that morning some room. Because the slot can't be switched later, getting the time right counts for as much as buying early.
Everything else this season is easier to change.
The Second Deadline Is December 1
Quarry Park Adventures runs a 2026 Winter Camp for ages 8 to 15, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on December 21 to 24 and December 28 through January 1, 2027. Families can sign up for individual days, so a grandchild visiting for three days doesn't have to pay for the whole break.
The price changes after November. On the camp page, days booked before December 1 cost $119 and days booked later cost the regular $129. For a grandchild staying four camp days, that's a $40 difference. Booking early takes nothing more than knowing which days the visit covers, and the Breakfast with Santa decision has already pinned down that weekend.
Camp days also keep the week moving. The park's public schedule runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays plus select holiday breaks, and it's closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Camp fills the weekdays between the two holidays.
What Doesn't Need a Ticket
Once those two decisions are made, most of December needs no planning ahead. Here's the full season in order of when you have to act:
| When to act | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 5, 10 a.m. | Breakfast with Santa tickets on sale, event Dec. 12 | Ballroom, 2650 Sunset Blvd. | $15.71 per ticket |
| Before Dec. 1 | Winter Camp early rate | Quarry Park Adventures | $119 per day, then $129 |
| RSVP ahead | Great Gingerbread Build-Off, Dec. 10 | Ballroom, 2650 Sunset Blvd. | Free with RSVP |
| Book ahead | Cozy Climb, Dec. 18 | Quarry Park Adventures | $69 per person |
| Just show up | Rocklin Community Farmers Market, Saturdays | 5373 Pacific Street | Free parking |
| Just show up | Rocklin Tree Lighting, Dec. 5 | Quarry Park, 4000 Rocklin Road | Free |
The walk-in events are also the biggest ones, and two of them land on the same Saturday at the same park.
Saturday, December 5, at Quarry Park Twice
The Rocklin Community Farmers Market runs every Saturday year-round, rain or shine, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Quarry Park Adventures parking lot at 5373 Pacific Street. It has up to 80 vendors, live music, kids' activities and free parking. On December 5 it shares the day with the city's biggest holiday gathering.
The Rocklin Tree Lighting, run by the Rocklin Area Chamber of Commerce, takes over Quarry Park at 4000 Rocklin Road from 4 to 7 p.m. that evening. Admission is free and the event goes on rain or shine. The Chamber's posted schedule:
- 4:00 p.m. Holiday market vendors, Junior Creator vendors, food trucks and kids' activities open, with a free craft while supplies last.
- 4:15 p.m. Santa Parade with Rocklin PD, elf helpers, Santa on a fire engine and the WHS ROTC.
- 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Photos with Santa at the Small Pavilion Stage, plus performances on the Amphitheater Stage.
- 4:30 to 6:45 p.m. Fire pit area open.
- 6:45 p.m. Tree lighting ceremony.
According to the Chamber, the Santa photo line may close well before 6:30, depending on its length, and the schedule may change. That's where the Breakfast with Santa ticket pays off a second time. A family already holding photos from December 12 can skip the line on the 5th and use the time for the stages and the market.
The holiday market includes local names like Placer Roasting Company, Five Sisters' Farmstand, Dirty Girl Soapery, Old Barn Wood Crafts and Patti Sweets. Food vendors include The Mini Donut Shack, Buckethead BBQ and Italian Brother Wood-Fired Pizza. A separate row of Junior Creator booths is run by sellers ages 10 to 17. The main stage features the Girl Scouts, Broadway Babies, Take Note Troupe, Kovar's and the International Dance Art Collective. There's also a Placer County Library reading at 5:15 and the Bell Chorale at 6:15 on the Tree Stage.
Thursday, December 10, at the Ballroom
The Rocklin Great Gingerbread Build-Off runs from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Ballroom on Sunset Boulevard. Admission is free with an Eventbrite RSVP, kits are available while supplies last, and cocoa and cookies are for sale. It's in the same room as Breakfast with Santa two days later, so grandchildren who arrive early in the week get two visits to the Ballroom in one stay.
The One Paid Night, and the Discount Question
Quarry Park Adventures' Cozy Climb on Friday, December 18, is the season's main ticketed evening. It costs $69 per person for three hours after dark with all six Quarry adventures, plus holiday lights, festive music and a free hot cocoa and candy cane bar. The page says no experience is needed.
The Quarry Park Adventures discount page has an easy-to-miss detail for anyone with a Rocklin address. City of Rocklin residents get 25 percent off with code LOCAL. The discount covers everyone on the same reservation and requires an ID showing a Rocklin, CA address at check-in. It doesn't apply to promotional prices or special event tickets, though.
Adventurers 65 and older can use code SENIOR for 10 percent off their own ticket and the tickets of group members on the same reservation, with ID. Veterans and other military members get 10 percent with code MILITARY. Discounts don't stack, and the page says to pick the one that saves the most. A discount can't be added after the activity date, and ID has to be shown on-site.
In practice, the 25 percent resident rate belongs on a regular weekend visit while the grandchildren are in town. The Cozy Climb is a special event and sits outside that offer.
Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve Start on the Course
Whitney Oaks Golf Club posts its own 2026 holiday schedule. Thanksgiving Day, November 26, and the Friday after, November 27, are both at holiday rates. Its Christmas Eve listing shows holiday rates and a 9 a.m. shotgun start. The course is closed all day on Christmas. The Thanksgiving shotgun appears in one table at 9 a.m. and in another as still to be set, and the club labels the whole schedule subject to change. Call the pro shop before setting dinner around a tee time.
For guests who'd rather run than golf on Thanksgiving morning, both neighboring cities hold races on November 26. The Roseville Turkey Trot starts at Vernon Street Town Square, with the 10K at 9 a.m. for $45 and the 5K at 9:05 a.m. for $40, plus processing fees. Lincoln's Huffin' for the Stuffin' Turkey Trot at Twelve Bridges Park starts with a kids' Donut Dash at 8 a.m. for $8, followed by the 5K at 8:30 a.m. for $38 to $40. Either one fits before a 9 a.m. shotgun only if the golfer and the runner are different people.
With Breakfast with Santa tickets bought today and Winter Camp days booked before December 1, the rest of December in Rocklin is a matter of showing up at Quarry Park, the Ballroom on Sunset or the first tee.
If this season brings questions about how your home fits the next chapter, such as more room for visiting family, less to maintain, or what your equity would mean for retirement, Shawn Claycomb is a Springfield neighbor in the same corner of Rocklin and is glad to sit down after the holidays. Request a complimentary home valuation whenever the timing feels right.
