The cooler nights have arrived, the orchards are heavy with apples, and somewhere out there, a few hundred relay teams are arguing over matching costumes. Fall in Door County is officially underway.
October is our most colorful month in every sense of the word. The maples put on their show, the villages throw their biggest festivals, and the Fall 50 turns the whole western shoreline into a 50-mile party. The best weekends fill up fast, so now is the time to lock in your fall getaway. Here’s what’s coming up, and why you’ll want to be here for it.
Apples in our Backyard
Door County may be famous for its cherries, but fall belongs to the apple. Local growers say this year’s crop is right on track for a typical season, just running a few days to a week later than usual, which means prime picking lines up nicely with peak color.
You don’t have to go far. Just up the road, Seaquist Orchards Farm Market in Sister Bay hosts its Apple Festival on Saturday, September 26, and opens its orchards for pick-your-own Cortlands and Honeycrisps on Fridays and Saturdays, October 2 through 17. A few miles south, Lautenbach’s in Fish Creek has McIntosh and later varieties ready for picking into mid-October. Bring a bag, bring the kids, and bring home a pie’s worth of Door County.
Door County pick-your-own apple season is here. Here’s your guide.
Pumpkin Patch Weekend in Egg Harbor
Egg Harbor’s biggest annual event returns Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11, and it’s everything a fall festival should be: live music, carnival rides, arts and crafts vendors, pumpkin and scarecrow displays, face painting, and plenty of food. Admission is free.
Parking fills up quickly, so take advantage of the free shuttles running Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. Door County Pulse has the full weekend schedule. It’s an easy drive down from the Lodge, and a perfect way to spend a fall Saturday before heading back north for dinner.
2026 Egg Harbor Pumpkin Patch Festival (Oct. 10-11)
A Night at the Theater
When the air turns crisp, Northern Sky moves indoors to its intimate Gould Theater in Fish Creek, and this fall’s show is a world premiere. George & Gracie: A Love Story, produced in partnership with Milwaukee Repertory Theater, follows legendary comedy couple George Burns and Gracie Allen from their vaudeville beginnings to household-name fame. Fittingly, the title roles are played by real-life couple Tami Workentin (who also wrote the show) and Jim Pickering.
Performances run through October 24, every day except Sunday. Pair it with dinner in Fish Creek for the perfect fall date night.
George & Gracie: A Love Story — Northern Sky Theater
Getting Ready to Run, Part Three: Where to Watch
Team registration for the 20th annual Fall 50 sold out back on April 6, so if you aren’t already on a roster, your job on Saturday, October 24 is just as important: cheering. And Sister Bay is one of the best places on the course to do it.
Leg Two carries runners right through the heart of the village and up Sister Bay Hill. Then Leg Three sends them south on Highway 42 and up Little Sister Hill — the steepest climb of the entire race, and one the course guide calls “Little Sister Hell” — right past our front door. Solo runners leave Gills Rock at 6:30 am, with relay waves following through 10 am, so the parade of costumed teams rolls through town for much of the morning.
Grab a coffee, find a spot along the route, and help push them up that hill. Better yet, book the weekend and make it a tradition.
One More Thing: Ride the Trolley of the Doomed
Fall colors by day, ghost stories by night. Door County Trolley’s “Trolley of the Doomed” takes brave riders to the places where the peninsula’s spookiest legends were born, including a historic lighthouse, a local cemetery, and a building with a genuinely eerie reputation. Tours often sell out in October, so book ahead… if you dare.
Ghost Tour — Door County Trolley