Halloween week in Door County has its own energy. The leaves are in their final days, most of them golden and about to drop, and the county has thinned out.

Many businesses have already closed for the winter and more will follow after Halloween.

But closed for the season doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do. If you have been thinking about an off-season trip, the next few months have more going on than you might expect. More on that next week.

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This week:

A few things worth knowing about this week.

The Fall 50 just finished its 20th year. Nearly 2,000 runners descended on Door County last Saturday for the 20th annual Fall 50, a 50-mile point-to-point race that starts at the tip in Gills Rock and finishes under the big party tents at Sunset Park in Sturgeon Bay. The event has grown from 22 finishers in its inaugural 2006 running to one of the most celebrated ultramarathon relay events in the Midwest.

Runners travel through Ellison Bay, Sister Bay, Ephraim, Fish Creek, Egg Harbor, and every village in between on roads most visitors only see from a car. The forecast cooperated this year with partly sunny skies and highs in the low 60s. A perfect Door County October day to run 50 miles.

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The Brewers are one win from a championship. The Brewers lead the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0 in the World Series. Game 4 is tonight in Tampa.

The full remaining schedule, all games at 7 p.m. Central on FOX:

Game 4: Tuesday, at Tampa Bay
Game 5: Wednesday, at Tampa Bay (if necessary)
Game 6: Friday, at American Family Field (if necessary)
Game 7: Saturday, at American Family Field (if necessary)

If you are up here this week and want to watch (and hopefully win) with a crowd, here are some of the best spots in Door County:

Husby’s in Sister Bay. Door County’s original sports bar has flat-screen TVs inside and outside.

Mink River Basin in Ellison Bay. A great option if you are up north.

Bayside Tavern in Fish Creek. The kind of place where locals heads when the game is on.

Door County Fire Company in Sturgeon Bay. A perfect setting for your World Series watch party.

Stone Hedge Golf and Pub in Egg Harbor. A relaxed pub setting that works perfectly for a fall evening of baseball.

Brick Lot Pub in Sturgeon Bay. Plenty of screens and great game-day specials.

Shipwrecked Brewery and Restaurant in Egg Harbor. Big screens at the bar and a large upstairs dining hall.

Kitty O’Reilly’s Irish Pub in Sturgeon Bay. A solid Irish pub atmosphere.

AC Tap in Baileys Harbor. A local institution that draws a loyal crowd for big sporting events.

Door County Brewing Company in Baileys Harbor. Perfect if you want craft beer while watching the clinching game.

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Next week: businesses still open in Door County. If you own a business that will be open through the winter and you want to be included in next week’s roundup, reply to this newsletter and let me know. I do not want to miss anyone.

The final fall color report.

This is the last week we will run a dedicated foliage update. The color has been running later than usual this year and the mild stretch of weather through late October has kept more leaves on the trees than most years. The result is a long, gradual fall rather than a dramatic peak.

The back roads between Baileys Harbor and Ephraim and the drives through Newport State Park still have color worth seeking out this week.

This is the last call for reader photos. If you have shots from anywhere in the county this fall, send them over and tell us where and when you took them. We are building a reader-sourced record of fall 2026 and want to include as many perspectives as possible before the season closes.

The complete fall foliage guide has been updated throughout the season and includes an interactive animated map tracking the color progression across the county. It will stay live for anyone still planning a late-season trip.

Halloween in Door County is more than trick-or-treating in the villages, though that is genuinely charming if you have kids.

The Door County Trolley runs ghost tours, murder and mayhem tours, and haunted pub crawls through the end of October that are some of the best seasonal activities the county offers all year. The complete Halloween guide covers everything happening this week, where to go, and what is worth planning around.

Read the complete Halloween in Door County guide here.

Every week we spotlight a recently sold home and an active listing to give you a feel for what the Door County real estate market looks like.

JUST SOLD: Ellison Bay

A few weeks ago we featured this home in Ellison Bay. It just sold for $820,000. That tells you something about the demand for genuinely historic properties in the county.

The home is an extraordinary piece of Door County history and sits minutes from downtown Ellison Bay with a flagstone firepit and peaceful wooded surroundings. Perfect for these cool October evenings.

FOR SALE: Ellison Bay

A fully recrafted farmhouse in Ellison Bay is listed at $1,100,000.

The main house has two bedrooms and a large office that could serve as a third. A separate one-bedroom guesthouse adds flexible space.

A two-car heated garage with a workshop and bunk room space, a separate multi-use building, and a sauna round out the property.

Europe Bay Beach and Newport State Park are nearby, and the dark starry make the evenings something special.

The Door County Trolley runs year-round but Halloween week is when it is at its most fun. Kelly and I love the trolley in any season, but there is something about climbing aboard the Trolley of the Doomed on a cold October night for a ghost tour through the county that feels like the right way to spend an evening.

The Ghost Tour aboard the Trolley of the Doomed runs nightly through Halloween. The Murder and Mayhem Tour departing at 5:30 p.m. on select nights through October 31. The Haunted Pub Crawl is the adult option, running Fridays and Saturdays.

The Landing Resort sits on five wooded acres in Egg Harbor, offering a quiet, tree-lined setting that feels removed from everything while keeping guests within easy walking distance of the village’s shops and restaurants.

It is open year-round, which makes it a practical choice for an off-season trip and the property offers notably good rates once the summer crowds are gone.

The kitchen setup makes it especially well-suited for families or anyone planning a longer stay. Amenities include an indoor pool and whirlpool, a heated outdoor pool, a fireplace lobby stocked with complimentary Door County Coffee and Tea, a video arcade game room, a children’s playground, a basketball court, and barbecue and picnic areas.

If you are thinking about a fall or winter getaway, browse Door County availability on Booking.com.

October Glow Ball runs Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, a nighttime glow golf experience that turns the course into something entirely different after dark. A genuinely fun late October activity that works for just about anyone.

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Thrills and Chills is the annual Halloween celebration in Sturgeon Bay on Saturday, with children and adults in costume parading down Third Avenue. One of the most beloved Halloween traditions in the county and a great option if you have little ones up here for the holiday weekend.

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Trick-or-Treat in Egg Harbor runs Saturday afternoon through the village businesses. A classic Door County trick-or-treat experience in one of the most charming villages on the bay side.

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Halloween Party at Cherry Lanes in Sturgeon Bay runs Saturday evening. Costumes encouraged and an arcade bar Halloween party is as fun as it sounds.

Tuesday arrives at 54 degrees with low rain chances and mostly clear skies. A cool, comfortable late October day. Wednesday warms to nearly 59 and should be dry, making it the best weather day of the week. Thursday holds at 58 with minimal rain chances.

Halloween should be around 53 degrees with only a 10 percent chance of rain. Not warm, but dry, which is exactly what you want for trick-or-treating and outdoor Halloween events.

Sunrise Tuesday is at 7:16 a.m. Sunset comes around 5:58 p.m. The days are getting noticeably shorter now and the clocks fall back November 1.

John Mellencamp’s Scarecrow came out in 1985 and has always been a special part of my adolescence. Mellencamp writing about small-town America, working-class life, and farmers losing their land really hit home for me.

I have seen Mellencamp seven or eight times over the years and he delivers every time. Rain on the Scarecrow, Small Town, Lonely Ol’ Night. Perfect songs for a Tuesday in late October when Door County is finally getting some peace and quiet back.

No photos came in this week. We will keep the request going through the off-season because pets do not stop visiting Door County just because summer is over. Dogs on quiet November beaches, cats in cottage windows watching the first snow, whatever your pet is up to up here in the off-season we want to see it.

Send me an email with a name, a village, and whatever you want us to know about the moment. The best ones end up right here.

October is not over yet. Make the most of what is left.

See you up here,
Brian.