Why Door County?
For a Chicagoan who wants to view Fall Colors at a touristy place with all the charms of a road trip – you cannot go wrong with Door County. Be it the festivities of Sister Bay Festival, several lookout towers, local state park and the vibrant Fall Color foliage itself.

Note that Door County area is a great destination for summer road trips as well.

How to Plan your visit?

Here’s what I would recommend to create a perfect Door County visit for the Fall Colors:

• Check and make sure the Fall colors are at their peak, which is usually in second or third week of October. You can check the official status here. If you are making a prior reservation, make sure it is cancel-able. This seemingly easy task is the most arduous one, trust me. In my multiple ‘well planned’ visits, I only saw the peak once.

• Run through this indispensable emergency checklist.

• Run though these tech essentials to turbo-charge your road trips.

• Accommodation – I usually prefer areas towards the south side – Egg Harbor or Sturgeon Bay in comparison with places up north like Sister Bay, mainly due to cost efficiency and availability. In general, the Door County being one of the most popular tourist destinations, you should find plenty of dwelling options including resorts or vacation rentals (Airbnb, VRBO etc).

• Activities – Washington Island, Peninsula State Park (offers bike rentals as well) and the local activities/festivals on offer. We try to time it with the iconic Sister Bay Festival.