Door county, Wisc- Fall Colors?

Hello all-

 

I was looking at a fall trip to Door County, Wisc the week of Sept

28th-Oct 4th or the 4th to 11th. Is this a good fall color

destination? I have looked for pictures of the area, but have not

seen much fall color.

 

When do colors tend to peak in the area?

 

I saw the question posted below about Minnesota and have had

thoughts of changing destinations to the Duluth/Lake Superior area

based on the great answers.

 

For fall color, hiking, photography which would you choose, Lake

Superior or Door County?

 

I am thinking Door county might be too settled, not enough parks and

too touristy, and Lake superior sounds more wild.

 

Thanks!

It sounds about right, but your window period is a bit too narrow. Peak fall color starts usually around end of September to middle (or end) of October in northern to middle of Wisconsin. For a given year, there can be as much as one to two week variation of peak colors between northern part of WI to southern WI. Door county does offer attractive fall colors, but I found Devil's lake state park more fun to shoot. It offers various rock colors (black to gray and even red rocks) and you can really hike up and shoot from the top of the peak (a fish-eye will be a good lens choice from the top).

 

As far as comparing Lake Superior to Door County, you are not comparing the same quanity here. It is not a comparison between apple and orange, but more like comparing apple and orangutan. Door county is a tiny spec around the Lake Michigan, where Lake Superia is larger than Lake Michigan. Given a choice, I would recommend the Mckinac Island (Michigan) in northern part of Lake Michigan. It is about few hours north-east from door county, but they offer old-England like town (Victorian-style town) for many photo opportunities.

Both Superior and Door County are beautiful areas, but I'm more concerned with what you're trying to shoot, and not the location. You say you want "fall colors". You must understand that the window of color change is very, very narrow. Wisconsin's, Fall is very short. Sometimes it feels almost none-existant. Leaves in Northern Wisconsin will usually change and stay yellow, orange, and red, etc. for only 2, if you're lucky 3 weeks. It's not like New England which will give you a solid month to month and a half of fall colors. But if you had to chose between Door Cty, and Superior, Door Cty would, in my opinion, be the better choice.

 

Another reviewer mentioned Devil's Lake. Devil's Lake is a great place to relax. I was there last weekend as a matter of fact. It is okay for photos, but it is a small lake surrounded by granite cliffs. The down side about is that it's a small area and can be completely photographed from only 3-4 vantage points. Great place for rock climbing though, if that's something you're in to.

 

What ever you decide, both Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota are beautiful areas.

A couple tips . . . Your last statement of Door county as "too touristy " and Lake Superior as "more wild" are comparing 2 very different geographically large areas with different climates in some months. Door county area has lots of parks and green spaces plus tourists until Labor Day. You can't fit all the natural beauty onto 1 roll of film or into one camera lens. Lake Superior is really HUGE! and gets colder sooner and generally has fewer tourists, unless you discount the bus loads of flat-landers and Twin cities' escapees after Labor Day to see the fall colors! Check the web sites for local TV stations and network affiliates - they monitor and tell us when and which sections are in color. Check Wisconsin Trails magazine for up-to-date info and trails to see. Bring lots of cash to spend . . . we need all the help we can get!

I live two hours for DC but prefer Upper Michigan for Fall color which is twice as far.

 

I've spent Fall in Upper Michigan near Lake Superior the last 5-6 years including plans for this Fall.