Registration Now Open For Fall Light House Fest Tours

Reacting to the popularity of the Door County Lighthouse Festival each June and a positive response to the first two installments of an abbreviated Door County Fall Lighthouse Festival, the Door County Maritime Museum (DCMM) is again offering some of its most popular tours Columbus Day weekend. Reservations are now being taken for these nautical adventures that will take place Oct. 7-8.

There are three choices available Oct. 7: two-hour cruises on Lake Michigan out of Baileys Harbor ($49.50), five-hour Plum Island tours departing from Gills Rock consisting of both a boat excursion and a hike on the island ($79), and lastly, 2.5-hour sailing cruises out of Sister Bay ($65).

The Lakeshore Lighthouse Cruise, offered by Shoreline Scenic Cruises, takes passengers to Cana Island Lighthouse, the historic Bird Cage Lighthouse (old Baileys Harbor Lighthouse) and the newly renovated Baileys Harbor Range Lights. Several shipwreck sites from the 1800s will be journeyed over and one may even be viewable from the boat.

The Plum Island Tour, offered by Shoreline Scenic Cruises, is five hours and the Friends of Plum and Pilot Island accompany visitors on a walk over the island landscape and on the climb up the range lights.

The only sailing vessel in the Fall Lighthouse Fest lineup is a graceful 19th century tall ship, the Edith M. Becker. This elegant 65-foot schooner will transport you into yesteryear for a truly glorious sail past rocky shores, islands, caves and towering bluffs. Participants are invited to hoist the sails on the Edith M. Becker. As tradition requires, the cannon will be fired to signal the end of the cruise.

The Naturalist Tour seats guests aboard a comfortable small bus with a naturalist who narrates the journey. The five-hour tour visits four of the mainland lighthouses.

The four-hour Chambers Island boat excursion and hike departs the Fish Creek Dock aboard the Quo Vadis. Access to the historic lighthouse requires a three-mile round-trip docent-led hike.

Tickets are now on sale for the Third Annual Door County Fall Lighthouse Festival. To reserve a spot on one of these limited tours, call 920.743.5958. For more information visit dcmm.org.