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Like the Lion in Winter, "The Door in Autumn" could be the name of a movie. That's when you feel the sheer presence of the place. Its mythic pull on the imagination. There's the impossible blue of the water, the bronzed headlands marching to the horizon, the pageantry of the season streaming across the hillsides in ribbons of cool fire. Start in Jacksonport, on the peninsula's lake side. Just above Lakeside Park stands a Maritime Trails marker, a monument to the village's past. During the heyday of Wisconsin's lumber industry, Jacksonport's business and community life centered around three piers near this spot. Each pier had its own general store and lumber mill.
These days Jacksonport has one store, Bley's Grocery, a small, inviting space redolent of the smoke and spice of homemade sausage. And while Mike's Port Pub could, I suppose, be described as a gin mill, it's as friendly a watering hole as you'll ever find. The burgers are reliably tasty, and on a crispy day, Mike's chili always hits the spot.
West of Jacksonport on V, take A north through a patchwork of fields bordered by stone fences, cedar swamps dotted with tamaracks, and even a few working farms. At Fairview Road, nip down to Krowas Orchard for a bag of tart-sweet Macs or Cortlands. If fall has a flavor, this is it.
Continue on A to Peninsula Center, where Stone's Throw Winery makes surprisingly elegant varietals: pinot noir, merlot, cabernet, and more. Sample before you buy in the 80-year-old stone barn and tasting room. Take a left onto F, passing several front-yard pumpkin stands before hitting highway 42 in Fish Creek. Turn left, go down the hill, and look for the entrance to Peninsula State Park on your right. The drive along Shore Drive offers gorgeous vistas of Green Bay, but the most spectacular view in all of Door County is from the aerie-like top of Eagle Tower.
After winding through the park's ridiculously scenic golf course, take a left on Highway 42 into Ephraim, a village that's retained its charm through years of growth and change. From there follow Q east, crossing the spine of the peninsula to return to the Lake Michigan side. The road skirts the rocky shores of North and Moonlight bays. Just before Q ends at Highway 57, The Ridges Sanctuary offers miles of hiking trails and a botanically rich ridge-and-swale landscape.
Make a left on Highway 57 and another quick left onto Ridges Road. You'll pass the lower Baileys Harbor Rangelight, which helmsmen in the age of sail aligned with the upper light to safely enter the harbor. At 1982 Ridges Road, a "two track" marks the entrance to the Toft Point State Natural Area. Walking beneath its towering pines and hemlocks, you feel as if you've entered the forest primeval. And when you emerge from that dark canopy onto the point itself, the Lake Michigan surf heaving against grotto-like stone breastworks, the tug on your soul comes from someplace deep and ancient.
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