With 300 miles of shoreline, watch a sunrise and a sunset over the water without leaving the county. See thousands of acres of orchards, explore art galleries, devour cherry pie, sip on local wines and brews, splash in the lake or paddle along the bluffs, stroll through five state parks or tour 11 historic lighthouses. No matter what you’re looking to get out of your vacation, our 19 unique communities allow you to live life well.
Porte des Morts legend Door County’s name came from Porte des Morts (“Death’s Door”), the passage between the tip of Door Peninsula and Washington Island.[13] It is a common misconception that the name “Death’s Door” arose from the number of shipwrecks associated with the passage. It was instead the result of Native American tales, heard by early French explorers and published in greatly embellished form by Hjalmar Holand, about a failed raid by the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) tribe to capture Washington Island from the rival Pottawatomi tribe in the early 1600s.[14]
