Trails & Treats Event at Crossroads

Sturgeon Bay, Wis. (October 13, 2025) – Crossroads will be rock’n this week, celebrating science, the arts, geology, and Halloween fun. On Friday, October 17, from 5:30–7:00 PM, designated trails will glow with the lights of Jack-o-lanterns and luminaries for  our annual Trails & Treats event.

Families—costumes and bags encouraged—will follow the trail between twinkle-lighted treat stations where they will receive toys and puzzles, bookmarks, bandages, stickers, coupons, healthy snacks, lots of candy—and then, appropriately, a toothbrush.

This event is free thanks to our Crossroads volunteers and our sponsors: Target, Tadych’s Marketplace, Plum Loco Animal Farm, Door County Medical Center, Culver’s, Cherry Lanes, the Y, The Farm, and Smile Designs.

The very next day, Crossroads will join with educational institutions, museums, nature centers, and libraries for the Wisconsin Science Festival, a statewide celebration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math.

This year’s theme is Rock & Roll! And for the next two weeks, Crossroads will offer a variety of special programs featuring the geology that shapes Wisconsin and the Door Peninsula.

On October 18, for our weekly family program, Science Saturday, we will use Queen’s rock classic “We Will Rock You” to teach the differences between  igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. But why all three rock types? Weren’t the rocks of Door County formed under a warm, shallow sea?

As far as scientists can tell, there was never an active volcano in the region we now call the Door Peninsula. But way back—way, way back—more than a billion years ago, there was volcanic activity in this region that created igneous and metamorphic rock. Those “basement formations” of Wisconsin are now deep within the bedrock.

The rocks that make up our Niagara Cuesta were formed more than 400 million years ago, so most of the rocks we find are sedimentary. But we do find granite and basalt, which are igneous, and occasionally even schist and quartzite, which are metamorphic.

It’s because of the glaciers! When massive Ice Age glaciers—an unimaginable two miles thick—engulfed and crushed mountains, they plucked up igneous and metamorphic rocks, dragging them south. When the ice melted, some of those durable ancient rocks remained here.

So, Saturday we will learn how to identify different rocks. Monday, we will screen excerpts from WPT’s Hometown Stories, Ridges & Swales, and others—each with stunning videography featuring the unique post-glacial  geology of the Door Peninsula.

Our weekly Environmental Exploration activity on Tuesday, October 21, at 3:30 PM will feature “Rocks and the Arts,” and learners of all ages will discover how rocks have been used by artists, followed by a make-and-take project. And the Wandering Wednesday group will stroll through the Big Creek Preserve, observing ancient shorelines of post-glacial lakes.

You’ll want to Rock and Roll with us this week and next, and don’t forget to join us for Trails and Treats.