Camas First Fridays happen every month, but October's edition leans into fall with a pumpkin pageant and a Harry Potter-themed costume contest. Expect local art exhibits, themed family games, a kids' Lego table, and free-to-enter gift basket raffles up and down downtown Camas.

A celebration centered on the oldest living apple tree in the Northwest, planted at Fort Vancouver in 1826. Urban Forestry Commissioners give away cuttings from the tree throughout the day (limited, while supplies last), alongside apple tastings and sales, live music from The Ottomatics, River Twain, and JT Wise Band, community cider pressing, and walking tours of the Fort Vancouver Historic Orchard and Land Bridge.

Timed to the annual return of the endangered Sandhill Crane to the Refuge for winter, BirdFest & Bluegrass mixes downtown Ridgefield festivities, live bluegrass, shopping, crafts, with Refuge programming like the Auto Tour Route, photo blinds, guided hikes at the Carty Unit, and kid-focused craft stations. This year's Bird of the Year is the Red-winged Blackbird, look for them along the River S Unit Auto Tour Route.

Presented by the Nutter Foundation, Dozer Day lets kids and adults climb into the driver's seat and operate real construction equipment under supervision, excavators, bulldozers, and more, while learning how the machines actually work. It doubles as a chance to connect with local construction employers, and proceeds go back to local nonprofits.

A steam excursion through a 330-foot solid rock tunnel out to the Heisson area, with a stop at Moulton Station to visit Yacolt Falls. With the leaves changing and crisp fall air, it's a scenic, kid-friendly way to spend an hour or two outside the usual Vancouver loop.

Local historian Jefferson Davis leads this 1.5 to 2-hour, 1.5-mile walking tour through the darker side of Officers Row, stories of loneliness, fear, and tragedy from the Barracks' past, with stops at the Parade Ground, O.O. Howard House, Post Hospital, and Ulysses S. Grant House. Whether or not you believe in ghosts, the history alone is worth the walk.

A gender-bending, lightning-fast 90-minute comedy reimagining of Bram Stoker's classic, five actors playing over a dozen roles with rapid costume changes. Think Mel Brooks and Monty Python let loose on the Dracula legend, a solid pick for date night or a group outing before the run wraps up October 11.