The Witches Walk Stretches to Three Days. Here's How Downtown The Dalles Runs This October.

Downtown The Dalles still has steel plates over two small excavation units on the stretch between Washington and Court streets, with walls built around them. This year, the Witches Walk runs three days, October 16 through 18. Those two facts shape the whole month. October downtown is happening without First Street, and nothing published so far says when the street will be back.

That makes Second Street, Fourth Street and a few public parking lots the real map for October. The sections below explain why, then lay out how the month fits together.

Why First Street Won't Be Back This Year

The City of The Dalles traffic and access page was last updated September 8, 2026. It lists First Street as closed downtown "until project completion," with partial closures on nearby streets. Federal Street is also closed between 1st and 2nd Streets, where the Federal Street Plaza project is still under construction.

The delay goes back to March. Crews digging for a retaining wall uncovered a previously unidentified archaeological feature tied to Native American history, and construction stopped right away, according to Columbia Gorge News. Engineers could raise the wall only "by inches" before its structure would be compromised. Oregon's State Historic Preservation Office therefore requires the city to carry out data recovery before work starts again.

At its July 27 meeting, the city council approved another $146,955 for that recovery work, bringing the whole streetscape project to nearly $6 million. Archaeology now makes up 14% of the project's total cost. The contractor, Ajax Northwest, will go back to work once the state's recovery requirements are met. The article gives no restart date.

The last finish date anyone reported came earlier. In June, Columbia Community Connection wrote that a proposed change order tied to a century-old sewer line would push the deadline from May 1, 2027, to July 13, 2027. That date was set before the archaeology costs came up for approval. It's better read as an earlier estimate than as the current schedule.

The archaeologists have also explained why the details are so thin. The site holds historic artifacts and at least some evidence of Indigenous presence. The firm doing the work is keeping descriptions vague to protect the spot from illicit digging while it's exposed, and Oregon law shields archaeological site locations from public disclosure. More may come out once the wall and backfill are in place.

The Witches Walk, Day by Day

This year the Walk has grown into a full weekend. Organizers are posting updates on the Witches Walk Facebook page, which is also listed on Explore The Dalles.

1. Friday, October 16: Masquerade Ball at Sunshine Mill Winery, 901 E. 2nd St. This is the second year for the ball. It's 21 and over, with a costume contest, a DJ, and food and dessert. Drinks are sold separately. The ticket page lists it from 6 to 10 p.m. Tickets were limited when they went on sale September 15, so it's best to check the ticket page before you go.
2. Saturday, October 17: the marching parade. Lineup starts at 3 p.m. in the Discount Plus parking lot, and the parade steps off at 4 p.m. for a walk through downtown. No 2026 route has been published yet. The organizer's Facebook page is where a route would most likely show up.
3. Sunday, October 18: pancake breakfast and clothing drive. This is new this year. It runs Sunday morning and benefits a local charitable organization.

Two of the three days happen away from the closed street. Sunshine Mill sits on East 2nd, and the Sunday breakfast is the first time the Walk has had a cool-down morning. Saturday afternoon has a second option on Fourth Street. While the parade gathers and moves, The Dalles Art Center at 220 E. 4th St. runs free Witches Walk pumpkin painting from 4 to 7 p.m. If you're watching the parade with small kids, those times overlap, so you can do both.

The Rest of October Sits on Second and Fourth

With First Street closed, the month's dated events land on a few blocks of Second and Fourth Streets, the riverfront music venues, and the Discovery Center. In time order:

A few notes on the table. The Chamber calendar calls the October 10 Harvest Fest the last market of the summer season. Its recurring market listing, though, runs through October 31, so check with the market before planning around a later Saturday. The Business After Hours is free for Chamber members, community partners and guests, and two creative shops share one address for the evening. The story-hour announcement doesn't say whether it's at the Art Center or the library.

Brick City & Games, a few doors east at 409 E. 2nd St., is one more reason the month centers on Second Street. The shop first opened downtown in September 2023 and moved into its permanent building with a grand reopening on July 11, 2026. It's now the Chamber's new Wednesday-morning "Wired" spot, with drop-in hours from 8 to 9:30 a.m. on October 21 and 28 and coffee from Petite Provence. Our July look at a summer weekend downtown in The Dalles covered how the detour pushed activity toward East 2nd and the river. Three months later the detour is still in place.

Evenings stay on the river side. Little Music City's nightly listings run through the month at Bargeway Pub, Zim's Sports Bar & Grill and Freebridge Riverfront, and the full lineup is at littlemusiccity.com. Lewis & Clark Festival Park was closed from September 14 to October 4 under the city's construction schedule. No fall event there has been announced yet.

Where to Park When the Street Is Fenced

The city keeps on-street parking in the downtown core for customers. It asks business owners, employees and tenants to use the public lots. On a parade afternoon or Halloween, the lots are the practical choice:

• 1st Street Public Lot, between Washington and Federal Streets
• Sunken Lot, the newly paved eastern section between Washington and Court Streets. The west side is reserved for Commodore tenants.
• 3rd & Lincoln Lot, across from St. Peter's Church

The Sunken Lot sits on the same Washington-to-Court block where the archaeology stopped construction. The city's current detour map shows the project limits, and it's worth a look before October 17.

Halloween Afternoon, Two Overlapping Windows

October 31 is a Saturday this year, and two downtown events overlap that afternoon. The Dalles Main Street Program hosts Downtown Trick-or-Treat from 3 to 5 p.m. at participating businesses, and the Lions Club helps families at crosswalks and along sidewalks. The Art Center runs its own free gallery trick-or-treating from 4 to 6 p.m., with costumes encouraged.

A list of participating businesses hasn't been posted for 2026. In 2025, Main Street marked participating businesses with pumpkin signs. That's last year's method, so it may change. The timing makes for an easy order: storefronts from 3 p.m., then up to Fourth Street before the gallery closes at 6. For a weeknight option earlier in the week, Columbia Gorge Toyota & Honda has a Trunk or Treat listed for October 29.

What's Already on the November Calendar

The costume weekend leads straight into a busy November. None of these dates depends on First Street reopening:

• November 11: Veterans Day Parade. No route has been published yet.
• November 14: the Nilsson retrospective closes at the Art Center.
• November 19–21: the Art Center's second annual Student Art Show.
• November 27: the Starlight Parade & Tree Lighting starts at 6 p.m., winds through downtown, and ends at the Chamber, 404 W. 2nd St. The Art Center's Holiday Artisan Market opens the same day and runs through December 24.

The Starlight Parade also ends on Second Street, which makes three dated parades this fall that either finish on Second or have no published route. When the city or the Witches Walk organizers post a 2026 route, that will be the first public sign of how a parade gets through a downtown with First Street closed.

At Gorge Homes & Land, we keep up with The Dalles one block at a time, construction fences and parade lineups included, because that's the downtown our neighbors live with every day. If you're wondering how projects like First Street and the Federal Street Plaza affect what a home near downtown is worth, request an instant home valuation or book a complimentary consultation with Chrissy and Brock.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.