DougCo Drop – October 1st – Arrival of the Long Awaited Restaurant: The Brinkerhoff, Fall Fests, and More!

So many fall events, so little time. Between Oktoberfests, Fall Fests, Craft Fests, and Art Fests, I’m honestly overwhelmed — in the best way. I’m leaning toward the corn maze at Chatfield Farms, but I want to know: what’s your go-to fall event?

Saddle Up

🎤 Music & Concerts

🎤 Live Music On the Patio: Jim Hyatt Band
📅 Date: Thursday, October 2
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
📍 Location: Tailgate Tavern & Grill, Parker
🎤 Detail: One of the top show bands in the Denver area.

🎤 Goose in the Round ft. Belles, Caroline Kid, Kenya Reese & Matthew Clark Launder
📅 Date: Thursday, October 2
⏰ Time: 8:00 PM - 10:30 PM
📍 Location: Wild Goose Saloon, Parker
🎤 Detail: A powerful night of storytelling with live and original music.

🎤 Live Music On the Patio: Flipside
📅 Date: Friday, October 3
⏰ Time:  6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
📍 Location: Tailgate Tavern & Grill, Parker
🎤 Detail: Denver band back after 10 years.

🎤 Live at the Altar: Tyler Stanfield
📅 Date: Friday, October 3
⏰ Time: 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM
📍 Location: Sinners & Saints Bar, Castle Rock
🎤 Detail: A two-man acoustic duo covering songs from the Stones, Tom Petty, U2, Guns N’ Roses, Depeche Mode, Darius Rucker, and more.

🎤 Live Music On the Patio: JC Jonathan Cernan
📅 Date: Saturday, October 4
⏰ Time: 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
📍 Location: Tailgate Tavern & Grill, Parker
🎤 Detail: A fusion of songs carefully crafted in simplicity, powerful interpretations, soulful playing, and integrated musicianship.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family

🎭 Community Field Day & Parks Celebration 
📅 Date: Thursday, October 2
⏰ Time: 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM
📍 Location: Highland Heritage Park, Highlands Ranch
🎭 Detail: Bring the family and join your neighbors for games, food trucks, and even an official world record attempt to learn what the new parks and fields mean for Douglas County.

🍂 Fall Fest
📅 Date: Saturday, October 4
⏰ Time: 8:30 AM - 11:00 AM
📍 Location: Backcountry Base Camp, Littleton
🍂 Detail: A day of fun with pancakes, pumpkin picking, pony rides, arts and crafts, face-painting, a bounce obstacle course, and a live animal presentation.

🧵 Littleton Craft Fair
📅 Date: Saturday, October 4
⏰ Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
📍 Location: Ketring Park, Littleton
🧵Detail: Annual outdoor juried fair featuring over 250 vendors with original, handcrafted items, food concessions, and fun shopping for the whole family at Ketring Park. 

🛒 20th Annual Shopping Extravaganza 
📅 Date: Saturday, October 4
⏰ Time: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
📍 Location: Outlets at Castle Rock, Castle Rock
🛒 Detail: A one-day, ultimate shopping experience in which ticket holders receive exclusive discounts at retail stores, a catered lunch, live entertainment, and opportunities to win over $75,000 in retailer gift cards and prizes.

 🍂 Happy Dog Ranch Fall Festival
 📅 Date: Saturday, October 4
 ⏰ Time: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
 📍 Location: Happy Dog Ranch, Sedalia
 🍂 Detail: Fun-filled fall afternoon on the ranch, complete with carriage rides, animal interactions, face painting, and more.

🍂 Fall Festival 
📅 Date: Saturday, October 4
⏰ Time: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
📍 Location: Pro Park, Littleton
🍂 Detail: Enjoy live music, a festive beer garden, a pumpkin patch, delicious food trucks, fun kids’ activities, vendors, and more.

🍁 Schweiger Ranch Fall Festival 
📅 Date: Sunday, October 5
⏰ Time: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
📍 Location: Schweiger Ranch, Lone Tree
🍁 Detail: Pumpkin patches, horse carriage rides, marshmallow roasting, ranch exploration, live music, food trucks, and more activities perfect for the whole family.

🎭 Circle Round LIVE 
📅 Date: Sunday, October 5
⏰ Time: 1:30 PM & 4:30 PM
📍 Location: Pace Center, Parker
🎭 Detail: A live recording of Circle Round, the family folktales podcast from Boston’s NPR station, WBUR.

🧘‍♀️ Fitness

🏃‍♂️ Castle Rock Trail Festival and liveBIG Family Adventure Run  
📅 Date: Saturday, October 4
⏰ Time: 6:00 AM - 3:30 PM
📍 Location: Philip S. Miller Park, Castle Rock
🏃‍♂️ Detail: Challenge yourself on Castle Rock’s vast ridgeline trail system with something for everyone from ultra-distance runners to families with children ages 5 to 12.

🏃‍➡️ Run the Bluffs - 18th Annual 
📅 Date: Sunday, October 5
⏰ Time: 7:30 AM - 11:00 AM
📍 Location: Bluffs Regional Park & Trail, Lone Tree
🏃‍➡️ Detail: A dog-friendly 2.5 mile loop on a hilly dirt path with amazing views with prizes to both humans and K9 friends.

🏃‍➡️ Domestic Violence Awareness 5K Fun Run 
📅 Date: Sunday, October 5
⏰ Time: 8:00 AM
📍 Location: Tallman Meadow Park, Parker
🏃‍➡️ Detail: 5K fun run to benefit domestic violence with food trucks, live band, and more brought to you by Bad Moms of Parker.

🎨 Arts & Culture

🎥 Teton Gravity Research Presents Pressure Drop 
📅 Date: Wednesday, October 1
⏰ Time: 7:00 PM
📍 Location: Pace Center, Parker
🎥 Detail: A film that follows some of the world’s best skiers and snowboarders, intertwining past and present sends through Alaskan spines, stacked pillow lines, massive cliffs, giant couloirs, deep powder, and insane jumps.

🎥 Branch & Bloom Educational Workshop: Screwball and Highballs 
📅 Date: Saturday, October 4
⏰ Time: 1:00 PM
📍 Location: Lone Tree Arts Center Conference Room, Lone Tree
🎥 Detail: Explores the musical’s blending of Prohibition-era themes, slapstick comedy, and the timeless standards of George and Ira Gershwin.

💃 Route 66 Fall Fundraiser 
📅 Date: Saturday, October 4
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
📍 Location: The Schoolhouse, Parker
💃 Detail: An evening that celebrates the historical spirit of the legendary highway Route 66 and the cities that line its path with food, spirits, and music.

💃 Reverie Dance Presents: Between Here and There 
📅 Date: Sunday, October 5
⏰ Time: 3:30 PM & 7:30 PM
📍 Location: The Schoolhouse, Parker
💃 Detail: Dives into the messy, beautiful space where love lives with a two-act performance telling sincere stories and an all-female cast and original choreography.

🎥 Film Screening and Discussion: Whose Children Are They?  
📅 Date: Sunday, October 5
⏰ Time: 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
📍 Location: Parker Task Force Meeting Room, Parker
🎥 Detail: A screening and multi-partisan cultural discussion of “Whose Children Are They” where all perspectives are encouraged.

🍽️ Food & Drink

🍸 Cold Cases and Cocktails
📅 Date: Wednesday, October 1 & Thursday, October 2
⏰ Time: 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
📍 Location: Southridge, Highlands Ranch
🍸 Detail: Presenting the unsolved murder mystery of Peggy Hettrick with behavioral and investigative tools provided.

👻 Spirits with the Spirits Mansion Tours  
📅 Date: Wednesday, October 1
⏰ Time: 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
📍 Location: Highlands Ranch Mansion, Highlands Ranch
👻 Detail: Enjoy a special, spooky guided tour of the Highlands Ranch Mansion after the sun sets complete with cocktails and unexplained tales.

🍵 A Taste of Autumn: Seasonal Tea Tasting 
📅 Date: Thursday, October 2
⏰ Time: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
📍 Location: Douglas County Libraries at Castle Pines
🍵 Detail: Savor the cozy comforts of fall with a curated tea tasting by English Tealeaves.

🍵 Lone Tree's Craftoberfest   
📅 Date: Saturday, October 4
⏰ Time: 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM
📍 Location: Schweiger Ranch, Lone Tree
🍵 Detail: Sample from Colorado breweries fall line-up of beers, enjoy live music, nosh on food truck favorites, and enjoy a variety of entertainment.

🍴 Restaurant Week  
📅 Date: Sunday, October 5 - Saturday, October 11
⏰ Time: All Day
📍 Location: Downtown Castle Rock
🍴 Detail: Dine at some fantastic restaurants in Downtown Castle Rock with special items not on participating restaurants’ normal menus.

🍹 Nightlife & Entertainment

👻 Ghostly Stories and Tragic Tales of Castle Rock 2025 
📅 Date: Wednesday, October 1
⏰ Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
📍 Location: Castle Rock Museum, Castle Rock
👻 Detail: Walking tour of Downtown Castle Rock featuring tales of ghostly and tragic events in Castle Rock’s history.

🧠 Trivia Night 
📅 Date: Wednesday, October 1
⏰ Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
📍 Location: Sterling Center, Littleton
🧠 Detail: Party Pro DJs will lead you through rounds of trivia, so grab a team and head to the Sterling Center.

🗡️ Murder Mystery ~ Ultimate 80's Party 
📅 Date: Friday, October 3
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM
📍 Location: Cherokee Ranch & Castle, Sedalia
🗡️ Detail: Step back into the 80’s and channel your inner detective with food and a cash bar available.

🗓️ On the Horizon

🍻 Pumpkin Festival
📅 Date: Friday, October 10 - Sunday, October 12
⏰ Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
📍 Location: Chatfield Farms, Denver Botanic Gardens
🍻 Detail: The festival features a 10-acre pumpkin patch, a corn maze, live music, crafts, hayrides, and children’s activities.

🏔️ Mountainfilm on Tour
📅 Date: Thursday, October 16
⏰ Time: 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
📍 Location: Southridge Auditorium, Highlands Ranch
🏔️ Detail: Experience a selection of culturally rich, adventure-packed, and inspiring documentary films handpicked from the Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride.

🎤 Sounds to Die For  
📅 Date: Tuesday, October 28
⏰ Time: 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
📍 Location: Highlands Ranch Community Association - Southridge Rec Center
🎤 Detail: A Halloween / themed concert featuring haunting hits, classic rock, and movie music, performed by the Soundtrack Orchestra.

Land and Lore

Pinery Village Replat Approved for Major Retail Development

On September 23, 2025, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the Pinery Village Filing 1, First Amendment Replat (Project File: SB2024-043), marking a significant milestone in a multi-decade planning process for commercial development at The Pinery.

The project consolidates parcels from two previous filings—Pinery Village Filing 25 (platted in 2000) and Pinery Village Filing 1 (platted in 2020)—into 11 new commercial lots totaling approximately 32 acres at the northwest corner of North Pinery Parkway and State Highway 83.

Anchor Development and Retail Mix

The largest parcel, Lot 1A, will accommodate a 123,000-square-foot King Soopers Marketplace grocery store with an associated retail fuel station featuring seven multi-product dispensers. The development also includes approximately 8,000 square feet of inline retail space and nine outlots designated for future commercial build-out.

Nathan Abbott of Galloway & Company represented the applicant, Dylan and Companies LLC, noting the project conforms with the County's 2040 Comprehensive Master Plan by concentrating non-residential uses within the Pinery separated urban area and enhancing existing infrastructure.

Community Input and Traffic Considerations

Sonia, president of the Pinery HOA, testified that the project follows long-established design guidelines for the area, expressing general support while raising concerns about future traffic impacts. She specifically requested the county and CDOT monitor the intersection of North Pinery Parkway and Highway 83 and consider adding protected acceleration and deceleration lanes as the area develops.

Approval Conditions

The Board approved the replat with two standard conditions: technical corrections to the plat exhibit must be made prior to recordation, and all commitments made by the applicant during the public meeting are binding conditions of approval. The replat also vacates unused portions of North Pinery Parkway right-of-way and establishes utility and access easements throughout the site, including provisions for an adjacent commercial lot (Lot 1, Filing 25) not included in the replat.

What’s Next

So when will bulldozers roll in? Not just yet. The replat approval sets the land framework, but vertical construction can’t start until a few more dominoes fall:

Plat recordation: the developer must correct and officially record the plat before anything else moves forward.

Infrastructure build-out: the Pinery Commercial Metro District No. 2 is on the hook to extend roads, utilities, drainage, and stormwater systems to serve the site.

Site Improvement Plan (SIP): only after county staff and CDOT sign off on detailed engineering—things like intersection treatments, turn lanes, and storm ponds—can construction permits be issued.

That means residents will likely see grading and utility work first, followed later by the grocery store itself. The timeline for those next phases hasn’t been made public yet, but the approvals show the project is officially alive after years of sitting on the books.

Youtube Link

Hometown Headlines

Douglas County Launches First-Ever Opioid Awareness Campaign to Break Stigma and Inspire Recovery
TLDR: The Douglas County Opioid Council has launched a powerful new campaign to reduce stigma around opioid use and highlight stories of recovery. Guided by individuals with lived experience and recovery experts, the campaign emphasizes that addiction touches every community—but hope and healing are possible. Social media, outreach, and future campaigns for youth and parents will ensure the message continues to grow: no one is alone, and support is here.

Broncos Solid Win Over Bengals
TLDR: The Broncos bounced back with a 28-3 win over the Bengals (now 2-2), highlighted by J.K. Dobbins breaking a 38-game drought as the team’s first 100-yard rusher.

Rockies Historic Season
TLDR: The Rockies wrapped their season at 43-119 — tied for the third-worst record since 1901 — and set a new MLB record with a -424 run differential.

Tried & True

🥩 Tried & True: The Brinkerhoff - Castle Rock

After years of construction (and plenty of buzz), The Brinkerhoff has officially opened its doors in Castle Rock. From William and Mark Brinkerhoff — the team behind Savina’s and Sierra — this new spot aims to be a destination restaurant for Douglas County and beyond.

The space balances scale and intimacy: a 2,600-square-foot dining room with sweeping Front Range views, styled like a Mexico City steakhouse with cantera stone, stadium-style booths, and an open kitchen anchoring the room. Next door, Bar Hummingbird is set to debut this winter as a 9,000+ square foot event venue, giving the campus dual appeal.

The menu pulls broadly: prime steaks, wood-fired mains, seafood, and sushi flown in daily. Shareables like burrata already stand out as must-orders, while mains such as the glazed Wagyu short ribs, French Dip, and jumbo crab cakes are getting attention. Sides (royal creamed spinach) and desserts (the massive Blue Ribbon Carrot Cake) keep the classic steakhouse energy alive.

Drinks hold equal weight. The cocktail list features signatures like the Barrel-Aged Maverick (capped at two per guest), while the wine list runs deep across France, Italy, California, New Zealand, and more. Beer, sake, and mocktails round out the options.

With nods to the Brinkerhoff family’s hospitality legacy throughout the design, this isn’t just another steakhouse — it’s positioned as Douglas County’s newest gathering place.

See more from our visit here.

Menu | Instagram | Facebook | Website

If someone forwarded this to you and you want local updates like this every week, subscribe here! Looking for even more Castle Rock specific events and stories? Subscribe to our sister newsletter, Castle Rock Crew.