The Boats Are Out on the Gravois Arm. Here's What's Still on the Calendar.

Fall Harbor Hop ran Saturday, Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. LakeExpo called it "the last boating weekend of the season" for many people. The Gravois Arm had its full lineup of stops that day: Maggie's at the Lake near the 8 mile marker, Coconuts and Hillbilly Yacht Club around 7, Millstone Marina & RV Resort's C-store and Tap & Grill Lakeside Brew Haus near 6.5, and Jolly Rogers and Lake Burger around 4.5.

The season doesn't end on one night. From here, the posted dates shrink to a few last calls along the arm. After Halloween, aside from a few bass club tournaments elsewhere on the lake, every community event on the 2026 calendar takes place on land in Laurie, and the last one runs to Jan. 2.

Here's what's posted as of Oct. 11:

Oct. 17 Is the Last Big Saturday on the Water

Jolly Rogers Grub and Grog, on Polk Drive at the lower end of the arm, has picked Saturday, Oct. 17, to close out its year. The event is called Drink Jolly Dry and runs 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Here's how the restaurant describes it on its events page:

"Mark your calendars for our grand finale of the 2026 season! We're slashing prices on all food and drinks until they're gone! Be the lucky one to snag the last sip of any drink and score a free drink voucher for next year."

That makes it a clearing-out party, so the drink menu gets shorter as the afternoon goes on. Whoever gets the last pour of a given drink walks away with a reason to come back in 2027.

Jolly Rogers' homepage also promotes "Weekend Bands" for "the offseason holidays." As of this writing, though, its band schedule shows nothing after Oct. 17. Check that page again around Thanksgiving if you want to know whether any holiday dates get added.

Oct. 17 is a busy day on land too, and that hints at where the season is headed. Doctor's Lawn & Landscape holds its annual Fall Fest that day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 606 State Hwy TT in Sunrise Beach, with cider, food, games, raffle drawings, artwork and seasonal shopping. Over in Linn Creek, the Camden County Museum hosts Apple Butter Days and Fall Festival on Oct. 16 and 17, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's free and includes crafts, demonstrations, a quilt raffle, apple butter, pies, and lunch for a donation, according to FunLake's fall festival guide. You could do the morning in Linn Creek or Sunrise Beach and still make the late afternoon at Jolly Rogers.

What Has Already Closed, and What Hasn't Said

Some Gravois Arm regulars have already posted their winter status. Others haven't, and an old seasonal list won't tell you about this year.

• Lake Burger has a banner on its site that reads "CLOSED FOR THE SEASON. SEE YOU IN 2027!!" The family waterpark is closed too. No reopening date is posted.
• OuterLimits, at 32701 Green Hills Road in Gravois Mills, calls itself "Seasonal: May – September" on its site, so it's already done for the year.
• Tap & Grill Lakeside Brew Haus, at 31959 Dunwandrin Rd., currently lists hours of Thursday from 5 p.m. to close and Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to close, closed Monday through Wednesday. The page isn't dated, and the events page shows no upcoming events. Call (573) 207-0029 before you drive over on a cold weekend.
• Coconuts shows "No upcoming events" on its events page.
• Maggie's at the Lake, Hillbilly Yacht Club and Millstone Marina all worked Harbor Hop, but none of them had posted 2026 winter hours that we could confirm.

If you need something specific in November, like a Friday dinner or a place to host visiting family, call that business directly. The lists you'll find online are often from a past year.

Halloween Night Has Two Separate Events

Oct. 31 falls on a Saturday this year, and the two main events nearby barely overlap in time.

The Versailles Area Chamber of Commerce hosts Scare on the Square Trunk or Treat on the Versailles town square, 109 N Monroe St., from 5 to 7 p.m. If it rains, it moves to the VHS gym. The Versailles Chamber has it on the calendar for Oct. 31, 2026. It's the early, kid-friendly option and runs about 20 minutes up Highway 5.

The Gravois Halloween Pub Crawl begins at 6 p.m., and FunLake's event listing gives the start as 423 Valley Rd in Gravois Mills. FunLake's October flier lists it from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. at "multiple locations" in Gravois Mills. The listing doesn't name the stops. It points to a Facebook event for details, so that's where to check the route.

The pub crawl is the last dated event of the year with a Gravois Mills address. Every community event after it is in Laurie.

For families looking for something a week earlier, Captain Ron's hosts its 20th annual Kids Spooktacular on Oct. 25 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at 82 Aloha Lane in Sunrise Beach, with local businesses handing out treats. Oct. 25 is a Sunday. The listing calls it Saturday in one spot and Sunday in another, so go by the date.

The Water Still Has a Schedule, Mostly for Anglers

Recreational boating winds down, but bass club tournaments keep going. The Lake of the Ozarks Fish Intel schedule lists a two-day Steel City Bassmasters event starting Oct. 24, 2026, with 30 boats running 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. out of Coffman Beach Ramp. It also lists 1000 Hills Bass Club at the same ramp with 15 boats, on Nov. 7 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Nov. 8 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Neither event is on the Gravois Arm. If you fish those weekends, you'll have a sense of how busy the main ramps are, and the lake will feel much quieter than it did on Oct. 10.

By Thanksgiving, the Lights Are in Laurie

The rest of the fall and early winter calendar is in Laurie, just south of Gravois Mills on Highway 5.

The Enchanted Village of Lights runs Nov. 20, 2026, through Jan. 2, 2027, so it opens almost a week before Thanksgiving and stays up past New Year's Day. The City of Laurie calls it Central Missouri's largest drive-through Christmas light display, with more than 100 full-color displays along the roads of the city's 27-acre fairgrounds. Entry is free, and donations help keep it going each year. A past LakeExpo listing gives the fairgrounds address as 269 Fairgrounds Drive. Businesses or families interested in sponsoring a display can call 573-207-7818.

That's about six weeks of evenings, which is the longest run of anything on this list. Out-of-town guests over Thanksgiving or Christmas can see it, and it costs nothing to drive through.

Two days after Thanksgiving, on Saturday, Nov. 28, the Lake West Chamber hosts the 25th Annual Lighted Christmas Parade from 6 to 8 p.m. According to the Chamber's event page, the parade starts at Central Bank, goes down Main Street, and ends at Laurie Terrace Mall, where Santa and Mrs. Claus will be afterward. The Chamber lists the mall at 401 N. Main St. Per the LakeExpo calendar listing, parade-entry questions go to the Lake West Chamber at 573-374-5500. Lake-area businesses or groups that want a float in the 25th edition should call soon.

On parade night, the fairgrounds lights are already on, so you can do both in one evening in Laurie.

If you're thinking about how a Gravois Arm home fits your year after the boats come out, whether that's winter use, renting it out for the season, or keeping it as a weekend place, Rudloff Legacy Group knows this stretch of Highway 5 and the water around it. Contact us, and we'll talk through what a Gravois Mills off-season looks like for the way you plan to use your home.