Two Door County motels swept the top two places in a national online survey, one repeating its 2025 win, and a popular scenic route on the Peninsula placed in the top 10 in a different category of the same survey.
Square Rigger Lodge in Jacksonport placed first for Best Roadside Motel – the second straight win in the category for Square Rigger – and Fresh Coast Motel in Fish Creek came in second in the same category in the 2026 USA TODAY 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards for Road Trips.
In another 10BEST Road Trips poll conducted at the same time, the Door County Coastal Byway was voted into ninth place for Best Scenic Drive in the country – a year after coming in eighth in the same category.
The USA TODAY 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards feature top travel and lifestyle destinations and events. Twenty nominees for each category are determined by a panel of industry experts. Winners are decided by online voting that remains open about a month. The top 10 in each Best Road Trips category were announced May 13.
In taking the top two places, Square Rigger and Fresh Coast topped roadside motels in California, New Mexico, Florida, Massachusetts, Vermont, Nevada, Missouri and North Carolina that were voted into the top 10.
These results aren’t the first time in 2026 Door County sites were recognized in USA TODAY 10BEST readers polls. Earlier this year, Sister Bay won third place in the Best Small Town in the Midwest category and and Ephraim took eighth place in the national Best Small Town Cultural Scene category.
To see the complete list of USA TODAY 10BEST winners for Road Trips, visit 10best.usatoday.com/awards.
Square Rigger Lodge
Family-owned Square Rigger Lodge features 16 rooms overlooking nearly 300 feet of a private sand beach on the Lake Michigan shore. The lodge also has four cottages and a four-bedroom house that formerly served as the owner’s home but is now available to guests for weekly rental. A Little Bit of Coffee, a beachfront coffee shop that also offers smoothies, baked goods and quiches, is attached to the motel and open daily during the season with limited hours in September and October, and it also serves small plates, cocktails, mocktails, wine and beer Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
“Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula draws tourists in droves thanks to its abundant natural beauty, and the Square Rigger Lodge serves as the perfect base for exploring the region,” the USA TODAY 10BEST site said in its nomination of Square Rigger. “Rental options range from motel rooms to cottages to an entire house, and to sweeten the deal, the property even comes with its own beachfront coffee shop for early risers.”
The LeClair family built the original motel in June 1984 and ran it until 2022 when owner Elizabeth “Little Bit” LeClair sold Square Rigger to a family group that is now its current owners: Mary Riley; Molly and Hale Towns; Betsy Riley and Neil Anderson; and Katie Riley and Mike Kerr.
“We were excited to be nominated again, and we are so grateful to those who voted for us,” the owners’ group said in a news release. “This recognition is special because it is rooted in our guests’ appreciation for our motel.”
Square Rigger Lodge is at 6332 State 57, Jacksonport. For more information, call 920-823-2404 or visit squareriggerlodge.com or facebook.com/squareriggerlodge.
Fresh Coast Motel
Fresh Coast Motel opened in May 2024 following an extensive eight-month renovation by new owners Mitch Ehly, Katie Wanzer, and Luke and Katie Nelsen that transformed the former By-the-Bay Motel, originally opened in 1954 with a second building added in the 1980s, into a modern yet retro-style, contactless accommodation with 15 rooms and off-street parking on Fish Creek’s busy Main Street. Fresh Coast finished third in the 2025 Best New Motel category of another USA TODAY 10BEST poll.
Also part of the early renovation was The Deckhouse, the two-story home built on the property in the 1940s before the motel buildings, now serving as a five-bedroom, four-bathroom vacation rental with a private patio that can sleep up to 10 people.
More recent work on the motel includes a full bathroom renovation featuring custom-tiled walk-in showers in all 15 rooms, with a new dry sauna to be added this spring.
Along with the modern amenities in the vintage motel, the location is across the street from Fish Creek Beach and the waterfront of the bay of Green Bay and within reasonable walking distance of most shops and attractions in the village.
“In business since the 1940s, Fresh Coast Motel offers 15 cozy accommodations along the coast of Wisconsin’s Door County,” the USA TODAY 10BEST nomination says. “In addition to scenic views, visitors are also welcome to take advantage of relaxing amenities like the in-house sauna and front patio fire pit, with plenty of local restaurants and shops found just a short walk from property limits.”
Along with Fresh Coast, Ehly, Wanzer and the Nelsens in May 2025 opened The Spruce & Shore Motel, a renovation and revitalization of the former Fish Creek Motel & Cottages. The two couples operate the motels under the name The Refresh Collection Hospitality Group. For more information, visit freshcoastmotel.com.
Door County Coastal Byway
A Wisconsin Scenic Byway since 2010 and National Scenic Byway since 2021, the Door County Coastal Byway runs between the north side of Sturgeon Bay and the tip of the mainland Peninsula in Northport. It starts where State 42 and State 57 split and head in different directions, with 42 running near the bay of Green Bay and 57 doing the same near the Lake Michigan shore. The two highways come back together where 57 ends in Sister Bay, and the byway continues to 42’s terminus in Northport.
Along the way, the byway passes through popular tourist communities like Fish Creek, Ephraim, Sister Bay, Ellison Bay, Baileys Harbor and Jacksonport, and three state parks and 10 county parks are on or just off the route. It also includes what is often called Door County’s “curvy road,” the final mile or so of State 42 heading into Northport that includes 15 curves in a wooded area and is one of the most photographed stretches of roadway on the Peninsula.
“Door County Coastal Byway … connects travelers to three state parks and 10 county parks, showcasing the best of Lake Michigan and northern Wisconsin,” the USA TODAY 10BEST nomination says. “For a real treat on this curvy road, plan your road trip for the fall, when the orchards are full of fruit and the leaves have turned fiery crimson and gold. Other highlights include the 400-million-year-old Niagara Escarpment bluffs and the sandy beaches found along Lake Michigan.”
USA TODAY 10BEST voters apparently feel the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region offer plenty of scenic views to enjoy by vehicle.
The Great River Road, which starts in Minnesota and runs the length of the Mississippi River to Louisiana, defended its 2025 win by topping the Best Scenic Drive poll again this year. The runner-up spot went to the Copper County Trail National Byway in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail placed third. And, coming in 10th after the Door County drive was the Minnesota North Shore Scenic Drive, which follows the Lake Superior shore from Duluth to Grand Portage at the Canadian border.
Other 10BEST scenic drives for 2026 were Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi and neighboring state, fourth; Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire, fifth; the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia, sixth; Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles, seventh; and the Creole Nature Trail All-America Road in Louisiana, eighth. The Pacific Coast Highway, Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park in Montana and the Badlands Scenic Loop in South Dakota were among the nominees that did not make the top 10.
For more information on the Door County Coastal Byway, including maps, a downloadable brochure and attractions along the route, visit doorcountycoastalbyway.org.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@usatodayco.com.
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FOR MORE DOOR COUNTY NEWS: Check out our website
This story was updated an earlier version included an inaccuracy.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County motels sweep USA TODAY 10BEST vote, scenic drive is top 10
Reporting by Christopher Clough, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
