The votes are in. What did Lake Superior Magazine readers choose as The Best this year?
Minnesota Highway 61 
Photo: Paul Sundberg
Minnesota Highway 61, hugging the shore from Duluth to Grand Portage, was voted Best Scenic Drive in Minnesota by readers in this year’s survey.
CLOSE your eyes and imagine yourself by Lake Superior. Are you motoring into the tunnel at Silver Creek Cliff on Highway 61 in Minnesota? Are you gazing at the sailboats and ferries skimming the waters just off the Bayfield, Wisconsin, shores? Are you joining family for a visit to Fort William Historical Park in Thunder Bay? Or maybe, when you envision yourself by the Big Lake, you’re dining on the deck at Fitzgerald’s Restaurant in Eagle River, Michigan, literally a stone’s throw from the water.
Each of us brings our own experiences and expectations to the lakeshore and that’s what makes our annual survey of readers and online supporters such great fun for us here at the magazine. Many of the choices represent ones we’d choose ourselves; others surprise us … and give us some place new to try out. We hope this list inspires you, too, to revisit familiar sites and to discover new ones. We have a bittersweet note to add this year about one of our Best Restaurant winners. It comes as no surprise that the elegant setting and fresh fare of Wild Rice Restaurant in Bayfield got top honors for Wisconsin, but the restaurant will permanently close in October. It will be going out on a high note as one of our Best.
New this year, you’ll find a sort of BYOB – Bring Your Own Best – where people choose a favorite not covered in the other categories. The ones in the Reader’s Choice category are just a sampler, a few of our favorites.
Best Scenic Drive
M-41 Keweenaw • Michigan 
Photo: Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
MICHIGAN
M-41, Houghton to Copper Harbor & Brockway Mountain Drive
M-64 Junc. US2 to Ontonagon along Lake Gogebic
MINNESOTA
State Hwy. 61, Duluth to the Border
Gunflint Trail (Cty. Rd. 12), Grand Marais to Saganaga Lake
ONTARIO
Trans-Canada Hwy., Nipigon to Terrace Bay
Trans-Canada Hwy., Wawa to Batchawana Bay
WISCONSIN
State Hwy. 13 (Wisconsin Lake Superior Scenic Byway) Superior to Bayfield
County Rd. H, Madeline Island loop
Trans-Canada Highway • Ontario 
Photo: Courtesy Ride Lake Superior
Best Lodging
Old Rittenhouse Inn • Wisconsin 
Photo: Courtesy Old Rittenhouse Inn
MICHIGAN
AJ’s Walleye Lodge, Bergland Bay (on Lake Gogebic), www.walleyelodge.com
The Landmark Inn, Marquette, www.thelandmarkinn.com
MINNESOTA
Bluefin Bay on Lake Superior, Tofte, www.bluefinbay.com
Naniboujou Lodge, Grand Marais, www.naniboujou.com
ONTARIO
Drifters Motel & Restaurant, Terrace Bay, driftersimperialmotel.ca
TIE:
Rock Island Lodge, Wawa, rockislandlodge.ca • Prince Arthur Waterfront Hotel & Suites, Thunder Bay, www.princearthurwaterfront.com
WISCONSIN
Old Rittenhouse Inn, Bayfield, www.rittenhouseinn.com
The Inn on Madeline Island, La Pointe, www.madisland.com
Best Visitor Info Center
Two Harbors Visitor Center • Minnesota 
Photo: Janelle Jones / Two Harbors Chamber
MICHIGAN
Keweenaw Convention & Visitor Bureau, Calumet, www.keweenaw.info
TIE:
Ironwood Welcome Center, Ironwood, www.michigan.gov/mdot • Munising Visitor Center, Munising, www.exploremunising.com
MINNESOTA
Two Harbors Visitor Center, Two Harbors, www.twoharborschamber.com
Thompson Hill Travel Center, Duluth, www.dot.state.mn.us/restareas
ONTARIO
Terrace Bay Info Centre, Terrace Bay, www.terracebay.ca/visiting
TIE:
Ontario Travel Info Centre, Sault Ste. Marie, www.ontariotravel.net • Terry Fox Monument & Info Centre, Thunder Bay, www.thunderbay.ca/Visiting
WISCONSIN
Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center, Ashland, nglvc.org
Bayfield Chamber & Visitor Bureau, Bayfield, bayfield.org
Best Local Store
Madeline Island Candles • Wisconsin 
Photo: Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
MICHIGAN
Copper World, Calumet, www.calumetcopper.com
Beth Millner Jewelry, Marquette, www.bethmillner.com
MINNESOTA
Lake Superior Trading Post, Grand Marais, www.lakesuperiortradingpost.com
Joynes Ben Franklin, Grand Marais, www.joynesbenfranklin.com
ONTARIO
Young’s General Store, Wawa, www.youngsgeneralstore.com
Agawa Indian Crafts & The Canadian Carver, Pancake Bay, pancakebay.com
Young’s General Store • Ontario 
Photo: Courtesy Young’s General Store
WISCONSIN
Madeline Island Candles, La Pointe, www.madelineislandcandles.com
Apostle Islands Booksellers, Bayfield, www.apostleislandsbooksellers.com
Best Restaurant
Fitzgerald’s Restaurant • Michigan 
Photo: Todd Stanislav
MICHIGAN
TIE:
Fitzgerald’s Restaurant, Eagle River, www.fitzgeralds-mi.com • Harbor Haus, Copper Harbor, www.harborhaus.com
The Ambassador Restaurant, Houghton, www.theambassadorhoughton.com
MINNESOTA
Angry Trout Cafe, Grand Marais, www.angrytroutcafe.com
New Scenic Café, Duluth, newsceniccafe.com
ONTARIO
Drifters Motel & Restaurant, Terrace Bay, driftersimperialmotel.ca
Lake Shore Salzburger Hof Resort, Batchawana Bay, www.salzburgerhofresort.com
WISCONSIN
Wild Rice Restaurant, Bayfield, www.wildricerestaurant.com (sadly this favorite closes for good October 14, 2017, perhaps to become an art center)
Café Seiche, La Pointe, www.cafeseiche.com
Best Lake View
Terrace Bay • Ontario 
Photo: Natalie Fen10
Split Rock Lighthouse • Minnesota 
Photo: Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
MICHIGAN
Brockway Mountain, Copper Harbor, copperharbor.org
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Munising, www.nps.gov/piro
MINNESOTA
Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors, www.mnhs.org/splitrock
Palisade Head, Beaver Bay, www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/tettegouche
Big Bay State Park • Wisconsin 
Photo: Madeline Island Chamber of Commerce
ONTARIO
Terrace Bay, www.terracebay.ca
TIE:
Kama Bay overlook, nipigon.net/visitors • Pancake Bay Provincial Park, www.ontarioparks.com/park/pancakebay
WISCONSIN
Big Bay state & town parks, Madeline Island, www.madelineisland.com
Bayfield, bayfield.org
Best Family Destination
Porcupine Mountains • Michigan 
Photo: Amy Larsen / Lake Superior Magazine
MICHIGAN
Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Silver City, www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, nps.gov/piro
Duluth • Minnesota 
Photo: Paul L. Hayden / Lake Superior Magazine
MINNESOTA
Duluth, www.visitduluth.com
Grand Marais, www.visitcookcounty.com
Fort William Historical Park • Ontario 
Photo: Doug Coldwell
ONTARIO
Thunder Bay & Fort William Historical Park, www.thunderbay.ca/Visiting & fwhp.ca
Terrace Bay, www.terracebay.ca
Bayfield • Wisconsin 
Photo: Bayfield Festival of Arts
WISCONSIN
Bayfield, bayfield.org
Madeline Island, www.madelineisland.com
Best Reader’s Choice
The Jampot • Michigan 
Photo: Paul L. Hayden / Lake Superior Magazine
MICHIGAN
Best Fall Experience: “The U.P. is breathtaking when the leaves have changed colour. We love the people, the food and our favourite casinos. We love driving along the Lakeshore highway that Brimley is on.”
Best Treat Stop: The Jampot in Eagle Harbor
Best Cute Little Town: Paradise
Palisade Head • Minnesota 
Photo: Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
MINNESOTA
Best Road Break: “Eating Kendall’s sugar-cured salmon on a Triscuit with cream cheese while sitting atop Palisade Head!”
Best Hike: Leveaux Mountain
Best Art Gallery: Sivertsons, Grand Marais
Best Refreshment: All Duluth microbreweries plus Castle Danger
Thunder Oak Cheese Farm • Ontario 
Photo: Tourism Thunder Bay
ONTARIO
Best Cheese: Thunder Oak Cheese Farm in Neebing
Best Swimming: Katherine’s Cove
Best Home: “We love our home in Terrace Bay, where we can look out our windows when there is a strong north wind and see ships hugging the shore between Terrace Bay and the Slate Islands.”
Tom’s Burned Down Café • Wisconsin 
Photo: Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
WISCONSIN
Best Bar: Tom’s Burned Down Café, La Pointe
Best “Urban” Nature Walk: Wisconsin Point, Superior
Best Town Contributor: “Little Nikki’s deserves recognition for activities (family fun run, haunted house, adult prom, school fundraisers, etc.). The Cornucopia restaurant makes everyone feel like family and is the heart of the community.”
Share
Email Newsletters
Sign up for free email dispatches from Lake Superior Magazine and stay updated on future Best of the Lake voting.
Subscribe
Subscribe to the award-winning Lake Superior Magazine to get six bimonthly issues, plus the bonus Lake Superior Travel Guide annual and special discounts on our Lake Superior Collection puzzles, maps, calendars, books and other merchandise. It's just $24.95 per year to U.S. addresses and $36.95 to Canada.