Travel + Leisure: MN Ranked No. 1 State for Summer Road Trips

Minnesota just landed the #1 spot nationally in WalletHub’s 2026 “Best & Worst States for Summer Road Trips” ranking — here’s why Winona (pictured in Travel + Leisure’s feature photo of their article) should be on your route.

If you’ve been on the fence about a summer road trip through the Mississippi River bluff country, the numbers just made the decision for you. According to WalletHub’s newly released 2026 Best & Worst States for Summer Road Trips report, Minnesota was ranked the single best state in the country for a summer road trip — beating out all 49 others across 32 different metrics covering safety, affordability, and things to do.

• Safety — the state has the second-fewest vehicle fatalities per million miles traveled, the fourth-best bridge quality in the nation, and one of the lowest rates of speeding.
• Affordability — Minnesota ranks 12th-lowest for camping costs, 11th-lowest for mid-July three-star hotel rates, and 13th-lowest for car repair costs.
• Things to do — the state has the fourth-highest per-capita spending on parks and recreation, plus the fourth-most fairs and festivals per capita during the summer.

That’s not a small honor. WalletHub’s analysts looked at everything from road quality and traffic safety to gas prices, camping costs, and the sheer number of attractions available to travelers. Minnesota came out on top thanks to a combination of dependable, well-maintained roads, some of the lowest vehicle fatality rates in the nation, and a wallet-friendly mix of camping and lodging costs. Add in a deep bench of summer fairs and festivals and heavy state investment in parks and recreation, and it’s easy to see why Minnesota edged out every other state in the union.

So what does that mean for your summer plans? It means there’s never been a better moment to point the car toward Winona.