Fans and supporters are encouraged to vote online every day for the Wildwoods’ Boardwalk
The Wildwoods, NJ – March 09, 2026 – The Wildwoods’ Boardwalk is in the running for the Best Boardwalk in the country in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards 2026. The Wildwoods’ Boardwalk placed #1 on the USA Today list in 2025, which included boardwalks from California to New Jersey.
Fans and supporters are encouraged to vote online today and every day for the Wildwoods’ Boardwalk, to help it earn the title of #1 USA Today 10Best Boardwalk in the US again in 2026. Supporters may vote once a day, every day, through Monday, April 6 at noon, when voting officially closes. The Top 10 winners, as determine by USA Today 10Best readers, will be announced on Wednesday, April 15th at noon.
Overlooking the island’s spacious beaches, the world-famous Wildwoods’ Boardwalk offers a unique experience for anyone vacationing at the New Jersey shore. Famous for being one of the liveliest stretches of fun and excitement on the East Coast, the Wildwoods’ Boardwalk offers a pure sensory overload of sights, sounds, and smells to visitors. With over 100 rides and attractions ranging from world-class roller coasters and wet ‘n wild waterparks, to carnival-style midway games, flashing arcades, and a myriad of retail shops and eateries, along with the famous Wildwoods Boardwalk Sightseer Tram Cars – known for their famous phrase, “Watch the Tram Car, Please!” this wooden way is the quintessential Jersey Shore Boardwalk.
Since its birth as a mere 150-yard-stretch of boards in the 1890s designed to keep the sand out of the hotel lobbies, the Wildwoods’ Boardwalk has always been the center of activity on the island. Throughout the years, the Boardwalk has gone through many transformations, growing in size, and evolving with the mood of the country; and in its 100-year history, it has been moved closer to the ocean twice due to the changing shoreline. Today, the Wildwoods’ Boardwalk is one of the country’s last great seaside promenades. Its rich history and world-famous ambiance have led to the very concept of the Wildwoods’ Boardwalk being used as the model for the Boardwalk attractions both in Disneyland and in Hershey Park, PA.
2026 has already put the Wildwoods into the national spotlight, with attractions in the town gaining notices from major publications, including nods from USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Contest in the categories of ‘Best Mini Golf,’ and ‘Best Pop Culture Museum,’ for Monsters Mayhem Mini Golf and The Doo Wop Experience Museum respectively.
Throughout 2025, many Wildwoods’ iconic attractions earned widespread acclaim as well: Islands.com named the Wildwoods’ beautiful beaches among ‘America’s Best White Sand Beaches’ and praised the Wildwoods Boardwalk as a having an ‘all-American vibe’, while Discoverer.com named the Boardwalk as one of ‘6 Historic Beach Boardwalks Everyone Should Visit’. Additional recent notable accolades include multiple Wildwoods attractions being named to USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards contests, including the Wildwoods Beaches, Boardwalk, Starlux Mini Golf, and The Madison Resort Wildwood Crest. The Wildwoods beaches were voted the Best Beach in New Jersey in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Travel Awards Contest 2025, marking the second consecutive year that the Wildwoods’ Beaches have been ranked #1 in New Jersey in the USA Today contest. The Wildwoods Boardwalk was also voted the 2025 #1 Best Boardwalk in the US in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards Contest.
The Wildwoods’ Boardwalk is perfect for a stroll on a breezy, starry night or for a scenic daybreak bike ride amid all the Boardwalk’s amusements, shops, games, and restaurants. The Cresse Avenue bike ramp offers the connection from the Dunes Bike Path at the Southern end of Wildwood Crest up onto the Boardwalk, and to the rest of the Wildwoods bikeable paths and streets. At the North end of the Boardwalk, the bike ramp connects to the Muhlberry Bike path in North Wildwood all the way to the Sea Wall, a scenic one-way six-mile trek.
The Wildwoods’ Boardwalk has also won numerous travel and tourism awards throughout the years, including being named “One Of The Top Ten Boardwalks” by National Geographic , “One of America’s Best Boardwalks” by Smart Travel, “One Of The Best Boardwalks In America” by CNN Travel, “One Of America’s Best Seaside Boardwalks” by Trending Travel, ‘20 Best Beach Boardwalks in America’ by Reader’s Digest, and the ‘Favorite Boardwalk in New Jersey’ by New Jersey Family. The Boardwalk was also named among the ‘The 20 Most Iconic Boardwalks in the US’ By INSIDER, MSN.com and BEST TRAVEL TALE.
USA Today’s 10Best provides users with original, unbiased, and experiential travel content of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world. Created by a team of local travel experts: a well-traveled and well-educated group who are not only experts in their fields – and their cities – but discriminating in their tastes. These local experts live in the city they write about so the content is constantly updated.
The Wildwoods offer everything a family could ever want in a fun, affordable vacation destination at the New Jersey Shore! With FREE Events, FREE Beaches, FREE Fireworks, and FREE Live Music throughout the summer, the Wildwoods are the best family vacation value at the Jersey shore. For additional information about the Wildwoods, visit WildwoodsNJ.com or call 800-992-9732.
