Barrier Free Travel

Accessible travel creates better experiences for everyone. Destination Door County is making the peninsula more welcoming by providing verified accessibility information to help you plan with confidence through a partnership with Wheel the World. This leading travel platform helps travelers with disabilities explore the world with confidence, ease, and joy by verifying accessible hotels, activities, and experiences.

Whether you’re here for scenic views, local flavors, outdoor adventures, or time on the water, Door County has experiences for travelers of all ability levels. Start with this guide, which highlights accessible attractions, lodging, parks, theaters, and more, with links to more accessible travel listings from Wheel the World, to help you build an itinerary that’s right for you.

Sights a Plenty

Get a bird’s-eye view of Sturgeon Bay’s historic working waterfront while inside the Door County Maritime Museum’s Lighthouse Tower. Venture up and through the trees at Peninsula State Park’s 850-foot-long Eagle Tower ramp to experience a view of the waters of Green Bay from the top of the Niagara Escarpment in Fish Creek. The park’s Sentinel and Sunset trails follow hard-packed limestone paths, making it easy to explore the popular park via wheelchair. A Trackchair is also available on reserve from the nature center.

Culinary Delights

Experience local flavors at one of Door County’s wineries, breweries, distilleries, or cider houses, including Door Peninsula Winery and Door County Distillery, both in Carlsville, and Door 44 Vineyard and Winery in Sturgeon Bay.

Boat Tours

See Door County from a different perspective on the water. Cruise past towering bluffs and scenic shorelines with Sister Bay Scenic Boat Tours. Go on a paddling adventure from the accessible kayak launch at Robert M. Carmody County Park. This spot is beginner-friendly and features a dedicated ADA-compliant kayak launch system. Or sail across historic Death’s Door aboard the Washington Island Ferry Line to explore charming Washington Island.

Show Time

Catch a live performance at one of the county’s accessible performing arts venues, such as Third Avenue Playworks in Sturgeon Bay, Birch Creek Performance Center in Egg Harbor, and Peninsula Players Theatre and Northern Sky Theater, both in Fish Creek. The latter also offers a hearing loop system. Free summer entertainment takes place at parks and other outdoor venues in communities throughout the county. 

Creative Endeavors 

Sign the walls of the famously decorated Anderson Dock warehouse in Ephraim. But please be sure to do so in a tasteful, respectful manner. Adding graffiti or decorating any other areas surrounding Anderson Dock is strictly prohibited.

Explore the county’s numerous galleries, such as Edgewood Orchard Galleries in Fish Creek and its scenic outdoor area. Take a workshop and learn a new skill at Write On, Door County and Peninsula School of Art, both in Fish Creek, or visit a Door County public library.

Family Fun

For an afternoon of play, head to the ADA-accessible playgrounds at Otumba Park, Nicolet Beach, and Kendall Park. Score a hole-in-one at Evergreen Miniature Golf in Fish Creek, which is fully ADA-compliant. Look for fossils dating back 425 million years in limestone formations along the 1.5-mile accessible Brachiopod Trail at Whitefish Dunes State Park in Sturgeon Bay. Catch a double feature the old-fashioned way during summer nights at the Skyway Drive-In Theater in Fish Creek.

Nature

The Hidden Brook Boardwalk at the Cook-Albert Fuller Nature Center in Baileys Harbor is a one-third-mile trail through The Ridges Sanctuary. Its eight-foot-wide path and full-length tow rails allow plenty of space for two-way traffic. Borrow a complimentary Trackchair to explore the bumpy terrain of the sanctuary’s Family Discovery Trail. 

Enjoy the beach at Otumba Park in Sturgeon Bay. You’ll find a Mobi-mat® that starts at the pavement and rolls out across the sand until it reaches the water. A beach wheelchair is available to use at Whitefish Dunes State Park. Glide down Fish Creek’s wheelchair-accessible pier and sit among the crashing waves and bobbing sailboats. Catch fish off the Kangaroo Lake Causeway in Baileys Harbor or at Potawatomi State Park’s fishing pier in Sturgeon Bay.

Drive the Door County Coastal Byway loop for scenic vistas of Lake Michigan, the Bay of Green Bay, and the Niagara Escarpment. Cruise along the water on the paved boardwalks at Anclam Park in Baileys Harbor or Sister Bay Beach. Experience Newport State Park’s 1.2-mile interpretive accessible Fern/Europe Bay Trail Loop in Ellison Bay by day—or in the evening, view the wonder that is the night sky. It’s a certified International Dark Sky Park—the only one in Wisconsin.

Did you know?

The wheelchair icon is the International Symbol of Access, recognized around the world without the need for words or Braille. Look for this symbol throughout our Official Destination Guide to discover barrier-free attractions and experiences. You can discover even more accessible things to do and places to stay when you’re in Door County through our partnership with Wheel the World.

Wheel the World Resources