Muskegon County has 26 miles of beautiful sandy beaches along Lake Michigan.

There are 20 inland lakes located in Muskegon County.

In April of 2003, The Detroit News voted Muskegon's Beaches #1 as the, "Best Place to Run Sand Between Your Toes;" The Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum as the "Best Place for Kids to Sleep Over;" and the #3 vote for, "Best Place to Bring the Family For the Day."

Pere Marquette Beach was the only beach in the State of Michigan to receive and maintain the Blue Wave Certification by the Clean Beaches Council.  The Blue Wave certification identifies the nation's cleanest, safest and most environmentally well-managed beaches.

Muskegon County is home to the world’s largest weathervane.

Muskegon County is home to one of only four luge tracks in the United States.

There are three State Parks located on the shores of Lake Michigan within Muskegon County.

686,000 people attended the 2003 Muskegon Summer Celebration which is a 11-day, outdoor music festival featuring local and national performers.

In the late 1800s, Muskegon was known as the “Lumber Capital of the World.” Muskegon had more millionaires per capita than any other area in the country. Many historic homes from this area have been beautifully restored and are open for tours. The most popular are the Hackley and Hume historic sites.

Muskegon is the home of the Miss Michigan Scholarship Pageant.

Evergreen Cemetery contains the grave of Captain Jonathan Walker. Walker was a sea captain and abolitionist who was arrested in Florida in 1844 trying to free seven slaves. By order of the federal court, his right hand was branded “SS” for slave stealer. Walker is the only person in history ever branded by order of a U.S. court.

The Muskegon Museum of Art is one of the most highly respected art museums in the Midwest. The museum has recently added an extensive glass collection.

Muskegon County comprises 324,480 acres of which almost half is still forest land.

The largest air show in Michigan, the Muskegon Air Fair, takes place each summer.

Michigan’s Adventure Amusement Park has one of the largest wooden roller coasters in the country.

Muskegon County is home to the Owassippe Boy Scout Camp. This 4,800 acre camp has extensive nature and mountain biking paths.

Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, a summer school of the arts located on a 1,200 acre campus in Muskegon County, offers fine arts education for all ages. The summer camp annually serves over 4,500 gifted elementary, junior high, and high school students with diverse programs in music, art, dance, and drama and offers over 175 performances during its Summer Arts Festival.

With West Michigan’s diverse industrial sector and excellent intergovernmental cooperation, the area has ranked in the top 30 out of 315 metropolitan communities in Industry Week’s World Class Community annual survey for five consecutive years.

The Muskegon-Grand Rapids-Holland MSA ranked third nationally for new and expanded business facilities according to the 2000 survey conducted by Site Selection magazine, for their annual Governor’s Cup Contest. This helped the State of Michigan win this coveted prize for an unprecedented fourth straight year. In just the new facilities category, West Michigan ranked fifth nationally.

The Muskegon-Grand Rapids-Holland area finished 13th in a national ranking of the 50 best large metropolitan areas for starting and growing a business. The survey produced annually by Cognetics Inc., a Waltham, Massachusetts-based economics research firm, compares the business climates in communities by analyzing significant new business starts and looking at the growth rate of young businesses. West Michigan, supposedly part of the Midwest Rust Belt, fared better than a number of high-tech hotbeds including Seattle, San Francisco, and Boston.

West Michigan is a fun place to be. Places Rated Almanac ranked the area third in the fun and recreation category.