How Patriotic is Michigan?
With the Fourth of July holiday on the way, Michigan residents are gearing up to celebrate America in a big way. It’s the first fairly normal summer since the pandemic…
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
With the Fourth of July holiday on the way, Michigan residents are gearing up to celebrate America in a big way. It's the first fairly normal summer since the pandemic took hold in 2020, with many patriotic events back for the first time in years, so that's a big reason to celebrate.
I have always thought of Michigan as being a very patriotic state. I love visiting rural areas throughout the state, and on road trips, I often see American flags hanging from every house along my route. Plus, we have the Great Lakes and countless inland lakes, so Fourth of July celebrations in Michigan tend to be massive.
The crew at WalletHub.com has put together a study to determine the most patriotic states in America. It wasn't an easy task, but they used some very specific data to do. "In order to determine where Americans have the most red, white and blue pride, WalletHub compared the states across 13 key indicators of patriotism," the publication stated in the study. "Our data set ranges from the state’s military enlistees and veterans to the share of adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election to AmeriCorps volunteers per capita."
To rank the most patriotic states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across two key dimensions" “Military Engagement” and “Civic Engagement.” They also "evaluated those dimensions using 13 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of patriotism. Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states."
Michigan No. 37 on the list. I thought we’d be much higher! Michigan's "military engagement" number was among the highest of the all the states at 46, but the state's civic engagement was low at 25. Find the full study via WalletHub.com here.
It's almost camping season, and it's no secret that Michiganders love to camp. Michigan is one of the most beautiful states for camping, as evidenced by our many great parks, campgrounds and lakes. I'm actually not a bit camper, but I do know it's a super popular activity this time of year.
Pure Michigan is always on top of the best vacation spots in the Mitten, and they've put together a list of 10 of the most beautiful campgrounds in Michigan.
The No. 1 campground on their list is Tahquamenon Falls State Park in Paradise, Michigan. Of the area, Pure Michigan states, "Take in the sights of one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi at Tahquamenon Falls State Park in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. The Upper Falls stretches 50 feet high and more than 200 feet wide, deservingly making it a must-see attraction. But with more than 40 miles of hiking trails, 13 inland lakes and approximately 20,000 acres of natural area, there’s more to love about the park than just its majestic waterfall." That sounds lovely to me!
Read on for the full list of 10 beautiful campground in Michigan to visit this season, courtesy of Pure Michigan. Out of this list, I most want to visit the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Empire. I've heard it's one of the most gorgeous spots in America, so that's on my to-visit list at some point. I've actually been to Sleepy Hollow State Park in Laingsburg for a hike and definitely recommend it. Reach out to me on social media on Facebook here.
10 Beautiful Michigan Campgrounds
This list is courtesy of Pure Michigan.
