- Nine baskets with some reasonably tasty elevation and a bit of woods criss crossed with ski trails, lift equipment, buildings, and other random infrastructure (was that a yurt?) to play thru and around.
- Green arrows point the way. Maps at action center.

- I'm going to be straight with you. Whoever designed this course and then made the decision to start it at the very top of a 45-degree 1000' mountain, and then deny guests wanting to disc golf lift/ride access to the top, is an asshole of the greatest magnitude. They sell it to you as "the skilift is out, but alt arrangement to the top available" until you've paid and are there, then it's "Disc golf walks." Total assholery. Later as I'm coming down the mountain I see staff lazing around in a gator at the foot of the mountain. Absolutely fucking atrocious customer service.
- Ok, you lied to me, took my money, rudely told me to hoof it, I almost died halfway up of a heart attack (and I just finished a multiday hiking trip so I'm def in good hill-hiking shape). Is the disc golf worth it? No. Is the scenery worth it? Not unless you think looking at distant treetops thru a snarl of ski infrastructure is pretty (it's not).
- Finish the huge climb to 1 and...here, asshole, get rewarded with more uphill holes. I've literally never been madder at a course than this. The weird mix of death elevation, short holes, and long bombers prevent this from being AT ALL attractive to newbs, families, or casuals. Only hardcore course baggers and dg masochists should think of tackling this. If you need a cart, or have medical conditions, seriously skip this one.
- The one long downhill bomber 800+ anny shot isn't worth the climb. Hard right turn off the tee, woods on each side of the dogleg right fairway. The fairways here were poorly maintained and full of cockleburrs, adding to the nightmare. At the end is a basket across a roadway, with park vehicles driving thru blind from both directions.
- Wonky ass design. More walking to, from, and to the next hole than actual dg. Dodging ski infrastructure and roads sucks. Blind-to-cars on road shots, throwing up and down roads sucks.
- Horribly mushy sand tees. Yuck. Thorn bushes in the circle. Leaning basket on #6 iirc. Long walk after 9 (a 500' anticlimatic downhiller with basket oddly placed behind some ski barrier thingies).
-Worst part: zero repeatability, because who in their right mind would climb that stupid slope for another go of roadway and skirope crap-ass design? Surely not me.

- If this were a typical chitty city park niner, transposed off the mountain, it would actually increase the rating. Probably a 1- to 1.5- disc rating without the bullshittery of no lift/ride access and death ascent.
-I hate f'ing liars.

*Innova Discatcher baskets
*2 or 3 practice baskets at the base of the "mountain."
*Very nice resort
*Navigation was fairly easy with the use of a map (provided) and signs between holes
*Decent variety of hole length and lefty/righty holes
*Variety of holes with elevation changes
*Great views from the top of the slopes
*Ride the lift to the top to get started (see cons also)

*Ski lift to start of course is only open weekends to my understanding. I played on a weekday without knowing this and had to hike up the black diamond slope to begin my round.
*Tees are natural marked by a 4x4 in the ground. Soil is soft and sandy and not flat.
*Only 9 holes, so much room for a full 18 holes
*Hole 7 fairway was a wide ski slope but only the middle 30' or so was mowed

Overall I enjoyed this 9 holer. I took my 4 year old son with me on a 45 degree rainy day. We hiked up the black diamond slopes since the lift was not in operation on the Tuesday that we were there.

The course begins at the top of Loki/Thor ski runs, it is the chair lift that is just to the right as you enter the resort. The course begins play up and down along a few easier ski runs or they may have just been service roads. A few holes play on slight elevation or flat. When you get to basket 4 and basket 6, you can catch a good view of the surrounding areas.

Hole 7 would be the signature hole as it plays down a blue ski slope in the 800-900' range, it is reachable in two but your throws must be on point as the tee shot is a difficult left to right turn. The sides of this fairway are a little rough too, so keep a good eye on your shots.

I was really hoping to see the final hole play down the mountain from the top or near the top with a wide open well manicured ski slope, so I was a bit disappointed when I did not come across a hole such as this.

If you are in the area, I'd suggest stopping to play, but check to see if the lift is open, it is a demanding climb to the beginning of the course if it is not open. I don't think I would go out of my way to play this course again though.

I'm positive I'll be back to Crystal mountain, but next time will be more than likely to ski. We used to come here every year when I was in college and the few years after. I was really surprised at how nice everything seemed, it is a growing resort with many year-round activities!

The visuals are spectacular, especially from hole number 6. Some of the holes are a lot of fun and there is a good variation for a nine hole course.
Signs mark distance well and the signs marking where the next hole is are also helpful, as you could easily get lost at this place without them.

I came on a day that the lift was not open. That led to a LONG walk up hill to the first tee. Not the courses fault, but that certainly effected my overall experience.
The tee pads are flat out not good. Not only are they dirt, but some are not level. On a couple holes not only are you throwing towards a basket that is uphill you are throwing off a teebox that is slanted uphill. That makes things very difficult.

Why not have a hole or two on the way up the hill? At least that way you can throw while you walk up.

Aesthetic-- plays up and then down a BIG ski mountain. criss crosses several trails, both hiking and mountain bikes. keep your eyes out for other people.

Baskets-- DisCatchers. All there, some were massively rusty at the top of mountain. Some were bent.

Routing and Navigation-- not too bad. tons of signs to guide the way.

Teesigns-- not too bad. gave honest distances and "plays like" distances.

Design- I thought that #2 was a brilliant hole, but everything else here is awful. #1 is borning, #3,4, 5 play UP two tracks with massive roll away potential everywhere. #6 plays across the top of the mountain with huge sweeping panoramic views. these were appreciated as the walk up there was one of the most miserible things I've ever done. #7 again plays down a GD two track. #8 and #9 are quite possibly the worst holes here. #8 is 900 feet around a corner and down a ski hill. Keep your eye on your disc. #9 (where to begin) 1200' of (plays like 1200') down a gentle slope and into a wide open field. no challenge. just huck it and hope for the best.

Teepads-- there is a ton of sand here and I thought the rubber teepads would be slick. they were not, but they were rubber.. I hate rubber teepads

I really should have read the rest of the reviews a bit more.

there are honestly some good holes here but there are more honestly horrible holes here that destroy any hope of an enjoyable round.

nope... can't think of any

horrible signage sometimes missing or invisible to the naked eye. Horrible paths, uphill battle with no direction.

A thrown together disaster, someone could make a decent course here if they started all over cut all holes in half and make it a 18 hole course.

they had baskets... only 9 of them though

no tee pads. REALLY long holes up hill along side of a two-track road. Holes signs were pieces of paper clipped to wire stuck into the ground. We were actually charged for this horrible experience.

The discgolf course seemed like an afterthought for this pristine ski resort. They don't seem to know how to make a descent course or care. When you are at this resort, it is obvious they have the money, and the scenery to build a FIRST RATE course, but don't have the time or the inclination. Don't play this course... it's a waste of your time and money.

Three different tees per hole, if you can find them.

Not too much loose sand as is common on other Michigan ski hill courses.

Baskets are in good repair.

I honestly can't think of anything else.

Hole 2 fairway splits and is not signed where the hole is.

The course is completely devoid of informative signage. Not just tee signs, but next tees signs too. Tees are marked (sometimes) with colored whiffle balls.

I missed the tee for hole 7. I actually threw from what looked like a tee down the mountain, but without a basket, or signage telling me the length, I kept throwing. As a result, I ended up at the bottom of the mountain on the other side of the property.

This made for a LONG walk back, without the payoff of the long holes. I don't think I've ever been more angry after a round than this. The walk would have been longer, but the bike path I used was adequately signed showing the way to my car.

As you can imagine, this just pissed me off more.

No defined teepads. The length of these holes really demands concrete tees.

Course follows access roads for the first half, completely ignoring wonderful land around it.

I find a course like this completely unacceptable.

DG courses are, on the whole, very cheap to begin with, and completely disregarding tee signs, next tee signs and concrete tees (or ANY type of defined tee) is pathetic for a business like Crystal Mountain, for whom a $300-$500 expenditure is peanuts.

I stopped in to the Mountain Adventure Zone to check out their selection, and with the intent of buying a few discs and maybe a T-shirt. They had no stock, and I mean the walls were bare.

Crystal Mountain may want to consider that the margin on these items is around 50% and with a few sales, they can make the money needed to turn their current piece of crap course into something approaching playable.

Multiple tees. Great long shots on the last 2 holes. Not very busy.

"Next tees" not well marked. I was a little confused on which way to go on hole 2. Also, there was NO sign stating where the next tee was after #3. I shot for the only goal I saw, and it turned out to be #8. I totally missed holes #4-7 (including #6, which is supposed to be the crown jewel). Short course (only 9 holes).

A playable course, but nothing too special. It's an hour away from me, so I'll likely only go back to find the holes I missed.

Downhill holes 8 and 9 are similar in some ways to ski hill holes at Hickory Hills, but are longer and play like four regular length holes. Terrific Chainstar baskets. Holes are long and challenging. Very nice view of surrounding hills at Hole 6 basket. Hole 1 is an uphill 350 foot shot with a mowed fairway. Appears to have free admission.

Slippery grass tees. Terrible low-budget signage. gold tees hard to find, blue/red less so. Holes 2 and 3 follow a path up the hill and are very questionable. Holes 4,5,6 are tightly wooded and depend on luck. Windy conditions prevail.

A minimalistic course with odd degisgn features, but avoid unless you're in Crystal Mountain anyway.

Hole distances of 300 to over 1200 feet make this course a strong distance driver's dream. Even the distances from the shortest tees are longer than almost anything else in northern lower MI. Plenty of elevation change is inherent in this course as you go up Totem Park, loop around Nason's Trail, trudge up to the top of North Face, then slog down the bottom of Basin Street to the final basket under the Crystal Clipper. There are plenty of "Next Tee" signs and obvious tee markers making navigation pretty simple. The view from the top of the North Face (pin #6) is stunning at dusk.

While the distances on the red and blue tees are shorter, make no mistake; due to creative tee placement, the shorter tees have lost very little of the basic challenge of the hole. In some cases, they make the hole an almost totally different critter.

I only had difficulty finding one red tee marker, and that was for #6. Merely follow the path to the blue tee then veer right to the very edge of the drop off and you'll find it in the grass just to your left.

On #9, keep in mind that the prevailing winds will blow you disc to the left, directly into the steep slope under the chairlift.

The Mountain Adventure Center carries some plastic, including some Star discs, both with and without the custom Crystal Mountain stamp. We were pretty impressed with their selection of discs, considering.

Besides the distances, very few holes have any real challenge. Don't bother to stop at the Mountain Adventure Center to ask for a map, scorecard, or directions, because they seem to know nothing other than where the first tee is.

The hole overview signs are laminated inkjet printed paper and a couple of sesons' use means the distances and pars for the blue and red tees have gotten wet or bleached out and are now mostly illegible. However, almost all tee markers have direction and distance printed on them.

There's plenty of other stuff to do here for non-discers or after playing.....hit the alpine slide - it's mucho fun, hang out in the water park, work out or relax at the new Spa, check out the truly unique Michigan Legacy Art Park, or bring your mountain bike and hit the Crystal Mountain and Betsie River trails (maps available at the Lodge or Adventure Center). Lunch or dinner at The Thistle or pizza/subs from the Little Betsie Deli is a must-do. The gas station just south of the resort has killer 3-cheese bread, too!