Pros:
South Mountain is a very technical, challenging course located in a heavily wooded park with major elevation changes. This course reaches over 1000ft above sea level and as you play it you can tell ... the view from pin 3 is awesome. South Mountain may be a short wooded course, but it compliments the other local courses very well.
The majority of the holes are heavily wooded, with only a few holes on the back nine being open. Some of the holes that standout after a round are hole 3 which is a tight fairway flanking a sharp drop-off on the right, to a semi-open basket. The view of the valley from behind the pin is great. Hole 10 was a fun dogleg right that requires a well placed drive to score well. Holes 14, 17 and 18 are the most open holes on the course offering some respite from the heavy woods. Hole 18 was just a fun ending to a great course with a tight downhill fairway shot. A well placed drive will give you chance for the easiest birdie on the course, but beware the out-of-bounds road behind the pin. The course is easy to par, but will make you work hard for birdies.
The course has a bulletin board and practice basket by the parking lot near tee 1. The board has lots of information on the local disc golf scene.
Cons:
This course is rough and rocky, especially on the first few holes. If you need to beat in some champ plastic, this is the course to do it on. The rocky ground prevents any run ups on throws and is really rough on the ankles. The tees are all natural and some needed leveling and new gravel. It is easy to have de ja vous on the course since several of the wooded holes are very similar.
South Mountain does not have the best signage and it is very easy to get lost on the course. I did not find hole 6 until I had played hole 8. On the back nine holes there were several points where it was easy to take the wrong path and get lost. Some better means of direction around the course would be nice. Also since the woods are so dense, some baskets are difficult to find from the tee and some indication of where they are at the tee would be nice also.
Other Thoughts:
This is a course to learn accuracy on. It requires perfection on every throw and even then sometimes it isn't enough. Although often overshadowed by them, South Mountain really compliments Jordan Creek and Little Lehigh, both of which are predominately open and long.
When I played South Mountain, although the course was pretty busy it was still a peaceful nice place to play.
There are restrooms at a central location on the course and close enough to the parking lot. The bulletin board at tee 1 has scorecards and course maps available.
The Allentown/Bethlehem area offers several excellent courses for a daytrip of DGing. The local DG scene takes a lot of pride in their courses and it really shows. South Mountain is a must include on any disc golf trip to the Lehigh Valley.