Best Portland, OR Area Courses?

[Treeplant]

We've got a few days in Portland area, our current list (in priority of play) is:

1. Riverbend
2. Blue Lake
3. Horning's Hideout
4. Pier Park
5. McCormick
6. Dabney

Might have time for one that's a bit of a drive, was considering Inn at Lucky Mud or Buxton Woods? Not sure if either is worth the extra drive?

Are we missing anything we absolutely should be playing?

 

[jeffmonty]

Might have time for one that's a bit of a drive, was considering Inn at Lucky Mud or Buxton Woods? Not sure if either is worth the extra drive?

These two are absolutely worth the drive. Dabney is fun, but I would play one of these instead.

 

[teemkey]

Heading west on 26 from Portland, Buxton is only about a 10 minute longer drive than Hornings.

 

[Tim_the_Enchanter]

Personally, I would move Blue Lake down in the priority list. It is definitely a good course, but unless you're a really long thrower, it's not a fun course. I finally got a chance to play it this past summer, and I describe it as the best course I have not desire to play again. I didn't really keep score, but I was able to shoot near par for most of it, but the only way I'd get a birdie on most holes would be with a miracle throw in. It was well designed and well maintained (though some of the rough is downright evil), but it was made for a higher caliber player than I am. It's cool to see in person to see how the elites are able to play the course, but Milo (Riverbend) is a much more enjoyable course for that, IMO.

I would prioritize both Lucky Mud and Buxton over Blue Lake and Dabney. And if you're going up to Lucky Mud, Trojan is worth a stop so long as you have extra discs.

 

[dr.chainslove]

It's been 6 or 7 years since I've played there, but I still think very fondly about my Hornings Hideout Meadow Ridge round. For me, the quarky made-with-love private courses are the most memorable and this whole complex is quite an experience.

 

[4ormal]

Trojan is beautiful to play as well. It has lots of shots over water, so I'm not sure if you're prepared for that. It's about 15 minutes from McCormick. Both of those courses are my "home turf". I used to love Buxton, but lately I find their use of resources and course design to be a bit of a waste. A couple years ago I would have suggested it to EVERYBODY, but now I feel it's a bit gimmicky and some of the new pin locations are in downright dangerous locations. My favorite courses are Milo, Rooster Rock, Hornings, Stubb Stewart, Trojan, McCormick, Dabney, Timber and then Buxton.

 

[4ormal]

Also if you plan to play Pier Park get there before 11am on any day of the week otherwise it's way too crowded for my liking. (earlier the better)

 

[Treeplant]

One thing we learned is that dogs are not allowed in Oregon State Parks, first time we've ever run into this problem. Not even allowed on leash.

Got into town with only a few hours of light left, drove to Blue Lake - no dogs allowed. Shoot. Got back in the car and drove 20 minutes to Dabney. No dogs allowed. 1.5 hours of driving around wasted because this is the first time we've ever played courses where dogs weren't allowed even leashed.

At least when we've had our dog with us, maybe we've played courses that didn't allow dogs that we didn't notice because we didn't have ours with us at the time.

 

[4ormal]

Never heard of this before. I've taken my dog to all of the courses listed above. Was it just signs or did somebody actually stop you?

 

[4ormal]

Matter of fact, last time I was at Blue Lake somebody had a dog unleashed and the park attendant just asked them to put their dog on a leash. That was all.

https://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=v.page&id=79

 

[Treeplant]

Lots of signs, no pets allowed. Signs wth a picture of a dog and crossed out etc. Pretty sure Dabney had one said "no dogs allowed, on leash or off leash" or something along those lines where they made it clear it wasn't a leashing thing it was a dog thing.

Especially visiting from another country we don't ignore posted rules, not worth an issue.

 

[Treeplant]

Matter of fact, last time I was at Blue Lake somebody had a dog unleashed and the park attendant just asked them to put their dog on a leash. That was all.

https://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=v.page&id=79

Ah Dabney is an exception. The page you linked says if you scroll down that pets are fully prohibited at Dabney.

The blue lake website says no pets allowed due period due to sensitive habitats they can damage.

Looks like it's not a state wide thing, we just happened to pick two of the anomalies back-to-back.

 

[mopar]

One thing we learned is that dogs are not allowed in Oregon State Parks, first time we've ever run into this problem. Not even allowed on leash.

Just for clarification, the only park on the list that is an Oregon State Park is Milo (riverbend).

Oregon State Parks usually allow dogs on a leash.

Maybe you just meant any parks in Oregon in general but I wanted to clarify.

 

[jeffmonty]

Dabney is also an Oregon state park.

 

[mopar]

Ah yes indeed. Strange how the no dog rule there is different than most other Oregon State Parks.

 

[GeoWolf]

I've seen rangers at Dabney State Park kick people off the course because they had leashed dogs with them. Not sure why though, maybe the proximity to the River? I've also seen quite a few deer at Dabney near the 8th/10th tee box...

Blue Lake Park is operated by Metro, not the State Park System. The "sensitive habitat" at Blue Lake is the protected groundwater resource area the park is situated within - the mound structures at Blue Lake (like on hole 5) are drinking water supply wells that the Portland Water Bureau use to supplement the water supply during the dry months when the Bull Run Watershed reservoirs get low.