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Keweenaw Mountain Lodge reviews
18
0
End of the Road 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Sep 28, 2021
Played the course:once
Pros:
Keweenaw Mountain Lodge is a historic wilderness resort nestled into the steep hills outside of Copper Harbor, MI. The 9-hole disc golf setup here is Michigan's northernmost course, and it's located only four miles from the northern terminus of US highway 41. As the signs inform you, it's only 2,000 miles to get here up US-41 from Miami! What are you waiting for?
The 40-45 miles of US-41 that you will almost definitely drive to get here (up from Houghton/Hancock area) is beautiful, especially the last 10ish miles driving over rolling terrain through a tunnel of trees. The drive is even more stunning around peak fall color season (end of September or so), which is when I was fortunate enough to visit. Signage points you to the disc golf course once you are on lodge property, although it is about a 150'-200' walk in to the first tee from the end of the parking lot.
For most of us who do not live there, the entire Keweenaw Peninsula will feel pretty remote. This course takes that vibe and runs with it. It plays in a wooded hilly area in the back of the resort property. There is a 9 hole ball golf course on site as well, but you won't see that at all during your disc golf round. Once you tee off on hole 1, it will feel like you are out in untouched wilderness until you get back to your car after hole 9. There are apparently some mountain biking trails running through the area as well, but I did not encounter any trail users during my round and I suspect it is rare. The flora is beautiful, with many evergreen trees and bushes mixed into the deciduous forest.
The course plays as a short, technical round. The fairways are mostly narrow lanes cut through the trees, with a few throws in moderately open areas. The rolling hills add challenge and increase the need for shot shaping. While I would stop short of calling any holes memorable (seeing as I don't vividly remember any two months later) I would say there is a good variety of nice holes from beginning to end. No filler holes. Holes 4 and 5 are short but have extreme doglegs, making them more difficult than the distance would indicate. Hole 6 is short as well but has two distinct fairways leading uphill to the basket.
The baskets are Chainstars in fine shape. There are nice Next Tee signs that make the course pretty easy to navigate.
The 40-45 miles of US-41 that you will almost definitely drive to get here (up from Houghton/Hancock area) is beautiful, especially the last 10ish miles driving over rolling terrain through a tunnel of trees. The drive is even more stunning around peak fall color season (end of September or so), which is when I was fortunate enough to visit. Signage points you to the disc golf course once you are on lodge property, although it is about a 150'-200' walk in to the first tee from the end of the parking lot.
For most of us who do not live there, the entire Keweenaw Peninsula will feel pretty remote. This course takes that vibe and runs with it. It plays in a wooded hilly area in the back of the resort property. There is a 9 hole ball golf course on site as well, but you won't see that at all during your disc golf round. Once you tee off on hole 1, it will feel like you are out in untouched wilderness until you get back to your car after hole 9. There are apparently some mountain biking trails running through the area as well, but I did not encounter any trail users during my round and I suspect it is rare. The flora is beautiful, with many evergreen trees and bushes mixed into the deciduous forest.
The course plays as a short, technical round. The fairways are mostly narrow lanes cut through the trees, with a few throws in moderately open areas. The rolling hills add challenge and increase the need for shot shaping. While I would stop short of calling any holes memorable (seeing as I don't vividly remember any two months later) I would say there is a good variety of nice holes from beginning to end. No filler holes. Holes 4 and 5 are short but have extreme doglegs, making them more difficult than the distance would indicate. Hole 6 is short as well but has two distinct fairways leading uphill to the basket.
The baskets are Chainstars in fine shape. There are nice Next Tee signs that make the course pretty easy to navigate.
Cons:
The tee pads are natural. The tee signs are painted wood boards that just have a dot showing the tee, another dot showing the basket, and a rough line and distance (no par). These signs are better than nothing but they were not always pointing directly at the basket, so I threw at an incorrect angle a couple of times.
Pretty short distances here - longest hole is about 300' and three holes under 200'.
No extras like benches, trash cans, practice basket, or kiosk. I just found a course map on the lodge website and uploaded it here - it would be nice if that map were posted somewhere between the parking lot and first tee.
Pretty short distances here - longest hole is about 300' and three holes under 200'.
No extras like benches, trash cans, practice basket, or kiosk. I just found a course map on the lodge website and uploaded it here - it would be nice if that map were posted somewhere between the parking lot and first tee.
Other Thoughts:
I did not get a chance to check out the lodge itself when I visited, but per the course info page and lodge website there are restrooms, refreshments for sale, and discs available to rent for $10/day (or free if you stay at the lodge). The course is free to play whether staying at the lodge or not.
I'm not sure where the lodge property ends but it seemed like there was definitely room to add nine more holes. Disc golf is clearly not a main attraction at the property today, but I honestly think it could be. There is land here for a world-class course, but it would need quite a bit of work to get there.
As it stands today, this course is in the 2.0-2.5 range for me. Finding the nice map posted online this morning convinced me to go with 2.5. I just noticed that several holes are listed as par 2 on the map. If you played those pars as listed, it would take a much better DG'er than me to finish under par.
The course was about what I had expected after reading the previous reviews, which is to say it was an enjoyable place to stretch my legs for half an hour near the end of a long day exploring the Keweenaw. If you similarly are in the area and have half an hour, you could do worse than check this course out.
I'm not sure where the lodge property ends but it seemed like there was definitely room to add nine more holes. Disc golf is clearly not a main attraction at the property today, but I honestly think it could be. There is land here for a world-class course, but it would need quite a bit of work to get there.
As it stands today, this course is in the 2.0-2.5 range for me. Finding the nice map posted online this morning convinced me to go with 2.5. I just noticed that several holes are listed as par 2 on the map. If you played those pars as listed, it would take a much better DG'er than me to finish under par.
The course was about what I had expected after reading the previous reviews, which is to say it was an enjoyable place to stretch my legs for half an hour near the end of a long day exploring the Keweenaw. If you similarly are in the area and have half an hour, you could do worse than check this course out.
