ELEVATION! The elevation will challenge your physical strength and endurance.
Wood, The lines here are so good. They are challenging, fun, and fair.
Solid mix of hole distances with short, moderate, and long holes all being accounted for.
The pads are excellent and the signage is great. Both provide you with everything that you need in order to execute your shots.
Next tee arrows to guide you to the next hole, these are very welcomed.
Valley shots, uphill, downhill, and a 1300+ ft hole to challenge even the longest of throwers.
This course really does have something for everyone.

The terrain can be difficult to traverse at times, especially when its muddy. Wearing the proper footwear is highly recommended.
Some of the walks between holes can get lengthy. 10's basket to 11's tee, 17's basket to 18's tee for example. Tip after holing out on 9, walk past the first tee you see(it is 16) and keep walking up the hill 10's tee pad.
All cons are minor so don't let a few minor cons deter you from playing this stellar course!

If you love mountains, woods, seclusion, scenery, wildlife, and awesome disc golf, then this course is for you. This course will test you both physically and mentally. You will need a solid game in order to score well here. You will need to make sure you have water, etc., for your round. Rounds will take a while here, but enjoy yourself. How can you not? This is NM disc golf at its finest!
You will need a well rounded game in order to score well here. During your round you are very likely to see wild horses, elk, deer, here. Enjoy all that this course has to offer. It is a great course and a welcomed addition to the Ruidoso area.

Moon Mountain DGC offer championship level play and extreme terrain. The 18 concrete tees meet standards, and the signs are illustrated with all pertinent info listed. Baskets are new Dynamic Discs targets with red rims and blue baskets.

There is major elevation change on many holes. The lines are usually threading between stands of large tress. A couple of shorter holes with chances to score a two, but some long distance par 4's and 5's with real attitude offsetting them. A par 65 that measures nearly 8000 feet. The layout isn't too hard to follow, but does cross over on a couple of hole transitions. You can go from hole 6 directly to 17 for 8 holes, or 9 to 17 for 11 holes.

The scenery is beautiful, and wildlife is everywhere. I saw groups of elk relaxing on the front lawns homes in the residential area around the corner on the drive in. A few deer moseyed through the course with their calves. There is a herd of wild horses residing on the grounds. At least a dozen of them were resting in the shade no more than 30 feet behind me as I teed off on hole 17. They were not aggressive, but did made me nervous enough to throw and go rather than observing the entire flight of my Beast.

My favorite hole, and the only 2 I made, was number 6. A top of the world shot, fairly open aside from a stand of trees to the right that might catch a low shot halfway to the pin if you pull it. I threw a Roc 3 on a perfect line to within 15 feet of the short pin sitting in the flat at the bottom of the hill. If the basket is placed long, there is a climb to the top of the next hill adding on another 50 or 60 yards.

17 is pretty flat, but plays about two tenths of a mile on a par 5. An open drive, entering the woods on the second half. It took 8 shots for me to get in the hole.

There is a lot of climbing and descending hills. Rocks, tree litter and branches cover some of it, so wear good shoes and watch your footing. Physical demands may be too much for some players and small children. The thin mountain air had me taking breaks to catch my breath a couple of times.

A second set of pads would be nice to shorten up the layout for intermediate level players. The tight lines, hills, and long distances will make Moon Mountain overwhelming too many players. I love it as is, but added versatility would put my review closer to 5 out of 5.

Are you wanting to play courses with a high degree of difficulty, threading between many trees, with plenty of elevation changes? Ruidoso's Moon Mountain DGC is bringing it for you all day. It is a tough one, not where you want to introduce a novice disc golfer to the game.

This was the first course I played in southern New Mexico. I jumped right into the deep end. It is a toss up between this one and Grindstone for my favorite in the state. Definitely play both if you are in the area.

I shot a 75 putting me 10 over on the round. It was the first of several courses visited, and I had to acclimate to the thin mountain air. Getting the approaches all the way to the pin on hilly holes got me a few times. I also had some easy putts missed. Overall I was happy with the way it all played and have no serious issues with the layout. Great weekend disc golf destination, with a couple of must play courses in a tremendous setting.

Large, level, tee pads with erosion control areas built up, around, and/or near them and a near-perfect "grippiness factor," in my opinion.

19 Veteran baskets in great shape, with red bands, blue cages and (yes) silver chains. (Including a practice basket.)

Multiple pin placements on each hole (only one tee pad per hole).

Accurate and descriptive signs for each hole with distances to each pin, plus info about OB, mandos, etc. "Next tee" signs on or on a tree near the basket of every hole (I think). These made navigation easy, once I noticed they were there. They are small red, white, and blue signs. Obvious or marked trails on the way to the next tee, almost always.

Occasional benches, including one made from skis at the tee for hole 6.

Bathrooms at the parking lot at the base of the hill.

Significant elevation changes and the elevation is used very well. Big uphill and big downhill shots, plus side-hill fairways, gradual slopes, one hole with a big drop-off behind the basket and within the circle, many others with more gradual sloping greens, and multiple holes that play downhill and back up.

Good variety of hole distances. There are several par 3 holes reachable for most intermediate-and-up players and they are mixed in at good stages of the course. Those that come immediately to mind are holes 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, and 15. Having said that, none of those shots are what I would call "easy."

As I think back now, I can remember every hole individually. That speaks to the variety and also to the fact that each hole has its own character. No two holes looked or felt the same to me. Which is a huge pro, in my book.

Breathtaking beauty all around, including great views at the top and at stages on the way up.

There are many long walks from basket to the next tee. Lots of them are significantly uphill (see "other thoughts.") I don't consider this to be a huge con, but some might and I want to give them a heads up.

Almost all of the tee shots have one line to hit or a fairly open shot that allows the player to throw almost any "go to" line. My preferred style is choices of lines off the tee. Having said that, there are mid-fairway choices on several holes and overall I like the design.

Several of the baskets are high, having not been buried as deep as usual, probably due to rocky ground. Be aware as you line up your putts.

The pin placements seem to get more interesting as the course unfolds. In general, back nine placements create more danger around the greens and the front nine are pretty straightforward. I like the style of the back nine green areas better.

Only one tee per hole, so there is no recreational/family option. This is a serious course for serious disc golfers, as the warning signs at the beginning indicate.

This is a strenuous hike over rocky terrain. It was the most grueling 18-hole experience, fitness-wise, that I have had. This may have something to do with the fact that I am an old guy who was carrying way too many discs, a chair, an umbrella, and two water bottles, but I've played a fair number of courses with big elevation changes and courses at high elevation and they did not wear me out like this one did. I played the Sipapu Ski Resort course two days before this and I was far more tired after 7 holes here than after the whole round there.

Also, it is one long loop, so no return to the parking lot (and the bottom of the hill) until all 18 holes are completed. Take water, snacks, and whatever else you need.

The course works its way uphill, generally, to its peak at the tee of 13. Within those first 12 holes, there are several downhill shots (holes 5, 6, 8, and 9), usually followed by an uphill walk to the next tee. Your reward for reaching 13's tee is a beautiful view and the start of a well-earned descent, which (at least for me) allows for a high level of enjoyment at the end of the track.

I love traveling to a place and playing a course that fits in with the character of the area and gives me a strong sense of being in that state, city, etc. For Ruidoso, New Mexico, I thought this course was exactly that, a challenging place of rugged beauty. My recommendation: Gear up and go play it!

1. Beautiful scenic setting away from the crowds of downtown or the Lake. Elk all over the place, especially first and last holes.

2. Excellent slip proof concrete pads and the baskets are also in very good shape.

3 Good mix of uphill/downhill and good use of terrain/trees. A couple of really fun downhills were you can bomb it (I hit my personal best this weekend on # 16)

1. Steep hill climbs and a fairly long course (especially of course the famous #17. So wear good shoes. Maybe even boots.

2. Not a lot of dog-legs if that's your thing. A couple of mandos. But the trees still require good use of curving.
-#10 is like playing uphill through a wheat field with thorns. Probably the only hole that could use "re-imagining".

3. Some missing "next hole signage" on the front nine and a couple of early holes you can get lost on first time through. Needs an occasional trash can.

Played 18 at Moon Mountain in Ruidoso for my first time. It opened Nov 2019. Although Grindstone is the more famous course in town, this is now my favorite.