Mt. Zion is a ski hill at the far western tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It is on the campus of the Gogebic Community College in Ironwood, MI.

Mt. Zion DGC is an 18-holer that plays on the ski hill. Elevation comes into play here on many holes, but this course does not have a lot of the open throws on the ski run that you might expect. Only the starting and ending holes play up and down the open hill, respectively. The remaining holes play through a mostly wooded area on the hill next to the ski run. In addition to many holes that play uphill or downhill in the woods, a couple of baskets located on steep slopes create risk/reward putting situations. There are a good mix of left turns, right turns, and straight fairways cut through the woods to force some shot shaping.

A couple holes near the end of the course stood out for me. Hole 14 is only 140' per the listing here, but it plays up a steep section of the hill in the woods with a large rock outcrop to the left and behind the basket. The hole sweeps left to a basket perched on the edge of the rocks. Serious rollaway potential here. Hole 16 is a fun downhill ace run that tees off from the top of another rock face.

There is a chalet at the bottom of the hill. When I visited no one was in the chalet, but the door was open and there were restrooms inside.

The baskets were a mix of several different portable varieties that other reviewers and the course info page have identified. They all seemed to be in decent condition and caught okay for me, but they were difficult to see in the woods. There was also a foldable basket in front of the chalet to use for practice.

There were a couple of trash cans and benches scattered around the course.

The teepads were a mix of gravel or carpet. Some holes had two separate tee positions (white and red), but it didn't look like these different positions really changed the holes all that much - just made them slightly shorter or longer. The two positions were identified by small bricks on each side of the tee pad that were painted white or red (this part was nice). Some holes shared the same tee for both layouts, and both sets of bricks were present.

The tee signs were just large black text hole numbers on white yard-style signs, stuck in the ground near the white tee on each hole. There were a couple of Next Tee signs but they were not present everywhere, and where present did not have an arrow (i.e. I assumed to just walk straight past the sign). With leaves falling when I played, navigation was fairly difficult. I somehow managed to miss hole 6 entirely, and would have missed hole 16 as well if a couple of other DG'ers hadn't pointed me in the right direction. The course has a couple of weird flow issues, like walking backwards all the way up hole 15's fairway to reach the tee...then again on hole 16. This is one of those courses where you may want UDisc to navigate. I also did not see a kiosk or map anywhere. Making a large map including the hole distances and displaying it at the chalet would be a fairly low-cost improvement that would help alleviate a lot of the navigation issues for first-time visitors.

The distances are generally pretty short, and there are not any bomber holes here. Even the finishing hole 18 only plays 300'-350' or so down the open ski hill. It looked like there was a ton of room to make this hole longer. As it stands today, you actually have to walk quite a ways down the hill from hole 17's basket to get to hole 18's tee pad. I had to wonder, why?

Quite a few holes are pretty close together, and/or tee pads are in the firing line behind the previous hole's basket.

I was thinking a 2.0 rating for this one until I played holes 14 and 16, which ultimately increased my rating to a 2.5. It looks like this is still a fairly new course, and with some infrastructure/amenities improvements I could see it reaching a higher rating in the future.

After driving out from my hotel in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula and spending most of the day in the nearby Porcupine Mountains, I was able to fit in a couple rounds of disc golf at Mt. Zion and nearby Norrie Park. I enjoyed my time at both courses, but if and when I return to the area I am definitely planning on carving out a whole day (or two or three) to get to Highbridge Hills which is just under an hour's drive to the west.

If you are already in the area, this course is not a bad option. With the short holes, it makes for a fairly quick round - with some nice views as a bonus!

The Mt. Zion DGC traverses the ski hill. The majority of the holes are actually pretty flat, or closer to it than you'd expect for a course on a ski hill. There are some fun uphill and downhill shots too. Hole 1 is pretty uphill and 18 is your typical top of the world downhill bomb like most ski hill courses, which is a good thing if you ask me.

The baskets are mixed. It seemed about 2/3's were the yellow Grow The Sport ones, which I've never heard of before. At least I can't recall hearing of them. These were pretty nice though and catch fairly well. The other baskets are Lightning DB-5's. These are not very good. They caught my putts today but nothing was drilled at them or even from that far away.

There's 2 teepads on every hole. Well almost I think. Some I guess have some blue tees too. We played from the whites but they have shorter red tees too. The tees are small pieces of carpet that were actually pretty grippy, albeit lumpy. Better than nothing but just barely. There were red or white painted bricks designating the front 2 corners of the tees.

The tee signs themselves were pretty much nonexistant. It loooks like they used to have some pretty decent ones that had a little hole map, pars and distances. Unfortunately there were only a few of these left. There were little signs that at least had the hole # on them and quite a few next tee signs stapled to the trees where needed.

The design of this course is pretty solid. I like that they kept it in the woods almost entirely. The area that the bulk of the course plays through is beautiful. Every hole has a fair line to hit, a lot of them are TIGHT though, so accuracy is at a premium here.

The holes are all on the pretty short side, but they're still challenging. There's a great mix of left and right turning shots off the tee. You'll need all the shots in your bag to score well here, especially if you end up off the fairway.

Hole 15 is probably the signature hole for me. It's only 150 feet or so but plays severely uphill through a teeny tiny gap with the basket tucked up and to the left. One of the prettiest looks off a tee box I've seen in awhile. There is a big rock outcropping that looks like a bear cave from the tee off to the left. Rock line the left rough and rollaways are a very real possibility. Probably one the hardest sub 200' holes I've played. Very cool.

The lack of signs is probably the biggest one imo. It's hard to see some of the baskets in the shade of the woods. Luckily they're not too far so a short walk up the fairway is all you'll need. It's a shame that the old signs aren't really there anymore. These were pretty nice looking.

The tee pads, while better than nothing, aren't the greatest. The carpet was actually kind of grippy. But they were also very lumpy and probably won't last long way up here.

The navigation here will be very confusing, if not nearly impossible, without a map. Luckily Udisc had a very accurate one and this was a non issue for me. But be warned that if you don't have a map or a phone, you're in for a long confusing round. But it is 2020, so if you don't have a phone you probably live in the woods already anyway, so you'll be alright.

I really liked this course. It's unlike most ski hill courses I've played that are more up and down and pretty open. This is a tight wooded course, and a pretty fun one at that. It's not really worth a trip too far out of you're way to play. But if you're in the area and have a little time to kill you can do a lot worse than this one.

Norrie park is only ten minutes away so it's a decent little set of courses here. Most disc golfers will no doubt be up here for Highbridge, but this is probably the best of the nearby ones imo. With a few upgrades to the tees and signs I'd bump it up a half but it's definitely a good one and I'd gladly play it again.

Shot variety - ups, downs, lefts, rights, and straights are all found here. Very tight and technical lines are to be found, but there are a pair of wide open holes that you can air it out on. Some holes demand one line, while others offer options (hole 2 has an extremely tight, dead straight window, or a wider flick around the top of the hill - if you're feeling strong, thumber over the trees. Hole 5 is a flick down a moderately tight woods fairway, or a dead straight rip through a narrow "local gap" on the right side.).

Challenge - no hole is a gimme birdie, although many are on the short side. Tight lanes need to be hit with accuracy and confidence to score well. The open holes (1 and 9) play on the longer side (1 is 247' uphill and to L to R, and 9 is 387' downhill bomber which requires a touchy, powerful fairway drive to park).

Multiple tees - all holes except 6 and 7 offer a short teepad - these are in place for beginners to get their bearings and also for intermediate/advance players to have a shootout for birds and aces. They also offer different lines and looks at the basket

*UPDATE 9/27/18 - there are now blue level, par 4 tees on holes 3, 4, and 5*

Elevation - with the course being on a ski hill, elevation is a main attribute. Get ready for a hike, as you traverse up and down and around steep slopes and cliffs. Signature holes include 7 - an ace run off of a 40 foot cliff, and 9, shooting all the way to the bottom of the terrain park section of the ski area - let your fairway driver rip and watch it glide!

Strategic greens - baskets are placed with guardian trees in challenging areas, on slopes, and near cliffs.

Signage - tee signs on every hole with length, par, and hole map. Many next tee signs where needed.

Benches on holes 2 and 9, and garbage buckets on holes 3, 6, and 9.

Carpet tees - homemade but large enough and surprisingly grippy.

Well mowed and maintained.

Multiple pin positions on some holes.

Baskets - Lightning DB-5's - I don't hate them but the single chain layout allows for a bit more spit throughs for a hyzer putter like myself. They are also a bit old and beat up.

Carpet tees - will list this as a con because they're not concrete or high quality rubber - if you're a stickler for top end teepads you will be disappointed. Some of the teeing areas are unlevel, but those same holes are short enough to be thrown at a standstill.

Not at the terrain's ultimate potential - this course was redesigned in the woods due to the ski area's inability (or stubbornness) to mow sufficiently. The old design featured two open par 4's and a par 5, and an approximately even amount of open holes vs. wooded holes, heavily increasing the feeling of variety. But trudging through long grass up to your waist and searching for drives that were dead center fairway is never any fun. And the amount of grass was too much for our small local scene to take care of as volunteers, and as a result, the course has been moved almost entirely into the woods, where undergrowth is much much less of an issue. And while I love tight technical wooded courses, and it provides a nice compliment to the newly installed Norrie Park across the city, it is still missing out greatly on the potential of long multi shot holes and top of the world crushes.

Hole 9 is a bit of a walk from the start of the course.

Seasonal - course is unplayable during ski season, and after until snow melts to playable levels.

If you are in the area don't miss the Z - it may not blow your mind but it'll provide a unique and enjoyable par 3 disc golf experience.