Allentown, PA area

[tomschillin]

a buddy and I are driving from Richmond to Allentown, PA area, here is a map of our route. Do you guys think it's too much? We won't be able to hit the road until probably 9am on a saturday, which means we won't get to Tyler Park until 1:30 or so, then gonna play Nockamixon then off to French Creek. Camp at French Creek. Wake up Sunday, drive to Little Lehigh, then Jordan Creek, then Blue Mountain. Camp somewhere around Blue Mountain, then Monday morning head home, and hit Camp Sankanac on the way.

What do you guys think?

 

[sidewinder22]

I think you will struggle to finish Tyler and Nocky before dark starting at 1:30pm.

 

[tomschillin]

really? i figure it's gonna be light until 8pm or so, daylight savings kicks in march 10th i think. are those both 2.5+ hour courses?

 

[adlacro]

If you figure two hours to play Tyler State, you leave there at 3:30 and it is about 45 minutes travel to Nocky. Then you'll need another hour and a half. You might have a shot if you both shoot well and don't lose discs. You also might run into an unforeseen issue with traffic on that trip too. I wish you all the best, but that is a real tight schedule. Good luck, you are playing a number of the best courses in PA.

 

[adlacro]

Oh, you never posted what date you're leaving on. If you get the daylight savings time, you'll be fine, easily. You'll love those courses. I used to live 45 from Nocky and double that to Tyler, and in the long positions, Tyler can take close to 2 and a half. Nocky won't if you shoot well and don't lose discs. Allentown is a great disc golf haven. I don't recommend staying long. I did for 24 years. Andrew

 

[shawny0123]

I feel like going to French Creek to camp and than coming back into the Valley is kinda the wrong route. Wouldn't it make more sense to camp near Blue Mt on Saturday and than French on Sunday? I would recommend playing Bear Creek as well if you can.

 

[Disc Fiend]

Tyler will take at least two hours to play, as will Nock. Also, Blue Mountain's courses are an all day affair by themselves.

 

[tomschillin]

i still haven't figured out where to camp around Blue Mountain, which is kinda why I chose camping at French Creek the first night, because it's right there in the park.

We're going April 6 - 8. The goal is to get every 4+ course in the area, we'll see if we can get that. Anybody want to play along, guides are more than welcome.

And if Bear Creek is open it will hopefully make the list. Anybody got any recommendations on camping in the area? This is all still just a rough draft, nothing set in stone other than making a google map.

 

[sidewinder22]

I thought you were talking about this Saturday, like 6pm sunset. I wouldn't recommend Little Lehigh without a guide and time being tight. It took me longer to try and navigate that course than Tyler.

 

[optidiscic]

Little Lehigh? It's not 4+ rated and not really a fun destination course. It's far from it's heyday.
Why not play Iron Hill with Tyler
blue mtn is a daylong commitment to play all 3 courses and don't underestimate the beating that course will put on your body.
French creek and sankanac are very close to one another
nockamixon is close to tinicum and Sellersville
Jordan is close to south mtn and little lehigh
be sure to verify that sankanac is open
i'm also unsure when blue mtn opens the disc golf course
bear creek has had mixed reviews from most locals some cool holes and lots of meh is what I hear most say.

 

[harr0140]

Having just visited the area . . . I was able to play Tyler, Sellersville, Nockamixon, Jordan Creek, Wehr's Dam/Covered Bridges . . . I agree with opti . . . (although I did not get to see Tinicum)if you only have one day do Tyler, Tinicum, Sellersville, and Nockamixon. If you can keep going the next day try South Mountain, Jordan, Wehr's Dam/Covered Bridges . . . and I guess you could add Little Lehigh but I did not play it because the locals definitely did not favor it over other options ( Even Wehr's Dam).

 

[Disc Fiend]

I would be down to play a round, but on April 6th I will be at Flyboy

 

[Buchajs1]

Hit up stafford woods, its an awesome 9 holer, about ten minutes of the route o tyler.

 

[BradC]

I must really be in a minority around here for liking the Little Lehigh.

If you need a tour guide for any of the courses listed, lmk (aside from Blue, only ever played the valley course there).

As others have said, some of these courses end up being black holes for time.

 

[discNDav]

If you don't know the courses Tyler, Nocki and probably Jordan will take more than 2 hours each. You might not finish your 1st day before sunset. Plan almost a full day for Blue Mtn, after playing both the Peak and Summit courses, I doubt you'll have enough energy for any more golf that same day. Hopefully you are younger than me!

 

[tomschillin]

Awesome input guys. Keep it coming please! I'll start on another route/plan when I get to work.

 

[scunham]

Hit up stafford woods, its an awesome 9 holer, about ten minutes of the route o tyler.

10 minutes?

I'd like to see someone get from tyler to stafford in 10 minutes

 

[Karl]

The Allentown, PA area is one of the best in the world IMO (and I've been around).

Not only does it have the 2005 World's courses near by, it has quite a few other 18-holers and a bevy (like a dozen or so) of 9 holes that you can chew up a full weekend just playing them...and liking them a lot!

If playing a course for the sake of playing it is your bag, cool; if you want to really grind at a course (as it may be the only time you get to play it), take the time to play them "concentrating"...and it will take you (and 1 other player) at least 2 hours to play any of the biggies. And I'd plan for 2.5 hours as you can't always control a 5-some ahead of you, etc. Enjoy them!

Karl

 

[zapplayer12]

I'll add my two cents for what it's worth.

I have doubts Blue Mountain will be open in early April. It generally opens in late May but I'm sure you can verify by reaching out to them.

As others have stated, Tyler, Nocky, Jordan, Sankanac, French Creek - all must plays for the serious disc golfer, totally worth the trip but each is time consuming.

Proximity-wise, Sellersville would be the one sub 4.0 course to play (near Nocky). Little Lehigh has seen better days but is close to Jordan if time becomes an issue. South Mountain is another local fav as it's a fairly quick, easy play and on the way to/from Jordan or Little Lehigh (depending on the route you take).

I would skip Wehr's unless you are bagging courses or loosing sunlight and want to cram something in after Jordan.

I doubt Bear Creek's mountainside course will be open in early April but again you can check with them. Their base course is essentially a plethora of birdie runs however it's kind of out of the way from the other local courses and probably not worth the effort if it's the only course open when you visit.

Finally, I'd check to see if any tourneys are being held at any of the courses during the time you are expecting to visit. The Inbounds page would probably be a good resource for this. (sorry don't have the URL handy and too lazy to look)

 

[tomschillin]

iron hill on the way up is a damn good idea.