Are there any National Parks with courses?

[t i m]

I don't know how to go about searching for this, so I just thought I'd ask if anyone knows of any national parks that have disc golf courses... I live inside the DC Beltway, and there are several national parks near me that have lots of room for disc golf... I'd love to see what steps it would take to put a proposal together, but I think it would help to look at other national parks that might have courses already in place, since I suspect that national parks have different issues from state/local parks.

Anyone know of any courses I could look at for reference? Thanks.

 

[ERicJ]

Drop a PM to Miller and see if he has anything. I know he was digging up this exact information six months ago.

 

[DSCJNKY]

When I was a National Park Service Ranger in Yosemite last summer my boss was pissed when she found out I had been playing "frisbee" in the park. She chastised me big time... and I suppose she was right. The National Parks were not set aside for DG - as much as I love the game, and hate to say it. When I climbed Half Dome I took a disc to huck off the top... however, I decided it would be unappropriate once up there. Even though it would have been fun to see the disc fly... I knew I would essentially be littering - and there is no room for litter in our National Parks.

Also... imagine Giant Sequoia's - majestically surviving in tiny isolated groves along the western Sierra - being smashed by foreign plastic discs that help to aid in the removal and deterioration of their thick red-bark that has protected them from fire and insect infestation for thousands of years.

Enough said... DG in the National Parks is a no go. The parks were set aside to be preserved now and for the enjoyment of future generations... and DG is not a preservation form of recreation. We smash trees, trample ferns and shrubs looking for lost plastic, cause massive soil erosion and soil compaction, not to mention wildlife disturbance, habitat deterioration, and noise polution... I could probably go on... but, then you guys would think I'm against Disc Golf; which I'm not! Check my track record! But since it was brought up I have to say, DG in the National Parks (just like in the Olympics) is a bad idea.
DSCJNKY

 

[John Rock]

Does this sentiment hold for National Recreation Areas? I live near the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area (which encompasses the Alibates Flint Quarry), and many times we have gone to the West side of the LMNRA where there is an area set aside for off-road vehicles and set up portables to play some golf. We are nowhere near the Flint Quarries when we play (probably somewhere around 8-10 miles up the Canadian River where we normally set up), and no Park Rangers have ever acted like we shouldn't be there. It's loads of fun, and night golf around the campsite is great without any city lights.

 

[NDABRUSH]

I live in Louisiana. we have no national parks. We have 1 course located in a state park and it is the best in the state. It has an over 300 ft. water shot and some long technical wooded holes with an 888 ft. open field ending with a 100 ft. tunnel back into the woods. But I am next to Mississippi. Some golfer talked someone high up at the parks dept. and got a contract to cut courses out of many state parks. The bad thing about it is that even though state parks usually offer PERFECT land for disc golf, keeping up these courses are the real challenge. Some are remotely located and have no local group. When this happens it is up to the park employees which normally don't know how crucial it is too keep the fairways fair. Most of these state park courses are heavily wooded which makes upkeep even more of a challenge. I bet national parks have just as good if not better terrain for dg than state parks. Imagine the grand canyon course. Lol

 

[John Rock]

Not quite the GRAND Canyon, but close....

We also sometimes take our portables to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Talk about some cool terrain. We've never been hassled by the Park Rangers there either. I went to the Park HQ one day to ask about doing a fund-raiser for our ICE BOWL. The Ranger I talked to though it would be fine but she needed to speak with the Head Ranger first (who wasn't there that day). We'll see if it happens....

 

[NDABRUSH]

I don"t want to say that we should play anywhere and screw the wildlife, but If you are careful and aware of you surroundings and most of all don't just think about yourself(the animals and other people around you) then I think you could pretty much play dg almost anywhere without leaving a wake of destruction behind you. Hitting a tree trunk with my disc does not destroy the tree. But we all should be aware of the plants and do everything we can to avoid any physical contact. This planet has been around for over 4 billion years(we think) and it will be here long after we have gone. the earth has had over 100 magnetic pole shifts. When this happens no one will be around to talk about it. Same thing with a super volcano. Sorry to get off topic. The different eco systems can be fragile, but the earth itself is not. We are and our ecosystem depends on the earth and its vegetation. So I agree we MUST take care of it as much as possible. But playing disc golf in a national park is the least of our worries.

 

[roadtripstuff]

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=3292

This, obviously, is listed on the site. It is located in Yellowstone Park, sounds like you probably have to be an employee or have one with you while playing.

 

[jhgonzo]

I wonder, if the PDGA became a sponsor of "National Get Outdoors Day," if we'd see some exposure for DG as well as getting some awesome (at least temp) courses set up? The U.S. Forest Service and Army Corps of Engineers are major sponsors in this "event," and I'm sure anything that draws attention to this would also reciprocate in kind upon disc golf and perhaps get the sport more respect and recognition.

National Get Outdoors Day

 

[FRIZZLE TOSSLER]

We also sometimes take our portables to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Talk about some cool terrain. We've never been hassled by the Park Rangers there either. I went to the Park HQ one day to ask about doing a fund-raiser for our ICE BOWL. The Ranger I talked to though it would be fine but she needed to speak with the Head Ranger first (who wasn't there that day). We'll see if it happens....

Great idea John. I've backpacked out there numerous times (mainly before I started playing DG years ago)..... I'm not sure if you've been in the backcountry B4 or how deep you've gotten, but if you had a couple people willing to pack some baskets in..... there is some absolutely great terrian back there....tons of little finger canyons & lots of elevation. We would always bring an ultimate disc w/ us..... disc golf out there sounds dreamy....

 

[DSCJNKY]

I'm moving from CA to NC to work with the National Park Service to find ways to get kids in the outdoors exploring as opposed to playing video games. One of my plans is to see if we can develop a DG course that doubles as a nature experience for families (Hole 1 - learn about poision ivy, Hole 2 - learn about oak trees, etc...). I don't think it will happen within the National Park, but it could be a reality near the parks boundaries.

As for the other question as to whether National Recreation Areas are the same as National Parks... they're not. They are run byt the NPS, but mor geared toward recreation... if OHV's are out there, I'm sure DG is acceptable.

I'll keep you guys posted on the DG/Nature Trail idea.
DSCJNKY

 

[bayouace]

The NPS would have to do an environmental impact study, which would take so long we'd all be dead by the time they said NO.

 

[wild12132]

I don't know how to go about searching for this, so I just thought I'd ask if anyone knows of any national parks that have disc golf courses... I live inside the DC Beltway, and there are several national parks near me that have lots of room for disc golf... I'd love to see what steps it would take to put a proposal together, but I think it would help to look at other national parks that might have courses already in place, since I suspect that national parks have different issues from state/local parks.

Anyone know of any courses I could look at for reference? Thanks.

In 2008 I helped design a disc golf course in Udell Rollways, a former campground turned day-use site in the Manistee National Forest, Michigan (near the village of Wellston). The Ranger in charge of the project knew nothing about disc golf, had never even thrown a disc, someone put her in touch with me as a consultant. Her design was a nightmare, fairways criss-crossing each other, baskets 10' from other holes tees She accepted about 95% of my suggestions for change on the front 9 and let me have a free hand for the back 9 (which she thought was so difficult compared to her front 9, she called my back nine "East Jesus". The front 9 was also cramped due to a protected native American piece of the park that we had to avoid. After we got the course in the ground, they were reluctant to do any maintenance on the place. A nearby disc golfer who ran a hotel and had lots of volunteer labor was not even allowed to go and pick up limbs or brush leaves off the pads - due to "liability" issues. Also they put in these silly tee pads (against my recommendations) that were only 2' x 3' (more like square foot pads). Since it is a day use area, you need to pay for a day pass ($5) unless you have one of those annual passes. I could NOT get it through their thick skulls that there was NO WAY they were going to get people to pay to play a course they refused to maintain. But, I understand it has gotten some use, and I think it's still in the ground (I haven't seen it since 2012, I don't live near there anymore). It has a nice picnic shelter and a beautiful bluff overlooking the Manistee River where they used to roll timber down the cliff to get it to the mill in Manistee (hence why its called "Rollways"). One cool aspect is on the way there, on the highway intersection of the road you need to get to the park (M-55 @ Hrseshoe Bend), there is one of those brown signs you see that show you the facilities they have in the park, and on the sign is a graphic of a disc going into a basket!! I have not seen that on any other National Park sign anywhere I've been.

 

[ru4por]

In 2008 I helped design a disc golf course in Udell Rollways, a former campground turned day-use site in the Manistee National Forest, Michigan (near the village of Wellston). The Ranger in charge of the project knew nothing about disc golf, had never even thrown a disc, someone put her in touch with me as a consultant. Her design was a nightmare, fairways criss-crossing each other, baskets 10' from other holes tees She accepted about 95% of my suggestions for change on the front 9 and let me have a free hand for the back 9 (which she thought was so difficult compared to her front 9, she called my back nine "East Jesus". The front 9 was also cramped due to a protected native American piece of the park that we had to avoid. After we got the course in the ground, they were reluctant to do any maintenance on the place. A nearby disc golfer who ran a hotel and had lots of volunteer labor was not even allowed to go and pick up limbs or brush leaves off the pads - due to "liability" issues. Also they put in these silly tee pads (against my recommendations) that were only 2' x 3' (more like square foot pads). Since it is a day use area, you need to pay for a day pass ($5) unless you have one of those annual passes. I could NOT get it through their thick skulls that there was NO WAY they were going to get people to pay to play a course they refused to maintain. But, I understand it has gotten some use, and I think it's still in the ground (I haven't seen it since 2012, I don't live near there anymore). It has a nice picnic shelter and a beautiful bluff overlooking the Manistee River where they used to roll timber down the cliff to get it to the mill in Manistee (hence why its called "Rollways"). One cool aspect is on the way there, on the highway intersection of the road you need to get to the park (M-55 @ Hrseshoe Bend), there is one of those brown signs you see that show you the facilities they have in the park, and on the sign is a graphic of a disc going into a basket!! I have not seen that on any other National Park sign anywhere I've been.

I played Udell around 2017. Still in the ground, still has ridiculous tee pads and very little maintenance, lol. Great park and we sat on the embankment and had lunch watching the Manistee river. It was back in the woods, shady on a hot day and we had a lot of fun. Tip o' the hat to you sir. Not a three disc course, but they don't all have to be Flip.

 

[Jah Plastifari]

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=3292

This, obviously, is listed on the site. It is located in Yellowstone Park, sounds like you probably have to be an employee or have one with you while playing.

There are five courses on DGCR in Yellowstone. All are mostly object courses designed and played by the seasonal employees. I have been visiting YNP at least once a year for the last 15 years and have never had the desire to play these courses. They sound like they would be very frustrating to play without a guide.

I have thrown some safari object golf in a few places in the park where the trees are spaced nicely, and usually throw bison chips on the last hole of each round for some local flavor.

 

[brentjacobs]

I felt the Lake course in Yellowstone was worth the stop. Mix of object and basket. Certainly not for the competitive type of golfer but if you're into bagging, it is a course in Yellowstone Park which, to me, is pretty neat.

The only other one I hit in Yellowstone was Mammoth Ridges which nobody needs to stop at. ThrowBot's review can provide further insight on that front.

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/mobile/reviews.php?id=4199&mode=rev

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

In 2008 I helped design a disc golf course in Udell Rollways, a former campground turned day-use site in the Manistee National Forest, Michigan (near the village of Wellston). The Ranger in charge of the project knew nothing about disc golf, had never even thrown a disc, someone put her in touch with me as a consultant. Her design was a nightmare, fairways criss-crossing each other, baskets 10' from other holes tees She accepted about 95% of my suggestions for change on the front 9 and let me have a free hand for the back 9 (which she thought was so difficult compared to her front 9, she called my back nine "East Jesus". The front 9 was also cramped due to a protected native American piece of the park that we had to avoid. After we got the course in the ground, they were reluctant to do any maintenance on the place. A nearby disc golfer who ran a hotel and had lots of volunteer labor was not even allowed to go and pick up limbs or brush leaves off the pads - due to "liability" issues. Also they put in these silly tee pads (against my recommendations) that were only 2' x 3' (more like square foot pads). Since it is a day use area, you need to pay for a day pass ($5) unless you have one of those annual passes. I could NOT get it through their thick skulls that there was NO WAY they were going to get people to pay to play a course they refused to maintain. But, I understand it has gotten some use, and I think it's still in the ground (I haven't seen it since 2012, I don't live near there anymore). It has a nice picnic shelter and a beautiful bluff overlooking the Manistee River where they used to roll timber down the cliff to get it to the mill in Manistee (hence why its called "Rollways"). One cool aspect is on the way there, on the highway intersection of the road you need to get to the park (M-55 @ Hrseshoe Bend), there is one of those brown signs you see that show you the facilities they have in the park, and on the sign is a graphic of a disc going into a basket!! I have not seen that on any other National Park sign anywhere I've been.

Welcome to DGCR Wildman!