DG Trip - California Coast Suggestions

[winkdtm]

Two friends and I are going on a disc golf trip sometime in May or June and wanted to see if anyone had suggestions for our trip. This is a list of the courses we will be playing. Any forgotten courses or courses that should be skipped. Camping areas, or places to make camping area, or places to sleep in car. Also, do tell if you recommend staying an extra day to play courses twice. Oh, and secret courses, I wanna hear about any secrete courses or backyard courses. I'm all ears...

The Most Amazing Disc Golf Adventure of All Time

Day 1
Morley Field, San Diego
Emerald Isle, Oceanside
La Mirada, La Mirada
Whittier Narrows Park, South el Monte
Chavez Ridge, Los Angeles
Day 2
Oak Grove, Pasadena
Sylmar Veteran's Park, Sylmar
Coyote Point @ Lake Casitas, Ventura
Evergreen Open Space, Santa Barbara
Day 3
Waller Park, Santa Maria
Preisker DGC, Santa Maria
Heilmann Park, Atascadero
Day 4
Ryan Ranch, Monterey
CSUMB Oaks Course
CSUMB Cypress Course
Pinto Lake, Watsonville
Aptos HS, Aptos
Day 5
DeLaeveaga Park, Santa Cruz
Black Mouse, Felton
Golden Gate Park
Day 6
Stafford Lake County Park, Novato
Lake Mendocino South, Ukiah
Lake Mendocino North
Low Gap Park
KOA Campground, Willits
Day 7
Humboldt State University, Arcata
Mad River Pump Station
College of the Redwoods, Eureka
Cooper Gulch, Eureka
Ironside Classified, Burnt Ranch
Day 8
Lee Fong Park DGC, Weaverville
Anderson River Park, Anderson
Chico
Bidwell Park Short or Long
Day 9
Riverbend Park North/South, Oroville
Condon Park, Grass Valley
Toney's Mountain, Grass Valley
Day 10
Truckee River Regional Park
North Tahoe Regional Park
Zephyr Cove Park, NV
Day 11
Bijou Community Park, South Lake Tahoe
Gold Ridge Forrest, Pollock Pines
Shady Oaks Park, Orangevale

 

[Danger]

That's a pretty aggressive schedule. Good luck!
And you are missing Wrightwood's DGC at Sunrise. Fairly out of the way but as far as I am concerned, it's by FAR the best course in Southern California. Should open mid-may.

 

[prerube]

sorry, but you can post here just for a better response.
Maye if you change it to a challenge for us to guess how many you will actually play, then it is more suited.
That is a suicidal schedule, with 43 courses so good luck!
My guess is that you will play 30 out of those 43.

You better start training your back and shoulders for such a greuling schedule, again good luck and welcome to DGCR!

 

[bazillion]

Zounds, what an adventure!

On Day 1, I'd consider skipping Whittier Narrows. Going there will take you out of your way and Sylmar, played after Chavez, will set you up for a straight shot across the 118 in the direction of Santa Barbara. Logistically (not to mention Sylmar is a MUCH better course than Whittier) it makes sense.

I'd also suggest moving Aptos from Day 4 to Day 5 and dropping the Felton course. Dela will take you 3+ hours all by itself and from there to SF is an hour and a half if the traffic is good. Felton is off the beaten path by a good stretch.

Please stick around and give us all a blow-by-blow as you make this trip - I'm sure it's a journey that many people here would like to share. You'll probably find lots of DGCRers up and down Cali who will meet you for rounds, too

 

[Huk Finn]

WOW! That's awesome!

I have played all of the Santa Cruz/Bay Area ones including Stafford lake and Tahoe.

I lived in Redding for a bit too.

You have Lee Fong and Anderson on there but you are missing Enterprise in Redding just north of Anderson (play the longs)

 

[Apothecary]

emerald isle is super long and la mirada is (ideally) 36 holes. those two courses alone are a helluva day of golf. chavez is also a workout. morley is a great course, but it takes forever to play 18. i second the skip whittier narrows motion. no way you can make all of those courses on day one.

 

[solomon.trenton]

sorry, but you can post here just for a better response.
Maye if you change it to a challenge for us to guess how many you will actually play, then it is more suited.
That is a suicidal schedule, with 43 courses so good luck!
My guess is that you will play 30 out of those 43.

You better start training your back and shoulders for such a greuling schedule, again good luck and welcome to DGCR!

that and when are you going to sleep? maybe if you added another three days in there you would be good

 

[Cnote]

Day 4:
Ryan Ranch is a big course at least 3 hours.
I would bail CSUMB Oaks course at it pretty hard to find the tees.
To make the day more realistic I would also bail Pinto Lake.

Day 5:
I have played both DeLa and Black Mouse in one day, and it took a while. Plus the 1.5-2 hour drive to SF with another 2 hours on the course = LONG day.

 

[DSCJNKY]

Let me tell you from experience that a few of your days are Imposible.
You're going to need some major schedule modifications. Let me help a little:

Day 1
Morley Field, San Diego
Emerald Isle, Oceanside
La Mirada, La Mirada

^Now Day 1 is more manageable.

Day 2
Whittier Narrows Park, South el Monte
Chavez Ridge, Los Angeles
Oak Grove, Pasadena
Sylmar Veteran's Park, Sylmar

^Day 2 should be easy to do.

Day 3
Coyote Point @ Lake Casitas, Ventura
Waller Park, Santa Maria
Preisker DGC, Santa Maria

^It takes a long time to get through Casitas (2.5 hours) and then it's probably a 2 hour drive to Santa Maria. Evergreen is a LONG 27 (3 hours) and Preskier (I haven't played) I heard is tough too. I exed Santa Barbara for drive time purposes.

Day 4
Ryan Ranch, Monterey
CSUMB Oaks Course
CSUMB Cypress Course
Pinto Lake, Watsonville
Aptos HS, Aptos

^I haven't played these courses so I'm not sure about the drive times...
Day 5
DeLaeveaga Park, Santa Cruz
Black Mouse, Felton
Golden Gate Park

^DeLa to GG is do-able in a day. DeLa is a 3 hour round... drive time to Frisc from there is probably 1.5 hours and then getting through city traffic is rough, not to mention finding the DG course in GG Park. Never played the other oneso I don't know how it will effect the trip.

Day 6
Stafford Lake County Park, Novato
Anderson Valley Brewing Company, Boonville
Lake Mendocino North
KOA Campground, Willits

^This would be hard to do... it's almost 3 hours from Stafford (which takes almost 3 hours to play) to AVBC (or Lake Mendo)... and then another hour plus to get to Willits KOA.

Day 7
Humboldt State University, Arcata
Mad River Pump Station
College of the Redwoods, Eureka
Cooper Gulch, Eureka
Ironside Classified, Burnt Ranch

^These courses are a little out of order based on directions of driving and HELLA bactracking. And, you should try to hit up some of the "Private Courses" in this area. They're better than these options.

Day 8
Lee Fong Park DGC, Weaverville
Anderson River Park, Anderson
Chico
Bidwell Park Short or Long

^Don't know much about these areas either. Although I do know that Shasta is supposed to be dope and it's not on your list.

Day 9
Riverbend Park North/South, Oroville
Condon Park, Grass Valley
Toney's Mountain, Grass Valley

^Other great stuff in this area... Rocklin, Auburn, Penn Valley. I haven't played all of these so I don't know about the drive times here.

Day 10
Truckee River Regional Park
North Tahoe Regional Park
Zephyr Cove Park, NV

^Haven't played these but it seems do-able.

Day 11
Bijou Community Park, South Lake Tahoe
Gold Ridge Forrest, Pollock Pines
Shady Oaks Park, Orangevale

^Tahoe to Orangevale is a decent trek.

I've played 19 of these course and I have got to say that even with some of the fat trimmed it's going to be rough. Good Luck!
DSCJNKY

 

[mashnut]

Looks like a lot of fun, if at all possible you should definitely get up to Wrightwood to play Sunrise. You can camp there too I believe.

 

[djjeremiahj]

Let me tell you from experience that a few of your days are Imposible.
You're going to need some major schedule modifications. Let me help a little:

Day 1
Morley Field, San Diego
Emerald Isle, Oceanside
La Mirada, La Mirada

^Now Day 1 is more manageable.

Day 2
Whittier Narrows Park, South el Monte
Chavez Ridge, Los Angeles
Oak Grove, Pasadena
Sylmar Veteran's Park, Sylmar

^Day 2 should be easy to do.

Day 3
Coyote Point @ Lake Casitas, Ventura
Waller Park, Santa Maria
Preisker DGC, Santa Maria

^It takes a long time to get through Casitas (2.5 hours) and then it's probably a 2 hour drive to Santa Maria. Evergreen is a LONG 27 (3 hours) and Preskier (I haven't played) I heard is tough too. I exed Santa Barbara for drive time purposes.

Day 4
Ryan Ranch, Monterey
CSUMB Oaks Course
CSUMB Cypress Course
Pinto Lake, Watsonville
Aptos HS, Aptos

^I haven't played these courses so I'm not sure about the drive times...
Day 5
DeLaeveaga Park, Santa Cruz
Black Mouse, Felton
Golden Gate Park

^DeLa to GG is do-able in a day. DeLa is a 3 hour round... drive time to Frisc from there is probably 1.5 hours and then getting through city traffic is rough, not to mention finding the DG course in GG Park. Never played the other oneso I don't know how it will effect the trip.

Day 6
Stafford Lake County Park, Novato
Anderson Valley Brewing Company, Boonville
Lake Mendocino North
KOA Campground, Willits

^This would be hard to do... it's almost 3 hours from Stafford (which takes almost 3 hours to play) to AVBC (or Lake Mendo)... and then another hour plus to get to Willits KOA.

Day 7
Humboldt State University, Arcata
Mad River Pump Station
College of the Redwoods, Eureka
Cooper Gulch, Eureka
Ironside Classified, Burnt Ranch

^These courses are a little out of order based on directions of driving and HELLA bactracking. And, you should try to hit up some of the "Private Courses" in this area. They're better than these options.

Day 8
Lee Fong Park DGC, Weaverville
Anderson River Park, Anderson
Chico
Bidwell Park Short or Long

^Don't know much about these areas either. Although I do know that Shasta is supposed to be dope and it's not on your list.

Day 9
Riverbend Park North/South, Oroville
Condon Park, Grass Valley
Toney's Mountain, Grass Valley

^Other great stuff in this area... Rocklin, Auburn, Penn Valley. I haven't played all of these so I don't know about the drive times here.

Day 10
Truckee River Regional Park
North Tahoe Regional Park
Zephyr Cove Park, NV

^Haven't played these but it seems do-able.

Day 11
Bijou Community Park, South Lake Tahoe
Gold Ridge Forrest, Pollock Pines
Shady Oaks Park, Orangevale

^Tahoe to Orangevale is a decent trek.

I've played 19 of these course and I have got to say that even with some of the fat trimmed it's going to be rough. Good Luck!
DSCJNKY

RE: DeLA - Seen Dogs..... but not sure
GG - Dog Friendly
Novato - No sure about dogs
Anderson.... not sure.


if it were me, i'd do DeLa in the morning, drive to GG and finish in Novato. (or Anderson)

Here in SF, during that time the daylight should be good until (around) 7-8ish.

Once you are across the bridge, you enter the high desert/mountain passes. It's all private land, but there are camping places and fairly cheap motels.....

Novato is only 35-40 min outside SF. Also note, Novato is a long hilly course. It will be a tiring endeavor. It could be on the "warmer" side also.

Anderson is about 90 minutes north of SF.
(I would have thought that this would have been a natural final destination course, as you could stop at the brew pub.)


also, when you turn around, are you going to drive straight? or pick up a few key things you missed on the way?

 

[djjeremiahj]

duplicate

 

[Danger]

Skipping Wrightwood would be like skipping DeLa up in Santa Cruz. Just sayin. . .

 

[roadtripstuff]

Sounds like a great trip. I will be out that way most of may myself and we will be hitting up some of these courses and camping along the way. Sounds like so far you have gotten some great advice on the courses, so I thought I would give you some camping suggestions. First you can actually camp at Lake Casitas, within steps of the course. I myself haven't camped there, but the campgrounds looks pretty nice and there is a general store right in the park.

About 45 minutes to an hour south of Lake Casitas, on Hwy 1, there is Point Mugu State Park. We camped there last January at Thornhill Broome Beach. The also have another larger campground at the park, Sycamore is the name. Both are just steps from the ocean, we loved it and plan on camping there again in May, already reserved, lol.

On up the coast in the Big Sur area, again directly off Hwy 1, there is a place called Kirk Creek. The campground sit on a bluff over looking the ocean with trails leading down the beach. Also a great place.

One more suggestion is in Santa Cruz, New Brighton State Beach, haven't stayed here yet, but have heard good things. Also have heard it can be hard to get a site there, so if you are interested you should start booking soon.

If you are going to make it up to Wrightwood, there are a few places to camp. There is camping right at the course, and if you take route 2 into Angeles National Forest, there are a couple campground there as well. Keep in mind that course, and all of the campground are closed until mid to late May. We stayed at the Blue Ridge Campground, up the Blue Ridge Road, it was one of the best places I've camped, we were nearly the only ones there, and at night you can look out over the lights of the city below.

 

[trashmonster1985]

South of lake tahoe is Kirkwood, It's only about 30 minutes and 88 will take you back to Pollock Pines. Bijou in S. Lake Tahoe is the nicer course. But I guarantee there is no other course on your list anything like Kirkwood. Hole 16 is a 1300 foot downhill monster. That alone is worth it. It will take about 3 or 4 hours to play the whole course though. And during that time of the year there is a course set up at Mt Shasta Skipark. The tourney is the beginning of June, you get to ride up one of the chairlifts and play 18 holes, all down hill.
If interested this site has all the info

http://www.discgolfstats.com/shastaseries

 

[ATrainWecker]

Hey. I am from the Monterey area. I would suggest skipping CSUMB Cypress and Aptos High School. Ryan Ranch and Oaks are great courses,superior to Cypress and Aptos. don't listen to the one comment, Oaks is easy to get around. Ryan and Oaks are less than 10 minutes from each other. Pinto Lake is about 30 minutes away from the other two in Watsonville, and is shaping up to be one of the greatest courses I have ever played, a real challenge. Those three courses should take up the whole day, and I bet you can find camping somewhere in Watsonville or Santa Cruz so you can get a jump start on De La the next day. E-mail me if you want a guide, [email protected] Good luck!

 

[LocalsRoute]

FYI Toneys Mountain is private and is an all day adventure!!!!! just driving in to the course takes time on the roads and once your there you will want to stay the night for the true expirence. Oroville is not worth the time dump it, Condon is a must!!!!! your last few days of scheduling can be better planned.
Shady oaks, Condon and penn valley then go to Toneys for the night and start your day there and move over to Truckee Tahoe etc...

 

[Cnote]

Sorry to disagree but Pinto still needs some work in my opinion, at least on the back 9. The back 9 (more like middle 9) is through just a huge rolling field with the random bush or tree, plus a very long 1200' hole, also half the course is tone poles (nothing wrong with that and baskets are on the way). Aptos has really come along in the last few months (a newer course just like Pinto), they just got the last of the tee pads in and have done BUNCH of clean up. This is just my opinion.

Camping wise there is New Brighton as mentioned, it is the best campground and is between Aptos/Pinto and DeLa, there is also Sunset State beach a little bit south of Aptos, both of these can and will fill up depending when you are traveling. There is also Henry Cowell SP that is between DeLa and Black Mouse (an under rated course in my opinion) which will be easier to get a space at.

Feel free to contact me with questons, depending on your timing I might be able to show around (Pinto, Aptos, DeLa or Black Mouse).

 

[winkdtm]

Hey everyone. Thanks for the responses. I didn't expect so much input. I didn't mention it but some of the courses on that list we were only going to play time permitting. This may be the reason why some days seem much longer than others. Anyway I am going to start updating the trip with some of your responses and advice and it will be up soon. Thanks again everyone. You guys are awesome.

 

[Kwick]

As you are likely aware: Morley Field has some crazy waits. Try and play it as early as you can, and preferably a weekday if you have the option of starting the trip on one.

LA has absolutley atrocious traffic. Try and factor that in to avoid rush hour and speak with locals to get a good idea of times to drive/roads to avoid.

Sounds like an amazing trip. I'd recommend having a very loose schedule. I personally wouldn't want to play too many courses, instead hitting the top courses (maybe even playing them 2-3 times).

I'm going to try and take a trip this summer, San Diego up to San Fan in a week, so I'd love to know how your trip turns out as it will likely give me help in planning my trip. Best of luck and keep us updated.