Easy to find driving.
For a mountain course there is only a moderate chance of losing a disc.
Scenery is beautiful; most holes follow the broad ridgeline therefore, once you have climbed the ridge (holes 1-2), then the rest is less extreme hiking.
Good mix of hole length, elevation change, fairways, and pin placements.
Nice signage and benches which this course definitely needs to let players rest.

Tee pads: Natural tee pads; you need concrete to allow the full array of advanced and pro player shot possibilities; it is also a safety issue when grip is insufficient.
The Walk: Flat but long walk from parking lot to beginning and end of the course. Reduce non-course walking in the spirit of having fun and being at your best when playing disc golf. Throwing after a long walk and big uphill on #1 may cause some players not used to mountain courses to be off their game (accuracy and strength).
Death rolls: several steep hills provide an opportunity for long (200 ft.) rollaways.

Not all courses can get away with a pay-to-play model, but this course is worth paying to allow the park administrators to continually improve on a great course. Disc golf has grown up with a culture of "free-to-play" but a sustainable model of disc golf as a professional sport will require an increasing number of courses to charge.
I don't recommend flying in the night before from sea level and play Conifer and Phantom Falls in the same day; I had nothing left to give Conifer but it sure was beautiful. To really enjoy the course, I think you need to plan to play it several times over several days.

Great course if you like to hike a little. You will get a workout. The signage is great showing a picture so you can find the basket. I will play this one alot soon as snow goes away. When we played this there was snow and its a little challenging then.

Lost 2 disc's (surely it wasn't the snow on the ground) but I found 1 so not bad!

Beautiful course, scenery, use of topography. I have no problem dropping $3 every time I visit to support this wonderful course.

looking forward to the cement t pads

why do tobacco smokers think butts are not litter?

- Not even quite sure where to start with this review, it was such a great course.
- Some incredibly standout holes all through the course, but some of my favorites were 15 (mainly for the views), 17, and 20.
- Great signage. Everything on the course was very well marked.
- Every shot in your bag is required.
- Beautiful scenery.
- Although the baskets were homemade, they were great.
- Very well thought out design that flowed easily from one hole to the next.
- Most of the holes with a chance of a bad roll down the side of a mountain actually had barriers, which were a good thought.
- Though I normally dislike courses that start away from the parking area, I enjoyed the walk in to the course, which was a nice walk through the valley and across the river.

- After two holes I was really not liking this course. I thought that the first two holes were the worst designed on the course. They used no creativity in these two holes, as they are both straightline power shots up the side of the mountain. The shots on these two hole just require nothing but power and not much skill.
- Although its not a big issue because of the quality of the teepads, they are dirt instead of concrete.

Though after two holes I was wondering why this course was ranked as high as it was, by the end of 20 I knew why. It is an absolutely stellar design surrounded by beautiful scenery. This is a near flawless course, and its an absolute blast to play. I would highly recommend going out of your way to play this course as it is truly an outstanding course.

If you live around the Denver area (or even if you don't) and you have the slightest interest in disc golf, you've probably heard of the highly-renowned course at Beaver Ranch/Conifer. Friends and acquaintances told me many times over "you've got to check out the Conifer course, man." I finally heeded their advice and what I found was a truly top-notch course that disc golfers of all levels should be lucky enough to someday play through. My favorite aspects of the course include: beautiful mountain scenery, strategic course design, clear signage (with amusing captions!), bag hooks at each tee, benches at most tees, great maintenance, the sense of exploration, and overall, the novelty of its distance from major cities. Also, nearly all of the holes have multiple basket locations (clearly marked on signs as A, B, C) that are rotated often enough that returning for another round should offer something different.

As an avid mountaineer, I'd never thought about the fact that it may be a difficult hike through the course for some disc golfers, but that definitely should be something to consider. It is on a mountain, after all. Wear good sturdy shoes and bring an extra layer of clothing. In the fall and spring, weather can be an issue - sunny skies can turn to flurries and the thermometer can drop 15 degrees during a full round. Beaver Ranch's distance from major Colorado cities and towns makes it less convenient to play often, but then again, that's partly what holds its majesty. A few of the launch pads are at off-kilter angles, making an approach of more than a few steps a bit tricky. The technical nature of the course may frustrate newer players.

Beaver Ranch/Conifer Park seems to remain high on the list of most commonly reviewed disc golf courses, and for good reason. It is among the most remarkable of the nation's DG offerings (ranked 9th worldwide as of 10/25/11); if you don't believe me, get out there and experience it for yourself!

Everything.
Great course, great views.

LONG walk to first tee.
I would not play alone due to the the possibility of running into a wild animal.

Played the course in the snow but was still blown away!

Every hole is different. Every hole is a challenge. Even if you don't play disc golf, walking the course is great exercise. I'm new to this sport and I've played courses in CO, KS, and GA. This is by far the most fun.

Tee pads get a lot of wear and often are not level due to usage. This is a minor inconvenience that in no way spoils the game.

A really nice place to both enjoy a sport, get some exercise, and visit with Mother Nature.

A true mountain course, this is what you expect from Rocky Mountain disc golf. Most holes have severe elevation changes, either along the fairway, near the pin (especially frightening), or both, with more than a few opportunities for deadly roll-aways. Don't be fooled, though, this course is tightly wooded. Add this to the elevation changes, and its one tough course.

The course begins with an incredibly steep hole straight uphill. Honestly, the pictures don't do the slope justice, its an incredible hole. I won't go over every hole here, I'll just try and hit the highlights. Nearly every hole has some sort of elevation in play. 2 and 3 are tight uphill doglegs where its easy to get into trouble. 10 plays down to a blind pin sloping down the mountain, and is short but truly terrifying. The next few holes play perpendicular to the slope, where its imperative to play the proper fade. 16 and 17 are the bomber holes, where the course starts to open up some. On 17 the basket is either at the bottom of the slope or directly across the valley, and is incredibly fun. No mountain course could be complete without a wide open, downhill ski-slope type hole. 20 is fairly wooded, especially near the basket, but is nearly as steep downhill as 1 is uphill, and is a great challenge. Throw to hard or with the wrong angle, and you could easily be 100' down at the bottom of the mountain. Not sure if 21 is officially part of the course yet. If not, I believe it will be soon. The pin is ~400' or so, fairly downhill, with the front of a creek bordered by thick brush 261' away. A wide open hole, it makes for a tough decision of whether to go for it or lay up if you can't throw ~350' consistently.

As far as course maintenance goes, the course has been immaculate every time I've been. Because of the fire danger, I believe most of the course is smoke-free, so cigarette butts aren't an issue. Many of the baskets have a sloping upper belt that directs the discs down into the chains, which is a definite pro in preventing death rolls.

Signature Hole - Has to be #1, the steps, the slope, and the view back down from the top. Hell of a way to start off the round.

Its hard to find much wrong with this course. Some people complain about the half-mile hike to hole 1, but its really not a huge issue. Maybe its just me being from the midwest, but I'll never get sick of the view when walking to the first tee.

As much as I want to, I just can't rate this course a 5. Its nothing explicit about the hole design or course layout, but it just feels like a little something's missing. In some ways, it seems like there's a lack of strategy on many of the holes. Often, the tees are more guarded than the pins, and its more a matter of execution than strategy. I'm sure this is partly my personal preference and partly the pin locations I've played, but I'm left wanting a little more.

Overall, this course is well worth the drive from the Denver area, whether you live there or are just visiting. They take great care of this course, and I've heard rumors of them installing another course on the property sometime in the future. It keeps getting better and better, with benches and permanent signs at most holes, with more to come.

Also, It'd be a crime to not plug the temporary course in Bailey (15 min or so down the road, left at Rosalie Rd, left past the coffee stand, and left at the gate) that is going to try and stay open through summer 2011. In my opinion, its a bit better than Conifer, but they need you're support to turn it into a permanent course. So play and please pay the $5 donation to keep the course running (they need to pay the school for the land, as well as to buy permanent baskets). Absolutely no smoking (of anything) or drinking on the course, or they may not allow disc golfers back. Help support the growth of the game in the Colorado foothills!

Great Teeboxes, signage, and Benches. There are even little hooks to hang your bag. If your looking for elevation in a course this is bursting with it! Hole #1 is practically up a ladder. It undulates from there. There is a good mix of distance and obstacles. With a few shorties thrown in. While most of the holes are memorable there are still a few signature holes that really stick out. 5,8,11,14,16,17,20 are some of my favorites. There are some HUGE off the side of mountain shots that are super fun.

Oh yeah, it GORGEOUS!!

It's a half mile walk from the parking lot to the first/last hole. So there's an extra mile of walking on top of tackling this mountain. Its hard to find your discs in the snow. (RIP green Groove). While the layout and elevation change alot, the terrain is all the same. Its all pine trees and dirt/rock (except 14-16)

Overall one of my favorites! Its definitely tiring though. I always throw my hole bag on 17.. Its a great tee!

This is one of my favorite courses! I have played a few mountain courses and this is definately one of the top ones! Great layout, you just know where to go for the next tee. Technical course, but what do you expect when you're trying to throw in the wilderness. This course is a great challenge and great way to improve your technique and try other ways of throwing through the maze of trees. There are also holes that have a great fairway with no trees to give you a break from the trees, but still challenging! Beautiful!

Hmmm well it's hard to say...the trees may grab your disc and hold onto them but that's just part of the fun of the mountain course! Never know if you'll have to be a tree climber too.

Great place to play in the summer to get out of the hot sun! Well shaded with all the trees!

This is one of the greatest courses in Colorado. Amazing mountain course. It is a well thought out and well-funded 20 hole course that will leave the average, fit individual tired at the end of the day. Expect to do a lot of hiking, a good amount of elevation change, tons of throwing, and every once in a while a bit of cursing.

The course requires a great amount of skill and accuracy as every type of throw imaginable is required throughout the 20 holes. You will be throwing long bombs, hyzer, anhyzer, tomahawk, short finesse, perfect S-curves, and a few perfectly straight shots. There are short holes and long holes, but a majority of the holes are around 300 feet, and you will certainly need you biggest driver on some holes. There are various pin placements, and wonderful plaques at every hole indicating where each pin is, and the distance of each pin. While some courses have signs that don't help much, these signs make the course simple and easy to understand. Be careful about rolls! There is a bunch of steep terrain here, so very bad downhill rolls can occur if you do not take disc orientation into consideration.

The course does a great job of mixing up technical and long throws. I know many courses have a technical front nine and open back nine (or vise-versa), however Conifer flows wonderfully. You will switch between technical, long, and a mixture of both all day. There is really no true transition between the front and back nine, just to show how enjoyable all of the holes truly are. While not all tee boxes are the best, they are some of the nicest natural tees I have seen on a mountain course. There is a bathroom located around holes 13-16, as well as bag hangers and very nice wooden benches at every hole!

-The first 2 holes start by going about 35 degrees uphill and are tightly woven through trees. After that the course levels off, and will take you winding back into the hills of Conifer, gaining and losing elevation as you go.
-Hole 3 is reminiscent of a flat hole 2
-Hole 4 is a fairly open shot which is open to many throws.
-Hole 5 is a long downhill bomb with multiple tee boxes. The longer tee box adds a tight gap as well as almost 100 feet.
-Hole 6 is a tight straight shot.
-Hole 7 is a very short finesse shot with the basket on a hillside. A quality shot without a roll will leave you with an easy birdie.
-Hole 8 requires a mini-hike to get to, and is one of my favorite shots on the course. It is a very technical hole where the tee box is crowded with trees, yet a perfect s-curve line, as well as anhyzer line are visible. The line is extremely tight, and the basket is out in the open on a hillside.
-Hole 9 is a slight uphill with a fairly open fairway, as long as your disc stays low.
-Hole 10 is another medium length straight shot through a large stand of tight trees. There is a long dropoff after the hole!
- Hole 11 is a challenging hole, and is the most susceptible to rolls on the course. It is fairly straight shot which allows for almost any type of throw. The basket is a bit downhill, and the entire fairway is on a very steep slant which points away from the basket. There are minimal trees, however they all seem to be right where you want to throw your disc.
-Hole 12 is a straight shot, requiring accuracy through a stand of trees
-Hoe 13 is a classic straight-to-right dog leg. The hole is fairly long, has a mandatory tree, and is a fairway cut out of a stand of trees. Your line is easily visible... hitting it is the hard part. There are 2 pin placements, one of which resides on top of a very steep, large, "ant-hill", making almost any roll around the pin bad.
-Hole 14 is a short and straight hole with a slight bit of anhyzer. This is a fun hole, requiring precision through the stand of trees.
-Hole 15 is one of the more open holes on the course. While there are a few trees - a low straight shot will get you there.
-Hole 16 is a long hole with a double mando gap through some trees. The pin resides in a tight stand of aspens 300-350 feet out.
- My favorite hole is number 17 in which there are always two pin placements. 17 requires a monster shot across a gigantic valley which loses and gains around 100 feet in elevation. The first pin is moved between 4 spots, while the second pin is always in the longest position.
-Hole 18 is an uphill shot with minimal obstacles, but large consequences for a shot that dives right.
-Hole 19 is a shot which allows all throws. There are many obstacles, yet also many lines to choose.
-Hole 20 is a hole where you lose large amounts of elevation. It is a hole which goes about 300 feet, and drops 50-70 feet. Be careful of rolls here!! It's easy to get near the pin, but hard to keep your disc there. The fairway is fairly open, but the pin is stashed in some trees.

There is a half mile walk required to get to the course. On the weekend or a very nice day, the course will be very crowded. This is the closest and one of the nicest mountain courses to the city of Denver, so it sees a lot of weekend traffic.

This course is not for the faint hearted discer. It will take up most of a day and require large amounts of physical exertion. It also requires fairly great accuracy, so if you're not accurate and not a fan of looking for your discs, this is not your course. However, if you're a fan of mountain discing, hiking, beautiful scenery, and throwing tight shots this is not a course you can pass up. The shots vary from hole to hole, and you will not get tired of the courses style and variation.

-Great variety of holes and shots and requires you to use a variety of shots
-Lots of elevation changes
-Multiple pin positions on each hole (except for hole 12) and three of the holes have multiple tees. The different pin positions really change how the hole plays rather than just adding extra distance
-Nice tee signs and bag hooks on every hole
-Pretty easy to navigate and the scorecards at the parking lot have a map on them
-Beautiful scenery around the course

-The tee-pads are dirt and several of the tee-pads are starting to get ruts in them. Also after a lot of rain several of the tee-pads hold some pretty good sized puddles which can make it hard to tee off at times

This is the best course I have played thus far and I enjoy it every time I play it because it is such a good challenge. If they replace the natural teepads with something else this course would definitely be a five in my book. I don't think the half mile walk to the first hole is a con, I feel it provides a good warm-up especially since the first 3 holes are almost straight up hill. This is one of those courses that is worth the drive to play and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for an awesome round of disc golf.

Fantastic course. Well designed and maintained. Beautiful scenery. Makes you bring your "A" game. Great elevation changes everywhere. Let's you just rip the disc on several holes. Provides great challenge on others with blind shots, tight gaps, and mandos.

Tee boxes. All dirt and RR ties. The dirt is not level and can twist the ankle if your not careful. Bring your hiking boots and tie them tight.

Worth that 1/2 mile walk to the very intimidating first tee

This course is very well maintained and the baskets seem to get changed around often. All baskets are clearly marked and each tee box has a picture of potential basket spots. A challenging, technical course with lots of variety incorporating uphill shots, downhill shots, lots of trees and the potential for horrific rolls. Beautiful scenery throughout the course and you're getting a nice work-out while discin'.

It's about a half mile walk to the car from the end/tee box 1.

Well worth the drive up from the front range- Denver/Boulder/Co Springs. It seems to be getting more popular. Most of the times I've gone it has been empty, but the last time (a beautiful Sunday afternoon) there was pretty heavy congestion on all the holes.

Also, there are horse trails throughout the Beaver Ranch Rec Area, so keep an eye on your dogs if they're off the leash.

Topography - lots of elevation change and slope
Aesthetics - Beautiful landscape, mixed conifer forest with a few Aspen groves
Pop. Density - hardly ever crowded, even on most crowded days plenty of space.

Topography - get ready for a hike on first three holes
Not much else to complain about

Wildland Urban Interface - be very careful with fire and beware that Jefferson County's fire-bans can include no outdoor smoking with heavy fines.

True definition of a mtn course, very fun, very challenging. My accuracy went way up after playing this course. Just a fun course to grab some buddies and spend the day in the mtns. Overall a great course.

Only real con was the tee boxes. I actually found them to be a hazard, they are made of dirt and RR beams, and the box is easy to trip over the front if you are not carefull and the dirt on the tee box was a but uneven so footing was a challenge if you are trying to hit the disc at all.

The holes were a bit shorter than I expected but made up for disctance with tight shots, i left the driver in the bag all day and scored very well. Great course one of the best

You're in the mountains disc golfing! Plenty of trees, elevation changes, hiking... this course is a real treat- a must play.

They only complaint I have is how tired my legs and arms were by the end of the day!

This is a beautiful course set in a hilly and wooded park setting. There seem to be regular upgrades. We passed by a maintenance team today who told us they had just completed up upgrades to the outhouses. All of the tee boxes have nice benches and bag hangers. Even the pictures of the holes posted on this site are out of date. The tee markers have all been updated and are very nice. There are hole maps and photographs of pin location on every tee sign.
There are multiple tee locations at every hole which make for a dynamic course experience.
The course map available in the links/files section of this review page is very good. I downloaded it to my smartphone in case we needed it. The course is so well laid out that we only had to refer to the map once.

Hilly and challenging. Coming from an elevation of 1000' made the course even more difficult for me. This is not a criticism of the course as much as a warning.
The walk from the parking lot to the fist/last hole is about .5 miles. After a day on the course, this seems much longer.
It can get very windy in the afternoon. Since this course is on the top of a hill, the wind can make for some interesting and exciting flight dynamics. Plan accordingly.

We lost a yellow and black Yin/Yang disc in a large wood pile. It probably won't last too long there as there is a scheduled burn planned for next week.
Course takes 2 - 2.5 hours to play all 20 holes.
We played on a Saturday and only saw one other group. However it was cold and windy.
This course will kick your butt. However, you will love it. This course really is phenomenal.

Technical course that will use a lot of your shots, has some good "tree" holes that will test your accuracy and head, and holes to show off your long drive. One of my favorite courses I've had the chance to play. I would recommend making a day out of it and throwing a couple rounds.

the .5 mile walk to the first tee or worse to the parking lot after throwing a couple rounds. But well worth it.

Tight, Open, elevation changes, very imaginative, easy to navigate, great signs at every hole with distance and multiple placements, beautiful scenery, friendly people, Great variety; You might throw every shot in your bag, very challenging. Even though it's heavily wooded, it's not hard to keep an eye on your disc. Lots of debris from trees on the ground to keep your disc from rolling alllll the way back down the hill. Sometimes you're not so lucky
Too many goods things to say about this place.

The drive to get there??
I guess the only thing I could do without is the strenuous elevation changes. The first two holes will make you want a power nap. But in all honesty it's not that bad. Just tough it out!

Look, if you are an intermediate or advanced player, you will love this course, hands down. Beaver Ranch is the epitome of colorado disc golf. In the mountains hiking around, lots of trees and elevation changes. Tight tunnel shots followed by narrow tee offs into wide open meadows. Aspen and Pine trees. Fun Fun FUN!!