Federal Heights (Denver), CO

Camenisch Park - Upper Badlands

3.25(based on 83 reviews)
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Camenisch Park - Upper Badlands reviews

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7 0
BrianElander
Experience: 8.4 years 89 played 13 reviews
3.00 star(s)

A beautiful course that provides a challange 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 20, 2017 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-The warm-up area if fantastic with 3 Innova baskets spaced a good distance apart so you can putt from one to another.
-The baskets are great, and catch splendidly, with some having additional chains added.
-The tee are concrete, and are a decent Leigh allowing for a full run up.
-There are no "boring" holes, each shot had a nice challenge, in elevation, distance, trees, water hazards, or OB. There is no "gimmies" here.
-As just stated there is every kind of shot, with a few tightly wooded holes, downhill bomber holes, steep uphills and everything in between.
-This is a beautiful park, with lush green mowed greens. Its almost like playing on a ball golf course with shorter, funner shots, and no carts.
-They make if a comfortable experience with bathrooms, (1,3,18) and places to sit on almost all of the tees.
-Its not overly crowed, sure there might be a backup on the holes but there is not swarms of people and discs flying everywhere.
-Each hole has lots of different pin locations with a few having around 7, so if you play here more than once there is a high chance it will be a completely different layout.
-No a lot of non-discers here and you basically had the park to yourself and the other golfers.

Cons:

-It is very difficult to follow, even if you have played here more then once, because the holes will be in different pins, sometimes nowhere near where they used to be.
-The tee signs are awful. They are covered in vandalism, or completely faded away. Its impossible to tell the distances or pins from the signs.
-The tees are not flat, and that can mess up your run up more then you think.
-The pond water is gross, if you throw into it there is no way of seeing your disc through the merk, and even if you could there is no way that you would want to get into the filthy water to get it back.
-Fairways cross multiple times (1,3 5,6 15,16 17,1). This can potentially cause a safety risk.
-Although the grass is mowed on every fairway there are a few holes (across the lake from that golf course grass) where there are stickers that are extremely uncomfortable if they get stuck in your shoes.

Other Thoughts:

I love this course and it may be one of my favorites in the Denver Metro area, and the reason that I'm giving it a three star it because there are things wrong with the structure of the course, such as the slanted tees and the terrible signs, however the actual disc golf is wonderful, with all types of shots in a amazing and beautiful park . If the other issues are taken care of this would be one of my favorite courses with out a question. Would not recommend for beginners because its a rigorous place to start and would not be a fun experience. Defiantly come try it out, but maybe have a local to help direct you.
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1 5
spacin_mason
Experience: 13 played 5 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Find a guide 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 2, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

Unique layout, a variety of shot selection, some water hazards, a lot of potential.

Cons:

Markings, spent more time looking for the teebox/next baskets than actually playing. Ended up going over to the Hylands after 2 or 3 holes.

Other Thoughts:

I feel I would enjoy this course with a local who could direct me where to go. Will definitely return next time I'm in Denver and hopefully be able to play the full course.
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1 2
sjroesinger
Experience: 7.9 years 37 played 37 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Hilly 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 3, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

A few challenging holes near the water
Easy to find discs

Cons:

Some holes on the hills were boring (up, down, up, down)
A few tee boxes were hard to find

Other Thoughts:

Very hilly course gives you a good workout
Wind made it challenging
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2 4
xskatx
Experience: 14.2 years 22 played 16 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Fun and Long 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 24, 2014 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Elevation changes, Long holes, extra 9 holes in "blair witch" area is very fun. The layout of the course is great and this can be a very challenging course. The grass quality has improved in the last few years

Cons:

Terrain and ponds are disgusting. It looks like someone dumps waste there. Broken glass on some holes and trash, beware if you bring a dog not to let them walk on the glass.

Other Thoughts:

Overall, it's a good course to play in the spring and the blair witch is very fun and heavily wooded
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10 0
mndiscg
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.9 years 483 played 478 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Up and Down at the Badlands 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 8, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Lots of elevation, most holes had some and a lot of them had significant changes in elevation
-Pads were fairly nice and grippy despite being pretty old
-A few water shots. #12 long is a pretty good challenge for most players. There is an alternate tee to the right that is shorter and much more approachable if you're afraid of losing a disc.
-9 bonus holes in the back after hole 12.
-Discatchers were also pretty old but were in decent enough shape.
-3 practice baskets!
-Flow is pretty good, it is relatively open so you can usually see the next tee or follow the group ahead of you.
-Blind tee shots are usually aided by some kind of flag on the basket.
-Hole 5 was fun with many trees and it would be good if they were able to incorporate more holes like that into this open course.

Cons:

-The water is foul smelling and looking. Signs tell you to stay out and I would recommend following them.
-Tee signs are either old, vandalized, or a combination of both.
-It was really busy during the day on a Tuesday, it has to be horrible during the weekend.
-It would be a little more fun if there were more trees on many of the holes. Some of them seemed too open.
-This is a long course, if you are out of shape it might tire you out pretty good.
-This isn't the nicest neighborhood despite being right next to the water park. There was a car with a broken out window in the small parking lot and the park wasn't overly clean. The creek and ponds were clearly polluted and there was lots of evidence of homeless people living in Blair Witch.

Other Thoughts:

-This course and Blair Witch should really be combined into one solid 27 hole course. They flow right together and I would guess that nobody plays Blair Witch without playing this course first.
-If they got new baskets and tees for BW and tee signs for all 27, this course could be a great 4.0 or better rated course. It had a high fun factor despite all that was wrong with it. I would recommend stopping here as it was one of the best in the Denver area.
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4 5
Golden Tuna
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 23.2 years 185 played 31 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Nice change of pace 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 24, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

Somewhat challenging - nice concrete tee pads - good variety of shots used even in wide open areas- restrooms - well maintained park

This course is a nice change of pace from the other courses in the area. There are plenty of green rolling hills and some good distance with a decent amount of challenges. Though we didn't see any walkers, there were walking paths that wound through the course, so I would imagine it gets pretty crowded during peak time.

Cons:

Wide open course without many technical shots - poor tee signs and we got turned around in a couple areas due to poor direction

We were there in the morning, so there weren't any locals to follow around, but we found our way. They could use some more descriptive tee signs, but we were able to find our way just fine. Some of the holes are completely wide open, but that made it easy to find the errant shot and encouraged multiple throws on each hole.

Other Thoughts:

Fun course without a lot of back and forth. There were a lot of longish ace runs to go after. But, they could really use better tee signs and more directional arrows to help with course flow. Throwing over the lake was a nice addition
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2 2
AtomicCEO
Experience: 9 played 4 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Great long course, best locally 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 9, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

Lots of long holes and uphill/downhill terrain. Great baskets.

Cons:

It can be a bit of a challenge to find the next tee box. Most signs were damaged and unreadable, and I think 18 was missing. Challenging pin locations can be in play for 3 or 4 holes, but otherwise it's completely open. There is evidence of hobotown in the trees.
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1 2
OMGChaos
Experience: 2 played 2 reviews
3.00 star(s)

An interesting course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 1, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

This was relatively challenging, if nothing else for the hole where you had to clear the lake! It was also pretty long, so players with long arms could definitely get active.

Cons:

The course was pretty tough to navigate for a first-timer. The signage was junk and finding the next tee pad wasn't always very intuitive. Also, it was pretty dirty when I was there (lots of rusted out trash cans, turned over cans, etc.)

Other Thoughts:

Overall is wasn't awful, but I certainly wouldn't make this my normal course.
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4 1
jwetter
Experience: 110 played 30 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Badlands DGC 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 14, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Very nice use of elevation changes
-nice tees and decent baskets
-18 holes of varying lengths (also has a 9 hole course on site)
-many interesting throws where the hills come into play
-benches at almost every hole that was nice so you could put your bags on it
-nice park but there were a lot of people there so we had to do a lot of waiting

Cons:

-the signs are very poorly done
-can be confusing where to go next after you finish a hole
-the hills get frustrating because you are always throwing up or down hills
-it was really windy the day we played and it made the course frustrating

Other Thoughts:

worth the play if you are in the area. It was a fun course and different from many of the courses I have played.
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3 1
ibgollie
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 18.8 years 62 played 31 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Starts off strong, but falls short in the end 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 27, 2009 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-Elevation with blend of short and long holes
-Lots of pin locations
-Decent concrete tee boxes
-The newer tee signs are good enough, but the prettiest, but they get the job done.

Cons:

-Design quality of the finishing holes drops off significantly on the last few holes. It's relatively fun in the beginning, but the last few holes are pretty blah.
-Navigation is confusing without a guide
-Some tee signs need to be updated/replaced.
-Mostly open shots, not too many technical holes. The holes that do have trees, they are all around the basket, so it's a wide open drive to a wooded basket which, with a good drive, makes the holes pretty easy.

Other Thoughts:

I played this course 6 years ago and thought it was boring and poor condition. This time when I played it I had low expectations, but it was better than I remember. From what I can tell of courses in the area, this is probably the best one to play. My score -6.
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1 1
russkins
Experience: 22.8 years 13 played 10 reviews
3.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 14, 2009 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This is a well laid out course n i think its one of the better ones in the denver area ( i know i didnt come close to playing them all). Alot of different shots needed for a good round. Benches and garbage cans are plentiful, but bring fluids because there are no water fountains.

Cons:

Man the denver heat and no shade can make this course brutal. the blair witch project is DIFFICULT. Ijust walked the first few holes and there is no way i was going to attempt it. Also the up n down the hillside get kind of annoying,

Other Thoughts:

All in all this course i a good, definetly next time im in colo this will be a definate stop.
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1 1
HRPufinstuf
Experience: 16.7 years 23 played 9 reviews
3.00 star(s)

sum of play experience 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 18, 2009 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Nice mix of holes / shots - from open to water to a bit of trees. Chance to use many discs. DG friendly park. Holes / tees reasonably well kept up - tee pads in decent shape - signs need some TLC. Easy to navigate for the most part - if you aren't with a local, there is some confusion finding tee for 3 or 4 I think it was.

Cons:

nasty swampy sections on first few holes. The water on this course is just plain nasty / gross / EPA scary. Avoid after heavy rains. Most important don't go right on the first tee (as lefty I end up wading through the muck more often than i would like - skills could solve that problem I know - but still learning)

Other Thoughts:

I want to play Blair Witch still - haven't ventured back there.
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1 1
sgb118
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 18.7 years 24 played 22 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Badlands 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 27, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

A great course for elevation variation... Mostly open holes, and many that allow for an all out bomb. Really fun round, in a nice park. There was a nice guy selling plastic and cold drinks in the parking lot. The water hazards were pretty, and never really got in the way (hole 12 could get ugly if you aren't careful). The tee pads were all concrete and more than I needed. Signage was good for being hand painted. Pin positions all over the place...

Cons:

Some signs could use replacements due to vandalism. Some parts of the park can get pretty crowded which slows play. We had a few hiccups when navigating the course, but nothing major. Not much shade.

Other Thoughts:

Bring water and sun screen. You are constantly climbing and descending the hills with little to no shade. The round was fun, but it can be a workout at times. Not a bad course, and there are a bonus 9 holes that are completely wooded.
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5 2
InfiniteSight
Experience: 20.8 years 131 played 8 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Let it Rip 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 19, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

Open field bombs down hill. Good place to let it rip in high altitude. Short grass, possible roller.

Cons:

Hard to tell which basket was which. The flags on the pins say the # of the hole. #2 tee pad was dirt. #10 tee pad was real uneven concrete slanted up hill. Some signs needed work. Right next to the police station & trailer park.

Other Thoughts:

Good place to practice big throws. Not very technical but still a challenge. Bring a water disc. It's a lot of up and down hill walking. There is a outhouse by hole #1. Not a lotta places to go after that because it's open field. I didn't play Blair Witch unfortunately.
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7 1
disconsolator
Experience: 61 played 7 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Too much space! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 17, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

There's a lot of space and downhill and uphill shots. It has the right amount of shots over or by the water (2 I think). It also has some room for some bombs and some shorter shots - not necessarily technical, but it'll make you think a little.

Cons:

Where to start... Really confusing layout from the first hole. You stand at the top of a hill and throw a 600 foot downhill shot - fun, right? But from the tee you see 3 pins all within 80 feet of each other. You look at the tee sign to see that there are pin positions for A through E! There's a sticker telling you which is the pin, but you still can't tell. I think (I'm not really sure) they use the same pins for different positions on different holes. Again confusing.
The course has a kind of creek in the middle and each side of the course slopes down into this creek area which allows for some good uphill and downhill shots. However, this up and down 5 times in a row gets really old, really fast. I feel they could have made a course with only 18 holes that runs along this creek (with lots of thick and big trees) and had a more pleasing and interesting course. Then have those one or two great elevation shots that make you appreciate that part of the game instead of walking up and down a hill a bunch of times and losing your breath when trying to make a putt. Also, it's under construction, I think, and they have some temporary alternate tees - I don't know how long this has gone on as I have only been here a couple weeks. Hopefully someone is taking care of that.
The tee signs need work.

Other Thoughts:

There's so much space I think the designers felt they had to make it 27 holes, but I think a more thought out 18 holes would be perfect.
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3 1
Dooley
Experience: 30.9 years 102 played 12 reviews
3.00 star(s)

HUGE! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 20, 2008 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

The park this beautiful. Huge open space with large rolling hills. If you like to drive this is your course cause you'll be driving twice on some holes.

Cons:

There are some serious layout problems in my opinion. For such a huge open space and beautiful park, shooting downhill, than uphill, than downhill, than uphill, than downhill, (you get the idea), Gets OLD. There is room for more baskets for sure, and a layout change would propel this course up the rankings. Bring Water and Be in Shape!

Other Thoughts:

Great locals at these Denver area courses! Be sure to check out one of the ROSS brothers in the parking lot for some cool and unusual discs, as well as all the great ones. Oh and they deliver!
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