As the title of this review states, it is refreshing to have a moderately/tightly wooded course in the area. So often, area courses consist of wide open holes where the player can choose from any number of shots. Campton Hills really requires that most shots are shaped according to the fairways which are defined by small, skinny trees. This means that the average midwest player may have to step out of the comfort zone to 'get it done' on these shorter, tighter holes. It is a great place for a newer player to take a putter and a midrange and learn to throw with accuracy - plenty of other local destinations to practice with a boss or katana. Fast greens are another nice complement to area courses. Because of the dirt and elevation, putts and approaches that don't have a bit of finesse may be flying right by the basket on the way to a three putt.

Safety: As other reviewers have noted, several of the previous baskets and subsequent teepads are very close together. In an especially bad combination, players are throwing downhill almost directly towards the next tee. Be vigilant out here or you may end up with a disc in the head!

Erosion: Most of the fairways and especially near basket placements have rolling elevation and consist mainly of a mud base. When it is wet, I'd imagine this place is really tough to play. When we visited, it had been fairly dry for a few days prior, but there was plenty of evidence of past erosion.

All-in-all, Campton Hills is a nice flip-flop of the usual NW Illinois niner. It incorporates both nice tight fairways and decent elevation. This course is perfect for the family (as long as people keep a 'heads up') or for the newer player who needs to figure out how to play in the woods. More experienced players are going to have a birdie-fest and while they may have a fun round or two, aren't going to be making a regular trip out.

Easy to find due to Dics Golf Course sign from the road, only disc golf here, had signs & map so easy to navagate, not overly busy, was nice to throw a few steep up & down elevation shots, there are plenty of obstructions and trouble areas including inadvertant shoots over steep ledged areas to sides or past some pins. Good course etiquette from other players. Plays fast.

Tee pads too small & some are not level surfaces, also poor footing if shooting at sides of pads from dirt (potential for injury issues with this course). It's a short course, most holes too short, hole 2 is rediculously short and too easy a shot. Had a large standing water pool at back side of hole 8 with trees all around, had no idea it was there, shot skimmed a tree & landed in it, lost a gray x wildcat. Course lacks variety & only 9 holes.

Not too bad aside from the footing issues which is a major deduction to me. Definately room in areas for improvements. Has some uniqueness to it in comparison to other courses in area & some fun shots at least. You get a workout walking up & down all the steep inclines. Wouldn't go out of my way to play here but might stop by again if in the area & will be wearing my high tops next time.

- Park is devoted completely to disc golf, to the point where it isn't really a park... just a course. The land is perfect for it, with large hills and cliffs and a good amount of trees.
- Almost every hole has some kind of elevation change, and can be pretty extreme. A few uphill and downhill cliff shots, hills off the tee and by the basket, and some nasty ravines as hazards. The shorter length on some holes make it even more pronounced, shots have to get up or down quickly.
- Great mix of different lines to hit, which are pretty much forced due to plenty of trees in the fairway (and off it). Almost a perfect mix with 3 left, 3 right, and 3 straight holes. Being able to throw BH, FH, and OH accurately can lead to some great shots.
- There is only rough in a few places, the majority of the course just has dense clusters of trees that force the way. This means there are tons of opportunities to get creative with shot selection, to find that perfect hidden line, if you don't like the obvious one.
- When I was there, a puddle of water in #8's fairway, before the hill, was a huge hazard. It really added a challenge to avoid it, and is in a good spot to punish short or redirected shots.
- A few well protected baskets thanks to ravines, some trees, hills, and slopes.
- Good baskets, good signs. Navigation pretty easy. Great staircases and paths to get around as well. Nice, short teepads for a short course.

- Although it is a newer course, it has a very old school feel. This includes the very, very short hole lengths. It is tough to list that as a con; as it is not trying to be a long course, but the average length is 176'.

- This course doesn't care if you can throw over 250', it just wants you to hit a bunch of different lines and show some good control. There are some punishing areas, like left of #1 and right of #7, and plenty of trees to avoid all over the place. It might be a bit frustrating for a beginner, but everyone should enjoy this course.

This is like the ultimate miniature version of disc golf. In a weird way it's kind of fun. It would get old if you played it every day.

This is an excellent beginner course.

The holes require decent variety of shots. It's a great place to work on your upshot game.

Each hole has a tee sign, tee pad, and nice basket.

The elevation is pretty cool in this park. Every hole plays up and down a hill.

If you get off the fairway you can be punished on a bad shot even though all holes are under 225ft.

Several sets of stairways have been installed to help get up and down hills.

The tee pads are framed in by wood and filled with limestone. They are very short and not level.

This course has been trashed. There is garbage all over the place. There is a ton of erosion and this place gets muddy after rain.

It's too easy for more skilled players. My intermediate rated friend 2'd 8 of the 9 holes and had another putt rattle out for the perfect 9.

The frustrating part about this course is that the St. Charles Park District is loaded with money. They could have a top notch facility. The lack of cement tee pads is frustrating.

Bring bug spray during the warm wet monthes.

The course plays on a very small property dedicated to disc golf, so you won't run into any other park users. The terrain is hilly, with a few good steep climbs and drop offs, and some gradual elevation. Nearly every hole uses the elevation in some way, making a great variety of up and down hill shots, with some risky pin placements that have good roll away potential. The course is heavily wooded, but with relatively clear fairways, so there is a line to the hole but punishment for errant drives that go into the woods and brush.

Though all the holes are very short, there is still a good variety of hole shapes here. It's a good balance of right and left turning holes, and with the elevation thrown in, none of the holes feel the same. It's a great place to play a putter only or super class round, and just work on shaping lines with one disc.

The signs are basic but functional, with hole layout and distance to the pin. There is a good course map by the parking lot, but I found the flow to be fairly intuitive my first time through with no real issues finding my way around. The baskets are in good shape and catch fine. There are really nice stairs built into a couple hill sides to make it easier to get up and down the steepest spots on the course. The course is surrounded by neighborhoods, and many holes play close to one another, but the heavy woods and hills make it feel very secluded and serene.

The tees are terrible. They are small framed out sand boxes, many of which are wider than they are long. If you needed any kind of run up on any of the holes here, this would be an even bigger issue, but they were rutted out and made for poor footing even on standstill drives.

The course can get very crowded with newer players, meaning lots of waiting, lots of litter, and lots of ace signatures on 120' holes. This is especially true when the weather is nice, so be prepared if you go on a warm sunny day.

The course is extremely short. Every hole is an ace run with a putter if you hit your line, so it won't work on any of your longer shots to play here. This also means it's not terribly challenging, every hole is easily deuceable and you have to really screw up to get more than a 3.

This course was really difficult for me to rate. The fun factor here is extremely high, but the lack of challenge and the terrible tees take away quite a bit for me. Despite an average rating, I would still definitely recommend a stop here if you're anywhere in the area, it's a fun and quick course to play and a really nice place to throw your putter in the woods. It's mostly beginner friendly despite some brushy areas to lose discs, and it offers enough variety that a more experienced player can have a lot of fun here.

The landscape has rolling hills, trees, and sometimes little pond due to rain. If you are in a hurry this course is perfect, it can be completed very fast. 20mins or so if you are not waiting on anybody. There are 9 holes, and each is slightly unique. No hole feels the same as a prior hole. The wholes are nice and new, and the tee markers vividly show the fairway on each map.

Not for beginners. Everything here is a par 3, and every whole has several trees. No breathtaking scenery, because you are walking in the woods the entire time. The tees are not the greatest. They are a wooden box with sand and dirt inside of them. None of them are straight or level. The parking lot is gravel and is very small. Sometimes there are no parking spots to be found.

Even though you are in the woods, it is easy to find a missing disk due to the landscape.

-Unique course for the area
-Lots of elevation change
-A couple of the holes require odd flight patterns that you don't normally use
-Densely wooded, but with relatively little underbrush
-There is often a disc merchant in the parking lot
-No other activities in the park to interfere with DG

-Very, very short
-Rutted dirt tees framed with landscaping timbers
-Crowded, especially with the short holes playing so quickly. If you have to wait for 5 min, 2 groups will be waiting behind you.

This course has some odd holes that you just don't see in this part of IL, and for that reason is worth the trip. Don't go out of your way though.

Tough forest course provides excellent opportunity to practice touch. Good upkeep. Easy access and easy to find times to go where its not too crowded.

A lot of forest

Might lose a couple if not prepared.

I really, really want to like Campton Hills. It is a disc golf only site in a very well-funded park system, so it seems like there would be the potential for a very good course. It does have some nice amenities like several sets of stairs to get you up and down the many elevation changes and good tee signs. There is also a nice map in the parking lot, although it says "Disk Golf" on it. The site has exceptional elevation changes and is heavily wooded. At some spots in the park it is a really beautiful environment. So, it theory it should be a nice course.

Campton Hills main weakness is that it is far, far too short to pose any sort of real challenge to even the most recreational of golfer. Elevation does make some of the holes play longer than they are listed, but none of them are so long that even the average thrower would not have a putt for deuce. Despite the wooded setting, the routes to the hole are too open to really create any significant challenge. What you end up with is a painfully short course with open routes to the pin, which makes for some very boring golf.

The tees are very poor. They are wider than they are long, and are just a washed-out border that probably held gravel or something that is now long gone. In its place is a rutted, muddy mess for you to deal with while you try not to trip over the border timbers. Given how affluent the St. Charles area is, you would expect better tees.

The course cris-crosses the site, leading to two problems. The first is that many tees and baskets are very close together, but the woods and the fact that it is very easy to loose your sense of direction given that you keep circling around sometimes makes it hard for you to realize how close you are to other players. It's pretty easy to think you are just throwing your drive into the woods when actually you are throwing right at a nearby tee. The second problem is that it's easy to take the wrong path and end up at the wrong hole. Some directional signs on the course to lead your from hole to hole would be a welcome addition.

The site has some very steep drop-offs, and a few holes play up and down these steep slopes. This causes me some concern for the site, as erosion is going to be a significant problem in the future. It also makes the course virtually unplayable in wet weather.

Several times when I have been to Campton Hills I could not find a spot in the parking lot, which usually would mean a busy course. However, every time this has happened to me a lot of the cars were occupied by teenagers smoking and drinking. I'm not sure if any of them were going to get out and play at any point or not. At any rate, it appears to be a party spot for the local young people. Whether you find that to be a pro or con is up to you.

Hole # 9 is a very pretty hole where you shoot from way up on a ridge to a hidden basket. Unfortunately, the shot is only 223' and once you figure in the huge boost you get from how high up you tee from the real challenge is to not throw past the pin. Sadly, this pretty much describes the whole course. Had this course been designed pre-1983 I would have had more understanding for the limitations of the design, but the course was designed in 2005. These types of courses had been obsolete for over 20 years before it was designed, so the truly inadequate challenge of the design cannot be overlooked.

So the bottom line I guess is that if you are the kind of golfer looking for a course where you can easily deuce every hole and have plenty of Ace runs, Campton Hills is your kind of course. There is nothing wrong with that. However If you are the kind of golfer who is looking for a challenge and some risk-reward shots, this is not that kind of course. While it is a pretty course aesthetically and it might score highly on a "fun factor," in my opinion the design simply does not have the elements necessary to rate this course highly.

Nicely wooded, Techinal course. A nice change of pace with plenty of elevation changes. Nicely built bridges and stairs to help navigate this terrian. Easy to follow and garbage "buckets" located at most of the holes. Short and sweet, if your in illinois and looking for a quick nine, dont miss this one. Alot of short drives, plenty of chances for a ace.

Tee pads suck but does not take away from the overall enjoyment factor of this course. Place was packed when I went and parking was an issue. Also tee pads get pretty jammed up when this crowded. Wish it was 18 holes....

All in all, this is a course that I will definitly visit again. Its almost perfect with the exceptions of a few minor details, but if your in the area , dont miss out on this great little nine holer.

Nice and scenic.

Stupid hole layouts.
30'-40' elevation changes on 125' holes!
SHORT holes!
MUDDY!
Easy to lose disc.

Bring your bright colored discs for this course. Also BRING YOUR BOOTS! This course is very misplaced.

Unique, borderline weird elevation changes; especially for a really short course.

Ability to very easily play with 1 or 2 discs. (though I don't, I do like the putter challenge that one guy mentioned).

Scenic deep woods, but without major danger of losing a disc.

Shady, almost all parts of every hole. This makes it great to play if it is really hot and sunny out.

Windy? It really can't be windy here. If you don't feel like playing Jericho or Eagle Ridge because of 30 mph+ gusts, play here.

Just rained? You can probably still play here if the gates are open. Because of the thick canopy everything stays pretty dry except for a couple of low spots on 2 holes. And the tee boxes have been filled in with more gravel.

Because people play it more casually, like after work or just to get some quick holes in; I almost always run into another solo player to throw with. Compared to every other course I have playes solo, I cannot stress how nice that is.

Tee pads are ridiculous. As others have commented, short wood framed gravel pads. Really short, so short it is hard to imagine what the designers were thinking, or if they every played.

Obviously not a very hard course, because of the length.

Cowded in the late afternoon/evening.

You will run into people drinking, which doesn't bother me but might others. And you might see kids just hanging out smoking weed etc. It is one of those type courses. Most people that play here live close and are young- I would say 80% are 25 and under.

I gave this course a 3 simply because it is one of the most unique nine hole courses you will ever play. I play it a lot because it is five minutes away and I can get out there at 7:00pm and still get in 27 holes easily.

1. A short technical course. The first few holes kind of leave you wondering just how easy this course is going to be (which it is), but the overall design was really impressive. Hole #2 is a little 125' RHBH hyzer shot with a PAINFUL punishment if you go deep (which I imagine could be easy to do if you're one of the one-disc golfers carrying only a driver!).
2. Fantastic use of elevation. Again, all of these are short and reachable from the tee, but do require some thought before throwing. The extreme-uphill and extreme-downhill holes featured out here are just really cool to look at, and you can truly appreciate what the designers were aiming for once you start playing.
3. Ease of navigation. Sometimes a heavily wooded course can get confusing when there's no "next tee" sign and other paths winding through the woods, but with how busy this course is and the visibility of the next tee after holing out (as well as a nice, easy-to-memorize directory at the beginning), you shouldn't have an issue getting around.
4. The litter actually wasn't too bad when I played. I've seen this issue addressed in other reviews, so maybe I caught the course on a good day, but with how many groups we saw in what little time we were there, and with most of those groups seeming to be late-high-school age to early 20s (one of the more notorious litterbug demographics), I was impressed. The trash cans help!

1. Only 9 holes. This seems like a park with great potential for an 18-holer or more, but it also seems like they'd have to chop down a lot of trees to do so...a designer's dilemma.
2. Basket vandalism. The baskets themselves were in great shape, but with how short this course is, there's bound to be a TON of aces--which apparently there have been. Again, people, if you get an ace, NOBODY CARES! Write it on the disc you aced it with, 'cause it was truly your arm and your plastic that helped you accomplish that feat.
3. Poor tees. Again, with this being a short course (I think the longest hole was the finishing hole, albeit a huge downhill, thus eliminating a lot of whatever the posted distance is), you don't really need big flared concrete tees, but I can't stand the frame boxes filled with gravel, especially in an area that gets as much rain and flooding as St. Charles. A few little sidewalk-square-sized chunks o' concrete are all that's needed to make a major improvement to this course.
4. Some muddy areas. Again, because of the frequent standing water in the low-lying areas, you have to tiptoe around some particularly yucky areas...or your disc may end up extremely muddy if you can't see this mud off the tee. Have a towel ready!
5. Crowds. A lot of people seem to come out in twosomes and threesomes, so that does help keep things moving...we had 6 in our group (out-of-staters hitting up a course before heading back to WI), and we let numerous groups play through. Adding another 9 would certainly stretch out when and where you hit the bottleneck, but even with all the people out here, most of them seemed really cool.

This is probably the most fun 9-hole I've ever played. I'd have rated it a 3.5 if the holes were just a LITTLE tighter (which, in reading previous reviews, they apparently were at some point!--for shame, park people/course management) and the tee pads didn't look like sinkholes. Since this course is literally up the street from my aunt's house, I'll definitely be hitting it up next time I'm in St. Charles.

This course blew my mind! It has got to be the single most unique course of the 193 courses I have played to date. To be sure, this course is not a "serious" disc golf course.....but is seriously fun - a total blast!

I am going to explain why this course deserves a 5 disc rating in my book. I'll spare rehashing the course details since previous reviewers (and the pictures) have done a splendid job with that.

Normally I have a set way of ranking courses (details in my profile). Since this course is so unique I approached things uniquely....but only slightly differently. This is an unashamed pitch-n-putt course that challenges the tar out of a 1 or 2 disc challenge. I tried to get to 6 down (a score of 21) three times over using only a putter. That seemed reasonable. I never got close......even with an ace on #5 one round.

I had more fun playing things this way than I've had playing any other 9 hole course. The poor tee pads (they were all big puddles when I played yesterday) are not a detriment....they are simply an added challenge.

I keep 2 lists of courses: 18 or more holes and 17 or less holes (mainly 9 holers). This course topped the 9-holer list where the highest course was rated a 96% grade (an A, or 4.5 disc rating). So this course gets at least a 97% (A+, 5.0 discs).

I base my ranking list on my "personal addiction factor" -- how a given course feeds these desires/motivations/reasons I have for going out to play:
1) To be challenged by the course (getting more birdies than pars at Campton Hills with just a putter - supreme challenge!)
2) To have fun with friends (Campton is like none other!)
3) To relax and enjoy nature in a beautiful and secluded setting (besides being overcrowded at times it is waaaaay beautiful and the layout keeps it feeling other-worldly secluded.)
4) To enjoy a nice birdie fest (A given on this course. Half the birdies are easy to get, half are quite challenging.)

Simply put, this course topped my list of 68 9-hole courses I have played. It deserves 5 discs!

- Good use of natural elevation changes.
- Well marked signage to guide you through the course.
- Well maintained "fairways"
- Very technical holes emphasize proper lines rather than raw distance.

- Crowded
- Tee pads are poorly designed
- Muddy and rutted after a rain

Very fun course! Shorter holes really force you to play a technical round rather than go for all out distance without accuracy. Wooded, natural setting gets you out of suburbs for a little while and walk in the trees. On the downside, the course was very crowded when we played, and any extra time spent looking for discs resulted in a backup at the tee. I would recommend playing during the week or in the mornings to minimize the crowds. Also, the tee boxes are too short to use for a proper run up, but are also elevated box frames, making it impossible to extend your run up out the front. I had better luck playing beside the tee boxes. Great little course to test out your ability to identify and throw a specific line. Come in the morning and give it a throw!

This course offers a little something for everyone whether you are a beginner or a seasoned pro. Short holes can make a first time player feel good about themselves as well as the #8 hole which requires accuracy up a hill. This short wooded course has a nice design with a good amount of elevation change. Hole #1 starts with an uphill dogleg left while the last hole, #9, ends with a blind downhill dogleg right. Course navigation is easy to follow with well mapped out signs.

Bugs. After a rain or in the summer months mosquitos sometimes emerge which is always annoying. So bring bug spray. Also the tee pads are dirt which means after a rain these holes will be filled for days.

Being the course I learned to play disc golf on I can gladly say this course must have something, because i've been addicted ever since. It is a fairly easy course, but the design of the course seems to always make you play a second round. All and all this course is local friendly, short, fun course that I will enjoy going to for years to come.

-Elevation which is a nice change from all the flat courses I'm used too
-Pretty nice design and shot variety
-Good number of Ace chances
-Pretty challenging while still a good choice for beginners
-Shady which is nice since it's getting hot now
-Trash cans at offered at every hole and the course was very clean
-Friendly locals who showed me to Hole #1
-DISCatcher baskets which are nice since this course is located in the woods
-wooden stairs built on the very steep hills you throw up and down
-Drives that require you to throw down huge hills
-Uphill shots with baskets on top of hills
-Dogleg blind shot on Hole #9 where you throw some 75-100 feet down a hill is an awesome way to end a competitive round
-Unique never really played a course like this

-Tee pads suck, they are dirt and are literally 4-5 feet long with wood borders that prevent you from being able to step outside the tee and throw without tripping, the tee pads are also very uneven and practically have holes in them
-Insanely crowded there were 4 groups waiting to play Hole #1 when I arrived. With groups of 4-5 in front of groups of 2 who did not understand the term "playing through"
-Poison Ivy

Don't go during Weekend/Weekday afternoons or evenings because it's just too crowded I was talking to a group of locals and they said the course is a lot of fun to play alone in the morning when it's not crowded, and that you almost always have it to your self.

I would for sure go back but it would have to be for a morning round.

SCENIC AND WOODSY TERRAIN ESPECIALLY FOR IL. ALSO VERY HILLY.UNLIKE MOST COARSE AROUND AREA.

VERY SHORT, GREAT FOR BEGINERS. TOO MUCH GARGBAGE, AND OFTEN CROWDED, BRING YOUR BUG SPRAY.

BEST COARSE IN VECINITY OF ST CHARLES. CHALLENGING DESPITE SHORT DISTANCE. POSSIBLE ACES (HOLE IN ONES)

Flow from basket to basket is simple and easy to follow.

Beautiful scenery and foliage.

They now have buckets for trash at nearly every tee box.

I believe at #6 and #8 (?) there are steps built into the hillside.

Gets busy after school is out.

#7 is missing.(EDIT: Basket #7 has been replaced)

I like the course for a quick game. Easily playable twice with out getting tired of it. Good for beginners.

Very fun and moderatly easy course. This was the first course i played and the course i learned on. Holes are short but the woods make it very challenging.

Teeboxs are short also the holes are short

great course that i would reccomend to beginners and advanced players its a very fun and challenging course