I was able to play this course 3 times in 4 days, twice from the longs and once from the shorts. Here are my thoughts:

-Very challenging from the longs, makes you use several shots.
-Great use of elevation
-Great setting: creek, trees, hills, views
-Kiosk with information, maps, scorecards
-Restrooms at Hole #1
-Peaceful setting, great place for golf!

-Little yellow signs helped, course map at kiosk helped, but the layout was still confusing. Course crosses itself three or four times and it really seemed as if it did not have to. Cross 18 from 2 - 3. Cross 11 Long from 5 - 6. Cross 5 to get to 18.
-#7 from the Long is a ridiculous hole. I played with no leaves on trees and there was absolutely zero shot from the tee box, I can't imagine what it would be like in the Spring and Summer.
-I know the PDGA wants signs at the Short tees instead of the Long tees, but this is really a pain. I had to find the Short tees, to see the distance, layout, and sometimes location of the Long tees, then back-track to the Longs to play. I personally think this needs to be readdressed and the PDGA encourage Tee Signs at ALL tees. This alone added 30 minutes to my Long Rounds as I was trying to learn the course.
-12, 13, 14, 16 & 17 were disappointing after the first 11 holes. Seemed as though they were just thrown in to finish out the course.

Overall a very fun and challenging course. I must admit, I was a little disappointed in the grand scheme of things. This course felt as though the first 11 holes were designed for advanced players and the last 7 were for beginners.

With all that being said, I would not discourage ANYONE from playing this course... It is a must play if you are in the Little Rock/ Hot Springs area. Just do not go into it expecting the best course you have ever played.

Clean, well maintained, has tech holes and demands to shape shots, to think like a hunting eagle, or a myth.

Some holes simply way too short. Gimme birdies are about as fun as falling into an abyss of staplers.

The Humbler (hole #11) is pretty bad-ass.

This course is not mountainous. It is hilly.

Real disc golfers play ALL holes as par 3. Come on, guys and gals.

Great lay out for a course, the front nine are nice and rolling, the back nine will take you some time and will make you think about what you want to do!

its a good course, some times the pole on hole 8 take a day off and cant be found, but other than that, its great

I love this course, its my home course now, and I enjoy it every time I go, Had a few run ins with the club members, Most of them are Really nice and Inviting,

Very pretty park- Heavily wooded with elevation changes througout. Lots of variety- you will use everything in your bag. Intimidating creek hole on #8. Multiple tees. Excellent signage directing you from pin to next tee- much needed as the layout of this course can be a little disorienting.

The short tees on 4 an 7 are so short that they aren't much fun. The long tees on these holes don't add much. It is impossible to see a number of the pins from their tees- lots of throw and hope.

The course is very pretty, and some of the holes are particularly well designed (3, 8, 14). However, some of the shorter holes feel as though they were crammed into the layout when the designers ran out of room.

This course is a ton of fun to play with a lot of elevation changes and tight fairways. There are trash cans everywhere, clean restrooms, and is in a nice park. The tee signs are great, giving par, distance, and an idea of where the basket is located. There are also tons of arrows pointing you in the right direction for the different tee boxes. I had no problem finding my way around on both the longs and the shorts my first time out. The baskets are top notch. The tee pads aren't concrete, but are in good shape and don't have too bad of footing. There some really great, beautiful holes here. There is a LOT of elevation changes. There are several blind holes (5,6,7L,9L,11,16,18). There are only two holes with water hazards (7L, and 8) There are a ton of ace runs and birdie holes along with some par 4s and 5s (11L should be a par 6 or 7...I think the sign called it a 5) I was able to drive with my putter and midrange discs for most of the course. Favorite holes: 3 is down a steep hill then back up and over another small hill with the basket on the backside of the second hill on a slight slope...very fun drive and very picturesque. 4 is super short but up a very steep hill making for a fun putter drive. The long position is much the same but a high anhyzer drive with a putter. Hole 8 is absolutely gorgeous! It runs down a steep hill through a tight window between trees with a crystal clear creek running along the right side of the fairways. Pretty hole and fun ace run too! Someone was nice enough to leave a bamboo pole there for throwers to retrieve their discs from the water...which came in handy for me when my drive hit a tree, dropped to the fairway, and then proceeded to roll into the creek. It was about 4 feet deep in water, but the water is so clear that it was no problem seeing it and getting it back out...thanks to the bamboo pole that is. 17 is a fun downhill birdie run. 18 is an awesome long hole across a bit of a valley covered in tall pine trees. A good drive will set you up nicely for a 3 on what is marked as a par 5 hole. This course is just minutes from historic downtown Hot Springs. The park also has mountain biking, a kid's rock climbing wall, and an r/c airplane field.

Tee pads aren't concrete. They aren't in too bad of shape, but concrete is preferred in my opinion. Also, a few of the pads weren't level...or at least they didn't feel like they were. Some of the holes (especially 14) have trees within striking distance of your follow through right off the tee box. You could easily hit your hand if not careful to adjust. There were a ton of leaves everywhere when I was here in mid-March. They will hide your disc and with so many blind holes you'd have no prayer of finding it if it slid in just right. There are some long, blind holes and some short blind holes, all of which you'd be better off using a spotter on. I was lucky to have my wife with me to help out with that. You'll want a spotter for sure on 6,7L,9L,11,and 18. I would not recommend trying to play this course alone. I did see a couple of people playing alone and I also saw them searching through leaves to find their disc on many occasions. The holes here are super short or super long...not much in between. There were a couple of holes (9L and 11) that weren't fair in my opinion. They require booming drives that have to get lucky and land in a good spot...they are next to impossible to place with really no fairway at all to land in...only a maze of trees. 6,7L,and 18 were more fair long holes, but still required some degree of luck. I guess it was a good thing I played this course on Saint Patty's Day.

When you drive into the park, park next to the amphitheatre and hole one is behind the playground/restrooms. The directions I saw told me to follow the signs toward the r/c field and that caused me to spend about 15 minutes looking for hole one. When you tee off on hole one, pay attention to where the basket for 18 is behind you up the hill. You'll want to know where to throw when you get to the tee for 18 and can't find the basket. Holes 7,9,11,and18 are quite the adventure from the long tees! There are advertisements on all of the tee boxes for different places that have sponsored a hole. One is for Magic Bus and they make themselves out to be a disc golf store. Don't waste your time going there. They have about 20 discs in the whole place. There is a restaurant in town called Cajun Boilers that will give you 10% off your meal if you bring your scorecard in from your round. It is a good seafood restaurant with a lot of fried stuff...even fried corn on the cob! Hole 9 from the short says it is 279 feet, but it plays much longer than that due to being slightly uphill. It feels flat when teeing off, but it is definitely not. This course is a workout. If you are playing fast, it will tire you out some. If you are taking your time, it is not bad. This course also goes by the name, Wildcat DG Course...that is what the signs on the course say at least. This course is definitely worth a road trip, and you should hit up Burns Park in Little Rock while you are in the area.

Challenging course mostly because of number of trees. Most holes have decent alleys but if you get out of the given pathway watch out. Waterhole (can't remember the number) was nice in that the locals had put a pole near the water to help you get your disc out. Most holes have a short and long throwing position to give newbies a chance. We were playing with two decent players and two new newbies and everyone had a great time.
Contrary to some earlier posts, the course seems to be labeled well now. We only had to ask where one hole was, and that was the blind par five so what do you expect?

The seventh hole long position is rediculous. It is was way past the short possition and tucked way back into a tree cluster. No clue how to play the hole from that position. I wish that a few of the holes were out of the trees.

One local told us that the regular players play #4 #7 and #12 from the short pad in order to have some ace hole opportunities.

very scenic area with a good mix of shots various hole lengths not big on elevation but this was fun

took some time on a few different holes to find the right basket because the obvious target might not be the right one.some holes are really hard to find might wanna play with a local first time.Very steep elevation on a couple of holes. some of the baskets seem crowded together for the size of the course

I would play it again,restrooms right there

Cedar Glades is in my opinion the nicest piece of property for a course i've seen in years.The rolling hills and variations of alleys and elevations could make for the nicest course in our area.

I have to disagree in the HOME RUN statement.Holes in some areas play dangerously close to each other.T Boxs aren't level.T Boxs are hard to find and not user friendly.(Too much distance in some cases)

I feel for the level of experience that the designer has in his 50 plus courses he's not paid a lot of attention to this course or the possibilities this land has to offer.Actually i've discussed this problem with the man overseeing this park and have offered to fix these problems.I've also offered to design the new 18 hole layout and tie the two courses together.I'm waiting on that phone call.THIS COULD BE A 5 RATED COURSE.Pitch([email protected])For course design info and any feathers I may have ruffeled over this review.Check out Russellville ,Alma,Ben Geren and my latest Arkadelphia

The course had a decent variety of shots needed. That is to say hyzers,anhyzers, and straight shots. The hole lengths also varied greatly from less than 100ft to over 900ft. All of the holes appeared to have at least one fair line that you could play which is a good thing. I have been to far too many courses lately that have holes where you just close your eyes and pray.

I really liked the course's use of elevation especially on the greens. There is nothing quite like a steep hillside right behind the basket.

There were restrooms at the start of the course.

The first con for me was that the course does not have well maintained teepads. They were made out of some sort of gravel. This would have been fine if they were kept up but several of the pads were very uneven when I played causing me to turn my ankle on two drives.

My second complaint was that several of the holes seemed very close together. I really think that if this park were to ever get busy there would be issues of hitting people on different hole's teepads with your drive on several of the holes.

The third complaint I had was that it was difficult for me to find the next hole. Yes there were little arrows pointing to where it claimed the tee was but that really just pointed you in a general direction. Also they gave no indication how far in that direction the tee was. This would have been extremely useful due to the fact that many of the holes had a significant walk to get to the next hole. To make matters worse several of the walks to the next hole actually crossed over other holes which again could have been an issue if it was busier. Also during my visit they were out of course maps so I did not have that tool to help me.

I am going to put my last major con in this section because it was specific to the day that I played the course. Seeing that it was the day after Halloween they had some sort of haunted trail through the woods. On several holes I had my drive knocked down by some sort of ghost hanging from a tree, random scarecrow like thing in the fairway, or fence put up for the event. Also several tees had things obstructing part of them. One tee sign was completely covered by a "ghost" making it very difficult to figure out where I was supposed to throw to. Also one basket was covered in "spiderwebs" that rejected my putt.

Additionally I was very disappointed about the mountain scenery. They are pretty much just large hills and this is coming from someone from Georgia which doesn't exactly have "real" mountains.

I guess this course would be worth playing if you are in Hot Springs already. But I don't think that it was worth the drive from Little Rock which wasn't even an hour away.

I hate to use the same descriptions as others before me, but epic, mountainous, tight/technical, and rugged are the 4 best words to describe Cedar Glades DGC, another homerun from course designer John Houck.

As you pull into the park you're greeted with a panoramic view of the surrounding tree-covered hills, which gives you a clear idea of what the next few hours have in store for you. The entire course plays up and down hills (some very steep) through fairly thick woods, but with no underbrush to worry about....there are absolutely ZERO open holes here. There are several long holes that might offer a slight advantage to the big arms, but there really aren't any places where you can just "grip it and rip it." Accuracy and course management are the keys to success here...and a healthy cardiovascular system will help too

11 of the 18 holes have a long and a short tee, but for simplicity's sake I'll try to give a description of the terrain, not the shots you have to throw.
The first 2 holes ease you into the mountainous terrain, as the elevation changes on these holes aren't quite as drastic as what's ahead. Hole 3 plays downhill through an alley of trees that narrows near the basket, and the short Hole 4 plays straight up the side of a hill with a near vertical angle. Hole 5 is one of the more traditional holes...a slight anhyzer to a protected pin, with the only serious elevation change being a downward slope behind the basket. I had a good bid for birdie roll almost 100' down that hill, so be careful. Hole 6 is a fairly long (375ish) tight shot that finishes to the left and downhill. Hole 7 from the shorts is a <100' ace run over a steep gorge, but from the longs it's a blind up-then-down-then-up-again 400'+ monster with the course's only thick schule on the right. Hole 8 is the most beautiful...a steep downhill ace-run through a tight gap, with a crystal-clear creek running along the right. Hole 9 from the shorts is a straight alley shot to a basket perched on an incline...but from the longs its a treacherous blind anhyzer. Hole 10 is a fairly simple hyzer, which gives you a short break before the courses signature hole...the epic near-1000' Hole 11. This hole plays uphill and to the right off the tee, and the first half of the fairway plays alongside a fairly steep hill, then through a tunnel in the trees before opening up to the only flat/open/grassy portion of the course. Hole 12 is another short uphill ace-run, 13 is another midrange-distance hole that plays straight ahead. 14 is another birdieable shot..playing slightly downhill to the left. Hole 15 is another tough one with the entire hole playing down a fairly narrow tunnel with semi-thick woods on both sides. Holes 16 and 17 give you 2 more chances at birdies before stepping up to the big finisher. Hole 18 plays downhill from the tee, then uphill through a portion of the park dotted with small-to-medium trees with an OB fence behind the basket.

The different between the short and long tees (for me) was about 8-9 strokes. Many of the holes play completely different from each separate tee.

Nice Discatcher baskets, new signage (no longer hand-drawn images on a 4x4 post), and pretty decent crushed shingle tees lined out with railroad ties...not to mention clean restrooms and a pavilion with plenty of seats.

Tee areas...I do like the feel of the crushed shingles, but they need to be packed down a little more often to keep them all level. On most holes it isn't an issue, but there are a few with foot-sized ruts at the front of the box. Also, the railroad ties that outline the boxes do get in the way on a few of the longer holes.

You'll probably want to use a spotter on some of the blind holes (5, 6 Long, 7 Long)...

This course will definitely test your ability to throw from a standstill or with very limited footing. Many holes have large rocks, and almost all have steep elevation changes that keep you from being able to get a run-up depending on where you land. It will also test your ability to putt from elevation...this is the part that usually messes with my game the most. Neither of those are necessarilly a Pro or a Con though.

The city of Hot Springs is a fun place to walk around and be a tourist. The course is actually only 5-8 minutes away from the popular historic downtown area, which has tons of little shops and bars/restaurants.

The local club has already begun designing a 2nd course in the park, and the city has supposedly considered installing as many as 5 course in the same area!

Long story short, if you're within a few hundred miles of Hot Springs...go there and play Cedar Glades!!

Epic, mountainous disc golf in tight, but well cleared woods. It's nice terrain, carved out of recently thick forest but now just tight trees, little to no bushes/rough stuff. Plays up and down and across valleys and steep hills in the woods. One creek along a fairway is crystal clear, and cool, inviting you to throw in and cool off. Well marked, all with signs, next tee arrows, and maps actually stocked in the bulletin board.
Features a ridiculously long and tough par-5 and many other serious par-4's that will make you shiver if not confident on long, straight power shots through trees. If you get a bad kick, you can always recuperate from there and find your disc. Beautiful views from the course and on the way up, in the Ozark mountains.
While the tees are not cement, they are better than dirt or rock (crushed shingles).
Many holes have a long and a short tee.
Free, ample parking, clean restrooms.

- Not cement tees
- (Minor) ivy
- Kind of off the beaten path for most of the country

Probably is, or will be, the best course in the general region.
Signs posted said 2 work days coming soon to clean up some fairways and fix up the tees, but it was already in great shape.

This is leaps and bounds one of the most enjoyable courses I have ever played. I'm a borderline AM1/Pro player and have played 150+ courses in ~20 states and this rivals anywhere I've played for sheer joy of the experience of golfing. If I could pick one course to put in my backyard, this might be it.

Holes are incredibly varied, with shots from 150' across tricky elevation changes to 800+' "over the meadow and through the woods shots" so to speak. Tight alleys in many places, several fast -- but fair -- greens on hillsides, dual tees on almost every hole, and the shorts and longs play differently enough to make this feel almost like two separate courses.

From the shorts, it's possible to shoot several strokes under -- probably down into the high-40s --with a great mix of challenging birdie holes to some tough true par-4s. From the longs, scores will probably be at least 8-9 strokes higher for most people. I think I shot a 49/57 when I was there and felt pretty good about both rounds, especially considering it was my first time playing the course. I would LOVE to see tourney scores to see what the SSA works out to be.

The course -- especially from the shorts -- is just a sheer delight to play and will appeal to people from beginners to pros because so many of the shots are so much fun to throw because of the trees and elevation. Fairways are fair and include some very tight precision holes and some more open drives. Underbrush is minimal but there are enough trees and elevation changes to penalize errant shots pretty well -- which is one of my favorite elements of a great course: bad shots should be easy to find and cost you at least a stroke.

There is nothing I hate worse than spending 10-15 minutes hunting for a disc, and on this course, playing by myself, the only disc that took me a while was a forehand roller that I put up over a blind hilltop where on a regular round, you would always use a spotter. But that was one long teebox on one hole -- everything else was easy to find.

The longs are a whole different challenge from the shorts -- much more mentally stimulating and a lot higher risk/reward and a mandate to have some careful placement shots to keep your threes. A lot less birdie runs on the longs and a lot of angles that make the holes play very differently than the shorts. Few courses make great use of two teeboxes -- this course isn't perfect, but does way better than average.

I can't say enough good about this course, especially considering its age and its location with so little else disc-golf related around it. Truly a gem tucked into the green of central Arkansas.

I think this course is probably a perfect White/Blue level course (shorts/longs) in terms of challenge. Top pros wouldn't be sufficiently challenged here. For anyone in the 900-980 range however, I think this is probably well worth a pilgrimage and a long weekend of play. Huge kudos to the locals who put this course together.

If the signage was better, this course would get another .5 stars. Signage isn't awful -- I found my way through both the short and long tees without a guide -- but it's not intuitive and on some of the tees you have no idea how far you are throwing. Some of the baskets can be blind shots, so this can be really tricky the first time through. If I hadn't had a couple of locals warn me in advance of a few of the trickier holes (i.e., on the longest hole you throw down a fairway, through a wall of trees, out into another fairway, make a 90-degree turn to the right and huck it down an alley under low trees to a basket tucked back into a pocket -- locals warned me it would probably be a six, but I took a five from the shorts due to throwing in the wrong direction and then from the long tees had a couple of sick, sick drives for a four -- one of the highlights of my round).

The signage is really the biggest detriment to this course. That and a couple of minor points like no water fountain (that I found), the stifling AR summer heat/humidity, and the lack of people playing. I would prefer to have a few more folks playing the course all the time just so I could show up, expecting to be able to join a group for a round. I suspect this will improve as this is a relatively newly finished course and I'm sure it will heighten interest in disc golf in this area.

I wasn't sure what to expect coming out to this course, but I was blown away by how beautiful it was. I was in Arkansas to be in a wedding and knew nothing about Hot Springs or the disc golf scene there. I arrived at the course mid-afternoon on a Saturday and encountered the last of the local players heading home for the day -- they apparently gather en masse to play on Saturday morning and the folks I talked to leaving the course were all finishing their third round for the day.

When I was out there, they were having the grand opening for the climbing wall right across the parking lot from the disc golf course, so they had a great live cover band playing all afternoon, with the sounds drifting across the course. Since I was the only one out there after a few holes, it was this great private concert for the afternoon. I got in two rounds -- one from the shorts, one from the longs -- in the 100+ degree heat and still made it back in time for the rehearsal dinner that night. Whoop!

In a unrelated note, I was surprised how much of a tourist town Hot Springs is. Lots of shops, restaurants, activities, spas, etc... in a beautiful downtown. I had no idea Hot Springs was such a destination for people. I could imagine a family visiting here and the less-outdoorsy half the family having a great time in the downtown area, and the disc golf part of the family having a fabulous time at the course, which is only a few miles (10 minutes) away from the main part of town. I would highly recommend this city if you're down in the south and looking for a family vacation destination and want a diversion for the family while you sneak off to play disc golf.

Great location
Awesome scenery
Some holes VERY challenging
Pretty good signage considering it's in a dense forest
Really stretches your ability and strategic thinking
Some radical lefts and rights
Nice use of elevation

A couple of holes were confusing (more a nature of the density and distance from tee) - but once you played it once, you get the hang of it
Not many negatives for me because I like this kind of course (though sometimes they punish me greatly)

It would be nice to have a sign to direct you once you get back into the park area because the "intuitive" place to park is a healthy (though beautiful) walk over to the first tee and there is a much closer lot, but it wasn't too obvious the first time there.
Try to get a map, it will help...we were told that sometimes there are some there for the taking...there is on on the board to look at....
There are some birdies out there as a reward for accuracy and there are some holes that I felt GREAT about getting a boogie...

Well worth the drive....