- Large Concrete Teepads
- Large well-kept fairways
- Ample parking
- Great views
- Plenty of Trashcans
- Frequent Benches
- Navigation was a breeze between course signage and UDisc
- Overall reasonably good variety and design to the holes

- WARNING: Reliable distance required. Seems like it would be hard to play this course if you couldn't reliably throw past 300 ft (not a con for everyone)
- Shared Teepad for one hole
- Hilly course adds additional physical challenge

This was well worth the course fees. The course was nicely manicured and the fairways were well kept. Definitely would come back and play here again. The hills were used well to add challenge to what could have been a very open and boring course.

My biggest complaint was that it seemed like most of the downhill shots were also shorter holes. On a few of the longer holes you would have a long downhill tee shot, but the hole would still finish up hill. Would be nice to see a longer hole (like 400-500 ft) for a big downhill shot. Still a pretty minor complaint.

To truly become a higher rated course I think would require a significant change or addition. Maybe an additional 9 hole loop or alternate teepads and baskets for a majority of the holes.

- A good mix of wide open/tight shots
- A good workout
- Fairly long
- Well maintained / Marked
- Good for beginner/advanced

- can be a bit mushy after heavy rain

The course is playing great. Recently mowed and it's starting to dry out after the recent wet spring/early summer.

Great place to test out new discs.
Offers challenging distance lines.
Beautiful course

Barely any chances for midranges, as it's long and open.
Not a whole lot of a challenge if you throw 400+
Weeds get really thick late summer.

Overall, it's nice. It's a good place to go out for fun. Nice for playing with casual friends.

-Very open and long shot holes
-Nice technical aspects with each hole- i.e. tee pad placement, tree obstructions, and OB lines.
-Never crowded

-Very open and can be quite windy
-Swamps and tall grass can get quite buggy
-Tall grass OB hides discs well

Recently lost a disc in the tall grass on the right of 18. A green champion beast with no stamp. If found please contact me for a reward. That disc has been my main thrower for years now.

Long holes that challeng you. by far the longest of the three rivers courses. if you buy the season pass it's a great value! three pristine courses for a pretty decent price

really long, some holes have thick woods and allows for easily lost discs. can be windy on the back 9 because it's really open

love it! shop on site! great value, lots of parking, great scenery!

This course is awesome and is in great condition, including the tee pads, landscaping, signs, and baskets. The course offers a variety of challenging holes with elevation change that go up and down the ski hill and offers some unique holes in the brush/woods. Some of the open downhill holes include Holes 1 and 7, which offer a great opportunity to work on your spike hyzers. The short pins at Holes 15 and 17 also play downhill. There are also several uphill holes, including Holes 3, 13, 16, and the 700 ft. 18th hole. Hole 4 is also a unique hole that doglegs to the right, I recommend using a spotter on this hole. Hole 14 is also probably one of the longest valley shots in the Twin Cities area that plays close to 800 ft. and uphill on your last approach shot. Lastly, all of the downhill holes have potential roll-away potential as well, so be careful. Elm Creek is a great course that is relatively open and gives everyone the opportunity to work on a variety of shots.

Unfortunately, the bottom part of the course is located near a massive swamp, so the mosquitoes can be awful on a hot, humid summer day...bug spray is a necessity. As I stated above, the majority of the course is pretty wide open, which is great for a breeze to keep the bugs at a minimum, but certainly makes the course less challenging.

Overall, it is great course and I recommend getting out to play it. Of the Three Rivers Parks courses, I would rank Elm Creek second quality-wise behind Bryant Lake, but third overall as a complete disc golf course, since I feel it lacks a signature hole to make it stand out. Yea the 700 ft. uphill shot is unique, but I would much rather be throwing downhill at it. If you have a season pass to play these courses, it's definitely worth a trip to check it out.

This is a really beautiful course! Every element of nature is your enemy. For those who can throw far, this is your course! Its long, totaling at more then 7,000 feet. The tee-pads are huge! Nice and grippy also. The baskets are really good at catching discs. Anything that hits, has a 99% chance of staying in. Fairways are nicely mowed, but the rough, wow. Its deep and unforgiving. Although, they did just mow almost all of the long grass. So its nice fairways. Theres a mulch spot around each basket. 10m diameter. Nice looking course. Lots of elevation because you're on a ski hill. You go up it twice, and down it twice. I don't mind the walk, its fun throwing downhill, you get more distance. For the price of $5 of a daily pass, or, if you live in the area, get the season pass which is $35. There is also a nice pro shop. They have a rack of about 20-35 discs on average you can buy. Mostly for $12 to $18. They sell beverages and snacks. If its your first time on the course, expect to be on it for at least 2.5 hours. Its long, and if you have to look at all (which you will) even longer.

There are a few bad things, despite all of the good things. There is tons of long grass, so for kids or beginners, you will spend a lot of time looking. Also, hole 5 is nearly 500' and still only a par 3. It should be changed. Also on holes 4 and 5 theres a marsh on the right side, beware! This course, after a while, gets repetitive. Lots of the holes are alike. Open straight fairway, with a tree or 2 in your way. But you can easily get around them. And the bugs. Wow. Don't even get me started. If you don't have bug spray you won't last through the front 9.

This is a really good course, and I recommend playing it if you're in the area. Despite its bad things, I would play it everyday if I could. Mainly because its the only course around where I live. Its $5 for a daily pass, meaning you can play as much as you want in one day. But if you think you're going to play it a lot. Get the season pass for $35.

Another of the tri-fecta of the Three Rivers Parks Departments pay to play courses. This is another course set on the ski slopes and is again similiar to Hyland. Elm Creek probably is even more "Arm friendly' to those of you with the big guns. With only # 15 plays shorter than 278' and with two topping out at around 700', this is defintely a course you're going to want to ice up your arm after playing.

The amentities are wonderful in every way from the professional scorecards to the extra large, grippy teepads to the great signage, great baskets and down to the pro shop with the food and refreshments. There's everything here I would want in my pay to play course.

I was very happy here with the ratio of uphill versus downhill holes along with a few level holes thrown in for good measure. This course is very, very tough but it's fair. It's a great intermediate course that better players will still enjoy and find challenging.

# 18 is a beast at almost 700' climbing uphill much of the way. For us weanie arms, this is punishment at the end of a grueling 18 here on the mountain.

The long, open holes did tend to get a little repetetive after a while. This is not a course I would want to play everyday although I'd love to play it with some of my younger friends with their big ole arms.

This course doesn't give you any breaks, either playing wise or physically. It just kinds of grinds you down and then # 18 finishes you. But somehow I liked this abuse. I'm usually more into the easy, recreational park courses that are a little easier on you.

I give the designers their kudos for making a course thats long, rugged and challenging but still fair enough so a 60 year old recreational duffer like myself can appreciate and enjoy it. I tip my hat to you designers!

elevation changes on almost every hole
very well kept course
great for those who love to air it out
great workout going up and down hills

alot of wide open fairways
bad for those who arn't blessed with big arms
hole 18 is a beast!! (maybe not a con though)
no water hazards

really enjoyed playing this course and plan on playing it more in the future. I would especially recommend playing it to any one who appreciates trying to throw long accurate drives...........PLAY IT!!

Elm Creek is part of the Three Rivers Park district. It's a beautiful, spacious, park reserve with scenic views and wide open expanses. Most Minnesota courses are pretty heavily wooded, so this course has been a nice addition and comes with a different feel than you can find elsewhere in this part of the state. It is by all measures an advanced level course.

It has the biggest, best tee pads and longest holes you will find anywhere in the greater Twin Cities area.

It's never been busy when I've played.

The money invested by Three Rivers is plainly visible on the course. It has the amenities you would expect of a pay course: scorecards, trash cans, great signs, benches, a club house with some beverages, even disc rental packages.

There aren't any objectively bad things about the course other than the thick rough.

There are however a lot of things which may affect a person's opinion of the course.

It's got a lot of really long, fairly open shots. The majority of the holes require a drive of 300-400' to card a birdie and feature just a few obstacles each (though if you hit one you can kiss any chance of a bird, and most cases a par, goodbye). 2 of the par 3's are nearly 500'. Still, the beauty of the course is captivating enough that some of the relatively boring holes are made enjoyable by the surroundings. Again, this effect is made the more pronounced due to the lack of disc golf courses that feel like this in the area.

Another factor to consider is the weather. Winds will have a strong impact on strategy. On really hot summer days there is very little relief from the heat and sunshine.

It's a long hike, and because it's used for sledding and skiing in the winter, there are a lot of large hills. You need to be fit and well supplied. Bring lots of water and a snack or lunch.

It costs $5 to play for the day, and there is an option to buy a season pass to all the Three Rivers disc golf courses (Bryant Lake, Hyland SSA, Elm Creek).

The course isn't meant for everyone. It's designed to challenge your ability to throw long, accurate shots, and it does that quite well.

Because it doesn't have mass appeal, I knocked one point off it's score. However, it's a very beautiful 5/5 ball golf style course with a lot of elevation change. Unique to the area and well worth the drive(s)!

An excellent intermediate to advanced caliber course with a nice variety of elevation holes. Layout tempts you to give it all you got (and often makes you pay for it). Very clean facility with big spacious tee boxes, and nice logical flow (although I didn't care for the long walk between 5 & 6). Big arms will enjoy the open downhill bombs. I personally enjoyed the wooded shots on 4 & 5.

My primary complaint would be some that the holes, particularly on the back nine, felt a tad redundant. Rec players with smaller arms and kids probably are going to get frustrated here as there is some nasty rough (mostly tall grass) off the fairways. I probably spent an extra hour looking for discs. At the time being is single tee / single pin and I think some shorter pads would help make the course more appealing. Not open all year long as this location doubles as a ski area in the winter.

More suited to the big boys than the casual crowd, but I went a bit above the average here, and I thankfully had a beautifully calm late Spring afternoon to enjoy ECPR, and it was a nice compliment to BRP and Ham Lake earlier in the day. I might not have been so happy on a windy day though and I'm sure it howls here sometimes.

Not the premier DG destination in the TC, but a good one to hit if you're up in the north suburbs. Locals should definitely invest in the annual $35 pass, which also gets them into Bryant Lake and Hyland SSA. Compliments Blue Ribbon Pines flatter and woodsier nature very well. If I get up that way again, I'll be back.

This course was designed with length in mind, to be a complement to the other Three River Courses so you could have a mixture of every conceivable hole if you play all three courses. It also takes into consideration that disc technology is evolving, allowing more players to throw longer. The fairways look wide, but this is only a deception as players will likely put everything they have into the throw, exposing any flaws in their technique, and dumping it off the fairway anyway. The challenge of this course is to overcome your flaws, achieving distance and accuracy, while also battling the elements since you do not have the challenge of trees or obstacles. This should be considered a pro because it is different.

Specifically -
* Good use of allowable land (yes there is a lot of forest surrounding the course, but it is a Reserve park)
* Distance for opening up with full power
* Elevation changes are unique but not abusive like HSSA (sister course)
*Openness and on the west side of the elevation allows you to play closer to darkness
* No two holes are alike

The two biggest cons I can think are; 1) The course closes early in the year to get ready for the skiing and tubing season. When it also opens later because it takes longer for the land to heal from all the artificially made snow. Sometimes they will open sections of the course, but not all at once (as a previous reviewer may not have known). 2) The rough surrounding the fairway makes it impossible to find discs. As mentioned above, the fairways are wide but players have a tendency to open up with everything they got, exposing their discs to technique flaws and the wind. You are going to spend some time in the rough. There are certain spots on every hole that just gobble discs and it is not uncommon to lose one a round and spend considerable time looking for others. They are trying to improve this, as seen on the second mowed fairway just added to Hole 14, but it is still a huge issue.

Specifically -
* Incredibly nasty rough can frustrate your round if you have to spend a lot of time searching for discs
* The wind should be consider a challenge to test your skills, but there are days where it is so horrible that it makes the course all but unplayable
* Only holes 14 and 18 are Par 4s, two or three more of the holes need to be reconsidered and changed to Par 4s as well. It can be equally frustrating when you get par less than 50 percent of the time.

Elm Creek definitely considered the evolution of disc speed and distance technology. This creates a situation where distance is now more important than fairway accuracy. Despite what appears to be wide open fairways, they are not completely open (like at a city park) because the rough is tremendously rough. You are definitely punished if you cannot keep it on the fairway.

- All 18 holes are now open!
- Excellent signage
- Very well maintained and clean, there wasn't a piece of litter on the whole course
- Course was not busy, we didn't have to wait to throw once, and only saw a few other people out playing at 4pm on a weekend
- Great setting, was very peaceful and quiet

- Lots of dead-straight open holes
- Aside from a 2 tight holes through the woods, there is very ample fairway room

This was a great course to play, and I think it will get much better over time. It was a fun setting, going up and around the ski/tubing area, with some elevation change.

I give the course a four because of all the straight holes, many with few to no obstacles. You will have many holes with a drive, upshot and putt.

If you're looking for a course to break out the driver, this will give you plenty of chances.

-I was their first official customer on opening day!
-Cement tees
-varied hole layout- uphill and downhill drives, side hill drives, uphill and downhill putts, wind-sheltered fairways, wide open fairways, short holes, long holes.
-large mulch/woodchip circles around baskets slow down discs near the pin.
-very small wastebaskets but they are plentiful.
-there are a few benches where the holes converge.
-challenging.
-maps of each hole showing the layout, footage, and par
-scorecards with course map
-signs pointing to next tee
-holes 15 and 17 are my favorite, and they require some technique to manuever around small trees
-three more holes will be opening soon

-narrow fairways
-long grass-even in the fairway
-hills, turn, and long grass make it hard to see where your disc lands
-misquitoes are bad on holes 4 and 5
-on the edge of the fairway, either the grass becomes waist high and dense, or VERY dense woods.

-Whatever you do, don't lose sight of your disc!
-on holes 4 and 5, DO NOT go off the fairway. on the right side is a very gross wet, muddy area. and the left side has thick shrubs and trees so it is nearly impossible to find an entry point into the woods to search for a lost disc
-i ended up looking for my disc around 10 times-sometimes multiple times on a single hole
-6 inch tall fairway grass makes it so you can't see your disc until you are on top of it
-holes 1, 2, and 3 are closed until the fall
-$3 per play, or $30 for a season pass
-challenging
-ridiculous pars- including a 495ft par 3 and a 778ft par 4

-close to home for me.
-no other courses nearby
-very challenging for me, but then again i use Central Park in brooklyn park as a practice course, which is a very easy course.
-bring your A game to this pro-level course. consider yourself good if you get close to total par