+ Great variety and good use of mostly flat terrain (park setting first half, heavily wooded second half). The best example comes midway: #7 is a short hole that requires careful threading into a basket protected by a thick clump of trees, #8 is set on a small hilltop, #9 is the only completely wide open hole, and then #10 starts the deep woods holes that dominate the back nine

- For a well-established course in a State Park, there are some loose threads that can create confusion. The holes are numbered 1 - 18 but there are actually 19 holes, due to 3A and 3B. There's a note on uDisc saying "Hole 4 is labeled 3b. Then every hole after that will contradict the scorecard...We will have this resolved soon." There are multiple baskets or basket positions on some holes and one alternate tee (#14). The signs show different lengths and placements, but there's no indication which position is being used (or if there are actually two baskets in place). By my count, only 7 of the holes offer more than one basket position, so the difference in layouts is pretty limited


- The early holes play though park groves and open fields that probably see a lot of traffic during summer months. Picnic tables and grills are placed pretty close to fairways and a few of the baskets. A recipe for danger to park patrons and - at minimum - interrupted play for golfers

~ The course is not particularly long (under 6000'), but it's a par 27 and three holes are longer than 400'. The "B" baskets can add some challenge


~ The first few holes are a little tricky to navigate - lots of tees and baskets visible (easy to go to tee 5 when you're looking for tee 2, and when you're standing on Tee 5, you might mistakenly throw at basket 6). But these are problems for first round only


~ Despite the tricky navigation on the early holes, Hickory Run was a fun and very pleasant experience. By just "putting my head down and playing the hole in front of me", I quickly forgot about the confusion created by the signage and navigation, and had a good time. The wooded holes on the back nine are really beautiful because of the towering old growth trees. The were several spots walking fairways 12 and 13 that reminded me of Iron Hill, with sun poking through a canopy of leaves high over head



COURSE AMENITIES:
Signage is excellent; but chainstar baskets and gravel tees are showing age and wear. Direction to the next hole indicated on tee signs. Very cart friendly.


RECOMMENDED COMBINATIONS:
Linesville and Francis E. Walter Dam are closest if you're bagging area courses, but I think the better choices for higher quality play are Eurana Park Pool for a short course, and American Legion Post 781 for a long course.

This course has something for anyone, open bombers, elevation, multiple lines, woods, water, etc.
Park grounds are normally well maintained in the busier months.
Lake onsite with beach and snack stand to enjoy in the summer.
Easy to navigate for the most part excluding getting to 3a/3b which a first timer would easily miss.
Nice surroundings along with boulder field nearby which is a natural wonder of the world.

The park can get so congested with swimmers/picnickers/kids that playing a round on the weekends/holidays in the summer can be hard since a few fairways play straight through the park grounds.
A few wooded holes have poor drainage and almost become swamps after any decent amount of rain.
Teepads are natural/crushed stone/sand for the beach hole... not fun after rain.

This is easily my favorite local course

- Nicely incorporated around the parking lot.
- Well maintained
- Good difference with holes

- Very easy to mess most of the pins up.
- Great looking new sponsored signage but inaccuracies of pinpoint pin locations and landmarks.

Nice course in a beautiful park. Lots of long holes, open holes, and wooded holes as well. This course takes you all over the park. Very hard to lose a disc here.

Not close to where I live. Because it's one of the nicer ones in my general area it's usually busy and there are other players there but that is a great thing for the sport! There were also no scorecards and there is some confusion on hole signage.

really wish all the courses near me were kept up this well.

Nice mix of open fairways with some longer holes on the front nine & tight wooded holes on the back nine.

Wooded holes are fairly tight but mostly have practical flight paths for tee shots and are not just a basket buried in the woods.

All Baskets in good shape with arrows for direction to next tee or clear path to next tee.

Almost all holes have fine gravel tee boxes that seem to have recently been rebuilt. Most were in pretty flat and long enough for a decent run up.

Almost all holes have newer signage with hole layout, distance, par info, etc.

Parking is right next to Tee#1 and loops around nicely to finish at the hole #18 basket a few feet from where you start. I used the basket for #18 as a warmup area next to Tee#1. Course map (on the bulletin board) and scorecards were available there when I played.

I played on a summer weekday at dawn and again at dusk. I literally had the entire course and picnic area to myself both times. Not another soul around. I only saw one park ranger drive through towards the end of my morning round.

The tee boxes and tee signage for a few holes on the back 9 still need to be upgraded (which the bulletin board stated). The older tee boxes still show the hole numbers and hole direction, but not as nice as the signage and tee boxes on the rest of the course.

Some tee boxes were a little washed out or had puddles, but overall not that bad.

Mostly flat with elevation changes on a couple of holes.

This was an enjoyable course for me, and I would bump up to a 4.0 when the upgrades to the older tees and signage are made.

I think the front nine will suit beginners and intermediate players but wont be a breeze for them and the back nine might challenge more advanced players. I consider my self an intermediate player and found the whole course pretty fun. It's a pretty well rounded course.

There is a VERY large picnic area that the course plays through and around on the front 9. I imagine it might be a little bit trickier to play during busier time if/when the park is in use by a large amount picnickers. I cant say how busy it gets, but this area would hold a lot of people.

Awesome course with a nice mix of wooded/open holes
Baskets are in great shape
Scenic
Alternate pin positions
Multiple teeboxes on some holes

Navigation on the front 9 is tricky
Teepads could be better
Multi-use park (watch out for people and dogs)
Not a lot of hole length variation

Some holes are simply amazing here (3A and 3B), other ones are wide open, and the back 9 has a lot of tight, technical holes. Some teepad and sign work would go a long way here to make this the best course in NEPA.

Great course, nice mix of a flat, wooded park type area, and before you know it your deep in the woods with no one around, grass was cut low and signage wasnt too confusing, every first round takes a little help

Not much of anything, great course, nothing too memorable or crazy, just a bunch of average to cool holes

Id def go back

All sorts of shots can be played here. Does not cater much to one type of throwing style, though RHBH has a bit of an advantage.

Great mix of open, and varying degrees of narrow holes. Two challenging water holes. Hole design here is as good as any I have seen. Enough friendly holes to make it enjoyable to rec players, but a number of difficult holes to give the more skilled challenges.

Several memorable holes hard to pick a single signature hole.

Badly needs direction signs and arrows. No tee signs. Some tees in poor shape. A couple of poor drainage areas.

Parking area very muddy.

Gets a good amount of play, so trash was a small problem.

If the course were better maintained, it would be a top end venue.

Lots of variety in the holes, uphill/downhill, fade left/fade right, open/wooded, etc.

Signage missing... hard to find the baskets, even when using the Park's map. The Bearclaws' map was dated as hole 10 has been moved into the middle area between roads.

Very enjoyable course to play, once you have found all the baskets. Went back 3 times during a weeks vacation in the Poconos due to the challenge and fun that the course presented.

This course has many open holes with just a few trees and also many hole in the moderately wooded sections.

Prone to severe mudding depending on the time of year

Some of the fairways are pretty close making tournament play interesting.

There is a hole 3a and 3b instead of a hole 3. You can play either hole 3 or 3a&3b.

Excellent mix of holes, open, semi-open, wooded. Some creative design. Hickory Run is fun and challenging. It will not discourage developing players (for the most part) and has tests for skilled.

A variety of shots is needed.

Hole 18 finishes right back where you started.

Tables and/or benches near many of the tees.
Restrooms nearby.

Number 8 tee is right on the beach! Nice touch!

Needs a good deal maintenance; many tees are uneven and drain poorly. Badly needs tee signs and arrows. It is the poor state of upkeep that keeps HR from getting much better reviews.

Some of the picker bushes need trimming.

A favorite of mine, Hickory Run has great potential. HR is just a few improvements from being a great track. Top of the list are the tee boxes.

There are tougher courses, there are easier courses, but this course succeeds where many so called "top" courses fail.......it has challenges for most levels of players, without leaving out enough fun holes for Rec and Am2 players.

Starts you off with 2 medium/short holes with trees that you have to go around, under or through. Number 3b ( a redesign created 2 "third" holes) is my favorite hole, even though it eats me alive. A tight tee shot, over a stream to a semi open fairway and a nicely tucked away basket. When using the "tournament" loactions for the baskets, holes 3a, through 5 can be a tough stretch indeed! 6 is a challenge too, an elevated tee that plays slightly downhill. A neat looking hole from the box. 7 and 8 are shorter, but have baskets that are not easy to get at. Putting on 8 can be tricky when the wind is blowing.

The front nine is more open than the back, but only number nine is free from obstacles. This is more than made up for by the wind which always seem to blowing pretty stiff from this, the highest point on the course.

A glance at the scorecard might lead you to believe that the back nine might be easier. Maybe a little, but the alleys are narrow, some very narrow. It is hard to find your way to the baskets. Still, good play is rewarded and a little imagination (and luck) can get you back into play when the trees turn against you.

This course will challenge just about every throw you have and make you think wisely on which disc to use. Front 9 play in a more open type area which allows one to "rip" a few deep ones. The back 9 all woods! Some of the back 9 will easily give you a few strokes. The course is on a state park so there are many amenities available including a very beautiful lake where you actually tee off for hole 8! Overall a very pleasant and relaxing course to play.

Need to have hole signs made with hole#, distance to pin, par info, and maybe a overview of a flightpath. Need concrete tee pads. Need signage to show where next hole is as it is very confusing on the front 9 if not familiar with course. Also, if playing on a sunny weekend be prepared for tons of traffic as the course plays close to the lake, trails, and playground area.

Played the 2011 Pocono Amateur Classic on 8/7/2011 and had a blast. Played the 19 hole layout. I would recommend this course to basically anyone.

Not hard to stay in order
lots of different looks
plenty of chances for aces
parks upkeep is good

becomes a pond after rain
dogs!!! (lots of traffic)
tees need work
no hole maps just pointer

first 9 are in open field area with little trees and back 10 play into the woods overall fun course

Offers a nice variety of both open and wooded holes, catering to all tastes. The front nine is primarily open (with a couple of exceptions) while the back nine emphasizes more techincal shots to avoid the woods. Is very fair to the average or recreational player while challenging enough for the more advanced disc golfer. Navigation is pretty easy and the baskets are all in good shape. A creek and some mandos keep you honest on a couple of holes. Located in a very pretty area of the Poconos which offers a beautiful lake and all of the standard amenities of a state park.

Signage, while not terrible, could be better. Natural (crushed stone) tees are uneven and should be raked and smoothed out. Some holes have logs or benches to put your bag/belonings while others do not. The possibility of heavy pedestrian/picnicker traffic exists on some of the open holes. Not too many glaring deficiencies to speak of.

This course has aged well and is relatively close to several other nice disc golf courses (Walter Dam, Yetter Park, etc) in the area. I recently played in a foot of snow here and still enjoyed myself, so summer /spring play is exceptional. Park is set back deep off the main road and there really isn't a whole lot of civilization here, so bring a bag lunch and some drinks if you make a day out of it.

this is a really beautiful park. the front nine are for the most part, pretty open with some scattered trees (aside from 3a and 3b which are in the woods behind #2 basket). and then the back nine is all wooded with straight paths, and left turn paths. pretty tricky, some of them are. a lot of times, there are other friendly DGers, like myself, that would help you around the course if it was your first time there, and not so familiar...

the tee boxes get really messy when the weather isnt so nice, they really need to be maintained a little bettter, (which i would be willing to help do myself)...i was just there yesterday and most of them were full of slush and ice. and it really isnt mapped out all that understandable either ( which for me isnt an issue, since ive been playing this coures a few times a week for two years now, but i can see how some others would get lost), but they have maps/score cards at the park ranger station. but for now, there are directions spray painted on the ground from the last tournament. and like other reviewers said, in the summer, you get a lot of tourists who dont even know what D G is and some just stand in the way and play with the chains on the basket....ive already had tourists pick up my disc and start to walk away with it!! some of my friends even had theirs re-thrown!! but for the most part, the people just need a little explaining of whats going on here.

i love this course and consider in my home field. i learned how to play on this course, and will never get tired of it. i just played my last game there yesterday, and i tied my best score with a +1!! there are a lot of holes that birdie-able, and also a few long shots. #'s 8 and 9 are on the top of a hill/field and the wind really makes for some interesting throws on certain days, but that just makes it a little more challenging. if you are planning on being around the area, definitely stop and play this course, you wont be disappointed.

Very well maintained course. Open on front nine with some nicely placed bushes and trees. Wooded on the back nine. Hole 3a and 3b are worth the drive for me by themselves! Great variety of shots needed to get around the course. Something for every discgolfer here... the park has some great scenery and a nice lake as well.

Tee boxes were mudddy in spots (we have had a lot of rain). Concrete tee pads would make this a 4.0 or 4.5 easily. Could use some arrows to next tee.

Some of the holes could be longer. I am relatively new to disc golf and made several pars easily. Bring inesct repellant for the back nine.

I played here for the Summer Soltstice 09 and well it wasn't the best of weather. I'll try and write this review remembering the dry times. First two holes are fairly long but definately aceable with a nice line. Hole 3A is the hole that will give you nightmares or make you feel like a DG god. It's a long skinny fairway straight then doglegs off hard left. The pin is located across the stream and guarded heavily by trees. a SPOTTER is helpful off drive. Pros were taking Fives on this hole. Hole 3B, which plays to the 4 pin, is also a unique hole. It has the same stream from 3A in play but it's 30 ft infront of the tee pad. Some trees are present so focus on not hitting them. after the creek and tree it opens up a bit and the pin is located off to the left behind some trees and bushes. Other than these holes nothing really stands out. A lot of par threes and technical wooded holes. One field hole but it plays relatively short being it is at the bottom of a hill you throw down.

Short holes, only one true open hole. I played one day and it was littered with people oblivious to the dangers of high speed plastic soring through the air. On hole ten we had a picnic table with a family just off to the left and another one just off to the right.

Course leaves you ready for more. The terrain is mildly hilly but the hole lengths are pretty short. Sorry if the review is lacking...I wrote an indepth one but it sent me to sign in page and then deleted my hard work.

Good mix of holes with 1 refreshing open hole, 6 tighter woods holes and 11 more open but still interesting holes. It is a more traditional disc golf course utilizing lanes and options than FEW DAM course 15 minutes away. The course is well maintained, the Bearclaws Discgolf Club seems to be active up here. I really enjoyed the short uphill shot from the beach to the top of the hill. After that I really enjoyed that big open blast across the field to a wide open green. Back half of course is very tight and wooded, challenging but not impossible. There are multiple tees. Moderate elevation. A good way to spend a day if your in the Pocono region.One hole has a nice elevated tee that shoots across to a basket below...that was one I could play all day.Water fountains available on the course for the front nine. Finishing hole is a fun hyzer around many old growth high canopy trees. Stone wall is cool. Good mix of lefty/righty holes. The lake makes for a nice view from teepad #8.

For first timers layout can be confusing, and attempt to mingle disc golf with a huge picnic area spells some trouble. No water comes into play despite a huge lake nearby. It's mostly flat despite being in the mountains.

This is the best option for Disc Golf in the Pocono Region. It has all types of shots. There is a huge boulder field deep in the woods a short drive from here. Pack your drinks and lunch, it's really out in the woods pretty deep. I think this course would be a blast to play in the fall/winter. I am sure the picnicers would be gone, the views of the lake would open up and the back nine would be less foliage and thus lanes easier to see/negotiate.

Well worn-in and maintained, with groomed fairways in the open and little underbrush in the woods. Newish 3a and 3b holes present an upgraded challenge with some extra length. Back 9 is tight but fair; front 9 (or 10 i guess) is more open but still requires strategy and accuracy. Nice beach to jump into the water when you're done.

Lots of foot traffic from joggers and picnickers. Only 1 or 2 alternate tees and one alternate pin, so repeat customers lose that variety.

Take the time to scout out the holes. Hole 1 looks like a jumble of trees, for example, but there are actually about 3 viable paths to the pin. The entire course is full of holes that will make you think like that, and it's a real pleasure.

offers a lot of shot diversity, well maintained, fun to play

summer time the picnic tables/area gets more traffic but is not really an issue unless you try playing on labor day or fourth of July.

after hole 2, walk left and back through the path to unveil hole 3a; it's a dog left over a creek. There are a few pin locations to challenge the very best. follow the creek down stream to the tee of 3b out of the shoot to the #3 basket. two of the best holes on the course.