Beauty - This course is one of the most scenic courses on the property, if not the most. Playing along steep ridges on the northeastern side of the property, you will get probably the best views that all of Highbridge has to offer. At one point, you can get a great overlook of Granite's holes 7-11, and it's gorgeous, as well as stunning northern views spanning miles and miles

Isolation - there is nothing like playing disc out in these woods. I'm not quite sure what it is about Bear that the other courses don't have, but it was eerie. This course stretches so far out into the depths of the woods and the sides of what feel like mountains, and leaves you with a sensation that is fantasy-like. Once I finished with the course, it felt like I just exited Narnia or something.

Challenge - this course is the hardest course I have ever played, hands down. The plethora of par fours and fives are definitely true to their numbers. The majority of holes are multi shot, where your first drive is critical in whether you will get to the pin to even have a chance at a par. 99% of the time, if you miss or kick into the trees, it's bogey at best for you. Fairways are very narrow most of the time, and even the wider ones have trees scattered about to make you be precise.

Elevation - there many intense elevation changes here, and they're gorgeous and add some great character to the course. From the long, steep rolling fairways (no. 4), to playing straight, then steep down, then up again (no. 11), and across valleys (no. 12), there's plenty of awesome ups and downs

Signature holes - three holes really pop out in my head as signatures for this course. Number three would be my favorite. While most holes on the complex all together offer one or two routes, this one offers about four. You can go (right hand throws) big hyzer, straighter hyzer, straighter anhyzer, or flick/big anhyzer. I love the options you have on this one. It took me about two minutes to decide what the heck I was gonna throw on this. Number 11 is another I really like. You start off with a relatively flat first shot, then you have to navigate a steep valley, and go back up to the pin. 12 also offers a steep valley, but instead of going down then up, your objective is to go straight over it, and the pin is atop the hill across on the other side. This hole is also one of the shorter ones compared to the rest, a little over 300 feet.

Variety - there are a couple ace runs and mid 300 foot shots thrown in the course to break up the huge holes, as well as all kinds of different direction changes and shaped fairways

Concrete teepads

Baskets - this is my no. 1 con of all for the whole thing. With the switching of Bear's and Woodland's baskets this year (a decision I still support nonetheless), Bear now has a bunch of those awful green baskets. They're ugly, and suck at catching. Just being honest. There is also at the time of this review, three different basket types on this course. The first 6 are the green ones, then 7 and 8 are black (hard to spot) DGA's, then 9 is a green one again, then the rest are Lightning DB 5's. Talk about confusing - I may be nitpicky with this cause I'm all OCD like but man that bothered me. If this basket situation can be resolved, I'll come back and add another half disc to this rating

Un-Fairways - some holes seem to be 95% poke and hope, OR have too much tree overgrowth blocking lines. One of the holes (13), seems to be not much more than a one or two pass mower width path, with thick, long bushes and grass even in the portion in between the trees that is supposed to be fairway. I like challenge, but a couple of these fairways seem to offer little flight room for the disc.

Monotony - while I did state there IS variety with a couple short holes thrown in, I do think things could've been done to make some of the multi shot holes less repetitive. Like said in previous reviews, it started to get stale after having so many holes where you shoot to a dogleg left or right, then shoot to another, then another, then the pin. I wish a few of the par four/fives would've been a little bit more open with a few more options. Also, while holes 8 and 9, which are both aceable, provide a nice break from the long grinders, it would've been nice for them to be spread out a bit more, instead of two right in a row.

Signage - Almost all if not all tees had no signage left at all - but of course I am working to fix this issue in the near future

THICK ROUGH - some of the holes would seem almost hopeless to search for discs in if you shanked one. This course has the thickest and worst rough of any at the hill.

Very physically demanding - this course took me about 2 and a half hours to complete, and there was LOTS of strenuous hiking with all the elevation changes. Not necessarily a bad thing per say, but it's something to keep in mind if you're not up for a long, workout type round.

***** UPDATE *****

I am updating my review as of 9/27/20 - after playing a couple tournament rounds on this course, as well as another beautiful autumn round it is time my disc score reflects it's current shape. I played last week and it still had a mix and match of baskets, but a day or two after said round, they received brand new orange Prodigy T1 baskets. The pictures I saw looked SOOOOOO sexy and they fit this course perfectly. That, combined with the astonishing upkeep of the course, has led me to up this course's rating from a 3.5 to a 4.5. All the pros listed in my original review remain the same, but the messiness is largely gone - the fairways are fair and the grass is low. When there is professional signage added to this course, and maybe some alternate pin positions, it could possibly be a 5 star course in my book. And I usually don't like to give a 5 to any course that doesn't have a bit more variety of open vs. wooded holes, or some water hazards, yada yada yada. It is that good.

I was very interested to see how this course would be after reading other reviews and descriptions, and man it holds up. Even though this course throttled me, I still loved it - even with all the pros I've listed, there's just something very difficult to put your finger on, that's just mystical.

I'm happy I decided to give it a go before winter, and I'll surely be playing it again in the future. Just when you think HBH can't get better, then you find the Bear, lurking in the deep woods, ready to show you you're not as good at dg as you think, but to also teach you that it's still awesome regardless.

This course is a much welcome and needed addition to the property. While I still think Gold is my favorite course, this one has the potential to be the best course. The shot variety, both lateral and vertical accuracy needed and distance control make this a true test of your disc golf skill. Many holes will have you feeling grateful for a 4, and if you have an errant shot many times even a 4 would be impossible.
I thought this course was superb for top level amateurs and pros alike.

I would guess this course is probably not much fun for beginners. So if you're newer to the sport and are easily discouraged by a high score this would be a poor course choice. The lack of tee signs and sub optimal mowing (of lack of mowing) really took away from my experience on bear. I don't blame John for not being able to maintain this course at the level of gold/granite/blueberry, but to have a course with this much challenge and potential virtually un-mowed is really disappointing.
If you were to play this blind your first time in its current state know that you will be in for a long grueling and potentially frustrating round wondering where to throw to.

If this course has high quality tee signs, was kept up as good as gold, and had distance indicators or landmarks marked with distances on the tee signs it would be a shoe in 5 rating.
Having played the courses at Selah ranch, Justin Trails, Mont du lac, Giants Ridge, Rollin Ridge, BRP, Milo McIver, Horning's Hideout, Hidden Lake, I would say this is the hardest of them all without question to score well on.
I shot 11 strokes better on Gold than on Bear, and that felt like it would not be uncommon if I was able to play here more often.
If you are a competitive disc golfer I would prioritize this course above all else in organizing my days. While every course on this property has merit, Bear is hands down the most interesting and challenging on site. Gold has glimpses of great holes like Bear, but bear is the real deal.

The Bear Course at High Bridge may simply be the hardest course in the world when the back 11 holes open up in a few weeks. John Jokinen - the owner/manager/caretaker of High Bridge - has the baskets in hand for the Bear course, the fairways all cut, holes in the ground for the baskets....suffice it to say the course is nearly ready to be playable. John gave me a personal tour of the back 11 holes of The Bear, and the course will simply be an amazing challenge. John calls it the 747 course - 7 wooded holes, 4 open holes, and 7 wooded holes. While John does have the baskets in hand, the back 11 holes do need to be seeded and laid with hay, and this will be done over the next two weeks. After this is done, the course will be fully playable, albeit on hay as the grass comes in. The Bear is truly a "bear" to play, and I happened to see a harmless black bear while walking the course! (with pictures to prove it) The Bear is an extremely tight course that will play between 8,000 and 9,000 feet, depending on the final locations of some of the baskets. Some of the holes are extremely frustrating - while the Gold course features length, it is mostly open. The Bear course is unlike the other courses in that it features length and tight fairways. The course truly requires you to have reserve - you can't simply grip and rip the holes like you can at Gold. You need to be more concerned with placement. Of the current Bear holes that are playable, the second hole is perhaps the best hole on the entire property (will become the new third hole on the full course, as a short wooded hole will be between 1 and 3), as it offers three distinct and separate fairways. The third and fourth holes are brutal wooded holes (somewhat fair), while 5 and 6 offer a nice little respite from the distance. Hole 7 is another long par 4 through the woods (though a little more open). The back 11 holes will offer some amazing views and true challenges. I am giving the course a 4.5 rating without having played these holes, but having walked them and heard from John himself about the holes, I am confident in my rating and would consider upping the rating to a 5 after I got the chance to play them. However, John had already cleared the holes and created the fairways. This course is close to being done. The 4 open holes are going to offer some awesome risk/reward shots around and over ponds with fairways traversing the sides of hills and curling around protective trees. The back 7 holes will be similar to the front 7, with tight fairways and some distance holes. However, the fairways won't be unfair - it will simply be a true challenge. Hole 18 on The Bear may be the second par 6 at High Bridge, depending on the final location of the pin. As I walked down the fairway and after looking at course maps from John, the final distance looked to be between 900 and 1100 feet, carving through the woods and uphill with a gentle left curve. While this will be a wooded hole, it did look fair (as fair as a 1000 foot hole through the woods can be). The Bear, when completed in a few weeks, will truly be an amazing treat at High Bridge. John is going to send me pictures in a few weeks with the back eleven holes, but in the meantime I may post some construction pictures (and the picture of the bear I saw on the course!)

To put it bluntly, this course is not going to be a ton of fun. This course will be the most challenging course at High Bridge and may be one of the most challenging courses in the world. The Bear will require disciplined drives and will force you to play conservatively by not trying to throw 400 feet on a 650 foot wooded hole. In addition, the rough is and probably will continue to be very rough. Also, The Bear probably won't get as much play as the other courses (and therefore as much maintenance attention), and so the course may take a few more years to be fully beaten in. The rough will be rough, and the fairways may be a bit rough as well. The course will frustrate and challenge you, but it will also make you think. I have never played a course where it took me five minutes to decide what to do on the tee.....hole 2 did that to me.

My rating is dependent on the course having the last 11 holes playable in the next few weeks. The beautiful thing about High Bridge is the variation that is offered by all of the courses - Woodland is a short and technical course, Granite is a long and mostly open course, Blueberry is the fun course that combines a little bit of everything, Gold is the long and challenging course with some wooded and some open holes, and the Bear is the beast that is carved mostly out of the woods. While some people would bash the wildlife at High Bridge, I thought it was awesome that I saw a Bear near the Bear course (it was actually walking right up the fairway of number 10 on the new Whitetail course). High Bridge is a must! Bring your bug spray and be prepared to be physically exhausted.