+ Dual baskets. There is a set of the original Hornings baskets and then a set of Discatchers. The Discatchers are for the most part the longer of the two baskets.

+ Concrete tees that grip well even when they are wet and slightly muddy. Only a few holes would be Conrad approved to me but for the most part a huge run up is not needed and the one long bomber hole has an extra long teepad so thats awesome.

+ Giant parking lot that is super simple to find and seems like it centrally located on the property.

+ Full bathrooms right next to the parking lot and there are 1 or two potties out on the course.

+ Beautiful full color teesigns that give you the lay of the land. They give distance and elevation change which is awesome out here. Only complaint is that they dont have this info for both baskets. I think its just for the long/Discatcher baskets.

+ Killer Design. This course will test you in every way. Its set up on a mountain with every hole bringing the elevation into play. There are tons of trees but every hole has a fair way to the basket. Some are a little bit more highly technical than others but thats just the nature of the beast. Almost every single basket has the potential for disaster. A lot of the baskets are placed right on the edge of the downslope or elevated or both. This makes the risk reward factor on this course high. Even laying up is difficult. You need to be on your game to score well here. Scrambling is the name of the game here.

+ Hole 8 is the hardest top of the world shot that I have ever played. After the course beats you down in the first 7 holes, you get the pleasure(sarcasm) of hiking up the mountain to get to hole 8's teepad. You are then faced with a 400' shot with 100+ feet of elevation change with extremely tight lines and dense vegetation throughout the fairway and rough. You need to be on your game for this hole. Hard, yes. Fair, maybe. Fun, depends on how early of a tree you hit.

+ Hole 12 is my favorite hole on the course. Its a 400' slightly downhill RHBH straight to hyzer shot with a few gaps to hit. The hole left side of the fairway is a mountain slope with dense vegetation and the basket is perched on this slope. This is probably the hardest hole to layup on meaning that you could be 30' away and attempting to layup under the basket only to watch your disc catch edge and roll out past circle 2. This is my favorite hole out here because the shot required is beautiful to watch and the added element of the very difficult green makes this a very fun yet challenging hole.

- There was very little signage on the property showing you where the courses are, or pointing you to hole 1 or even any next hole teesigns. Ive played the course a few times now and on the course I still get turned around a bit and playing it for the first time was a bit challenging to find my way around.

- Some of the holes could use some sort of way to stop some of the roll aways. Some baskets are perched on some very difficult greens to the point that you can have the best/safest layup of your life and still just watch your disc just roll away. Good shots should get rewarded and thats not always the case here.

- There are definitely a few holes out here that need to be tweaked. Hole 9's long position should be changed. Hole 10 teepad should be moved to the right path or a few more trees should be cut out. Hole 16's mando is now not legal under current PDGA rules. Small little changes that to me would make this course flow a lot better.

- Tournament play. Hole 8, top of the world. Routinely has an insane backup. 30+ minute wait is common. Something should be done to speed up the pace of play since I witnessed a group play the hole. Lose a disc, look for it for a while. Then have to come all the way back up the mountain to the tee to re-tee. Its brutal to have to do that. A drop zone would be awesome.

Please come to Hornings and play disc golf. This place is just amazing. You will be greeted by honking peacocks the second you get on the property, which is a pretty awesome experience the first time you see it, especially if you didn't know about it. The property itself is just beautiful, I can't how green and lush and pretty this place is. Coming here and not playing disc golf would still be an amazing day.

My first impression of the course was that it was a bit too technical and hard to navigate but that feeling went away after I learned the course. After playing it a few times I feel very comfortable on this course and almost feel like its, its own little bubble of disc golf life. When you're on the course you feel like you are in a special place.

I would recommend that everyone make a trip to Hornings in general if you are in the Portland area and if you want a challenge then come and play Meadow Ridge. This course is a must play.

This is the biggest of the 3 courses on site. This is a gold tee pro caliber course, and I don't recommend to begginers, or families playing. There's also 2 pins for every hole the homemade baskets playing easier but still difficult enough. The elevation here is pretty dramatic and hole 8 is a top of the world type hole with tight lines straight down to basket. You will use many shots on this course, and it will test every aspect of your game including mental game. This course has amazing variety, and a big par 5 hole number 16 that lets you rip it as far as possible. Great tee pads and new innova baskets. Birdies will be hard to come by but there truly isn't a better place to be then at hornings.

Rollouts can happen with some pins being on hillside
Hole 16s mando is pretty lame as you have to throw an extra 50 feet that dosen't play towards pin.
They need brooms at tee pads this is just nit picking

The gravel road here can be sketchy in bad weather. You drive around half mile down and then hike all the way up big gravel road from parking lot for meadows. Signs will guide you to tee 1

To tell you all the pros wouldn't exactly do this place justice, so I'll walk you through the experience.

I was driving in from Portland and you go far off the beaten path through some country back roads and the you turn down into the canyon and your no longer on some wooded backroad. No, you are decending down a series of double back turns onto the forest moon of Endor from Return of the Jedi.

I don't know how they got it here but the is Endor just an hour west of Portland. Who knew?

At the bottom of the hill it opens up to a large field on your right and on the left is a small shed and a painted bus, by which there are instructions to stop. A gentleman comes out of the shed and you give him your day fee. For the amenities they offer $4 isn't much.

On the facility there are three courses of varying difficulty, a small lake where you can fish, camp sites, areas where you can host events like concerts and weddings and the like. Pretty cool place overall.

So to get to the Meadow Ridge course you park off to the right of the entrance and walk up the hill to the right of the lake. At the top of the hill there is a metal pavilion with some sort of mechanisms in it, of their purpose I am ignorant but they looked like very exciting.

The first tee is just to the right of that.

The first thing you notice on hole number one is holy trees batman. You feel like your discs are the storm troopers, they almost catch Luke Skywalker and them Boom! A tree!

You'll probably hit some.

It's an incredibly techical course and you need to pick your lines with care as kick puts can put you OB on a lot of holes.

It's just beautiful and the elevation changes are extreme. Number 8 has you throwing down what feels like the side of a mountain and the are several big upshots like number 11.

The signature hole has to be 16 where you have an open field bomb on a 960 ft par 5 that ends with a heavily gaurded pin and if you miss left at any point or really at all while putting your going to end up in the gorge.

Every teepad was nice and big and most well textured. There's several places with benches and picnic tables, and you'll want to use those. Some of the holes require mountain goat balance and its a pretty good hike.

Every tee has great signage with the recommended path and OB, Mando and next teepad marked.

Pay attention to the next teepad direction part.

Baskets look homemade but catch pretty well. They have a big solid bottom that looks like a really deep truck wheel. They ring like a bell when you nail one and its a good feeling.

The trees are amazing. It was raining during my road and I may get pneumonia but it was worth it, amazing course.

The corse was immaculate and maintained amazingly. One of the best I've ever seen.

You need to be in decent shape to play this course. That's not a real con overall, but a small caviat for older or very young players or anyone with ailments, this course is not kind to your body with its many steep hills and right paths.

A few spots it's hard to find the next tee, 6 to 7 and 8 to 9 come to mind. So pay really good attention to the signage by the teepads.

The shape of the baskets threw me off at first. Is never seen a bottom like that and it took a couple holes to adjust.

The fils that 13-16 play over has been ravaged by moles but the rest of the course is immaculate.

This is a must play, if your in the Portland area make a trip, you will not regret it, this place is simply sublime.
The owners make it a true desination that is sure to stick with anyone who plays it.

Guys if you read this, Thank You! It's an amazing place.

And don't pet the peafowl,they are pretty but happier left alone.

Great tee pads and signs. Very challenging course which requires all types of shots. Every tee sign gives the direction to the next tee box. This course requires you to hit your lines. Trash cans throughout the course and they get used. Very little trash throughout the course.

The only con I would really give to any course at Horning's is that some fairways are close, or parallel and it can get a little congested at times, but this is a small factor in the overall experience.

Bring plenty of food and snacks, as this course is a good workout. You hike up and down the mountain throughout the entire thing. Locals are friendly and helpful. This course would be very tough to play solo, but could be done. Extra set of eyes are helpful on the holes. Many of the holes are big and can be broken up into placement shots. Unless you have a CANNON, I would recommend playing many of the holes in sections. If you get off the fairways, you can get buried. I would recommend this course to anyone looking for a good challenge. This is not for beginners, or casual players. They may not have a lot of fun on this course, as it could become real frustrating to them. This is Oregon's Discgolf Utopia and should be a stop for anyone passing through.

- Course is set on private property that is set up for a few different activities. But, it seems like if the course is open, then there won't be any interference by default! There are three pretty distinct areas of this course; there are holes in denser woods with rough, holes within heavily populated patches of tall, shorn tree trunks, and some holes that are more in the open bordered by forest.
- #1 kicks it off in some very dense woods; there are a couple tight lines to get down the basket; either hyzer or anny around and through the trees. #6 is a brutal hole; straight ahead and straight UP, with a sharp turn left at the top of the (first) hill. #7 is a dogleg right with a pretty generous fairway off the tee, but the second half of the hole has a multitude of trees to weave between to reach the basket. #8 is the tightest hole of them all; with some tiny tiny gaps to get down to the bottom. Perhaps a super wide RHBH anny around everything? Too risky probably. #10 is probably the nastiest hole out here; a skinny RHBH anny/flex shot off the tee between two rows of tall trees. If you made it through, you then have the choice to go high&right or low&left around a thick clump of trees. All of these holes have a ton of trees to avoid, and also has forest to provide some nasty rough.
- A good amount of the holes don't have as much forest to worry about, but a whooole lot of tree trunks to navigate. #3 to start; with a couple different RHBH anny lines to get to the basket. #4 has a pretty open hyzer line up to a small green, #5 is a sharp, blind hyzer around and through a lot of trees, #11 and #13 are uphill through the trunks, and #12 is a long gentle hyzer. While some of the holes demand a RHBH hyzer line, there is also the opportunity to find creative shapes through the tree trunks. Just have to stay clean.
- Plenty of holes have some more open space to work with, but usually provide gaps or windows to hit at some point to bring the challenge. The back half of #2 is pretty open, but you have to throw a flick or anny a good distance to get out of the woods. #9 is another flick shot, but the basket is tucked up into the woods after a gap. #14 is a nice downhill hyzer, but again, there are some very tight gaps to get through just to make it down to the open area. #16 is a MEGA bomber, with forest on the left, which eventually ends with a button hook finish around a mando, into a forested depression by a small creek. #17 and #18 are kind of similar, a pretty open shot off the tee, with the basket tucked uphill in a diminishing gap in the forest. #17 isn't quite as deep, but #18 is long and well protected.
- As you might have gathered, there are a ton of elevation changes at this course, from start to finish. A few holes are in the 'meadow', but the majority are on the 'ridge'. Downhill shots range from the extreme on #8, to very good on #9, #12, and #14. Uphills include the sick vertical gain on #6, and the tough ones on #4, #11, and #13. Just to name a few. The only holes that might be considered flat are #15 and #16. Plenty of places where errant shots can encounter some nasty rollaways/sloping rough. #8 for sure, dangerous out to the left, and #9 if you go long. #10 is sloped left off the tee; if you can't make it out of the tunnel your next shot could be next to impossible. #18 also warns of the gulch to the left.
- The sloping terrain also leads to some precarious basket locations, of course. #1 behind the pin, #4 has a small, elevated green, #7 has a slope behind the basket, #9's is on top of a slope, #15 is also on a slope; definitely keeps things interesting from start to finish. Also some protected pins due to trees and small gaps.
- Gold level course with gold level hole lengths. #16, obviously, at a huge 930' with the hook back at the end. #10 at 550' is sick due to the tight line off the tee and the obstacles before the pin. #14 at 575' isn't too bad as long as the first shot is clear of all the nastiness, due to the big downhill slope. #18 plays long too, at 425', with the tight uphill approach. There are some shorter holes as well, to offer some birdie opportunities, but lots of trees and blind pin locations don't make them easy.
- Homemade baskets are sweet! Tee signs are very nice, as well as the teepads. Navigation can be a little tricky in some spots, with a few different baskets/tees in sight, so the map can help save some time the first time through.

- A few of the holes are crammed pretty tight in one spot; mainly holes #4, #11, #12, #13, #10. Some OB areas help to prevent shots from wandering too far, but I could see the area being very crowded when the course is crowded.
- A few minor, nit-picking things, like some barbed wire behind #6, and a gravel road through some holes. Also no water present, and some might find the course a little hyzer-heavy. No big deal on any of these, really.

- What more is there to say? This course is for real. The only knocks are some cramped areas, and maybe a teeny little bit hyzer-heavy. Definitely designed for advanced players - the more advanced the better!

Lots of different types of holes with great use of the varied terrain.
Nice concrete pads, quality baskets, and tee signage.
Course layout made sense, limited wondering between holes.
Not Crowded, even on a perfect sunny sunday, and with three different courses to play there are always options.

We were given some vague and confusing directions by an employee as to were to begin, which is way past where the main parking lot is and we did not see any signs to point you in the right direction. Not a big deal really.
There are plenty of places one could lose a disc, but neither my wife or myself lost any.

Some maps or additional signs would be nice, but it was a fun and very challenging course.
Could easily get messy during the rainy season, both the course and the road in.

- Baskets here are all home made, painted bright yellow with giant black numbers on them (very easy to see), and well made at that, they catch disc very well... maybe beter than any other basket I've played.
- Tee signs are excellent!!! they are very nice and accurate. They also have the elevation change for each hole from tee to basket (EXAMPLE: +11ft or - 25ft), this was nice as it made me think about if I need more or less on my shot, which I rarely pay attention to otherwise.
- Tee pads were long, concrete, and had a good circular brush pattern for traction layed in them.
- There are some intense challenges on this course... let's start with plenty of MANDOS that will have you either throwing out of your confort zone. Then there are the trees... they seem to sometimes come out of no where to knock you disc down. Elevation changes are plenty hole #8 will have you hiking up a hill to throw downhill 420ft and 124 feet downhill, but don't let that fool you... that 420ft is trcky with trees a plenty, and a huge ridge of thick brush to the left that is sure to have you serching for you disc if you miss throw or bounce off a tree in the direction. And finally... some of the holes are just plain LONG!!! Bring you big guns for this one.
-You can get towles from the house were you pay. The towels are free to use, just bring them back where you got them.
- Normally a pay to play course is a con for me, but $3/person for ALL DAY and for ALL 3 courses... that is a deal!
- Drinking water available for free (not bottled).
- Porta-potties all over the place. Not so many on the courses but before and after for sure.

- I know it's not the courses fault, but plan accordingly to not have cell phone service here. (It works before you start down the dirt road so it's not that far to drive back out if you really needed to make a call).
- Also not needed, but kind of a con for me since this place is so great for disc golf is the fact that they don't have disc for rent or for sale. (This would really put them over the top in my book, as it is the only really major thing I think this place is missing).

- This is there prise course... it is hard but fun... do not miss this one if you have to choose, but smaller children or true beginner would probably be best left to the other two courses.
- Be prepared to drive down a narrow dirt/gravel road with blind corners. (I drove a lowered honda and made it just fine, but it wasn't ideal) I don't think there is any car that couldn't make it, just be ready for it.
- This is the Godfather of the Hideout. I played this course first and it was awesome!!! I still very much enjoyed the other two courses, but wish I had played them in reverse order from easiest to hardest.
- If you want a little less of a challenge and less of a hike try the Canyon Course, and if you want a cool down or warm up for this course you could try a quick (30-45min) round on the Highland course.
- Camping and fishing available here... I paid $15 dollars to camp on site... it was well worth it since I was in the middle of my trip and wanted to play all these courses.
- I was able to play all three courses after palying Pier Park and taking lunch and dinner breaks. If you have the energy... it's completely possible (and recommended) to play all three courses.

You'll know you're in for something special when you pay your daily fee (there is a bucket on the honor system) and turn around to see a gorgeous lake with a couple wood bridges crisscrossing the placid waters. You'd like to live at a place like this.

The course is every bit as awe-inspiring, but it may not leave you as calm. You will find out exactly what shots you can not confidently execute. But you'll love staring down the fairway planning out that shot.

There are big elevation changes on most holes, and the course forces you to putt at baskets on inclines (a huge plus in my book: risk/reward makes for better scoring spreads and more fun). The holes play long, even when they are not. A 250-foot uphill shot sounds reachable until you throw it. A 30-foot elevation increase will take the wind out of your drive.

The tee signs are excellent, showing distances, elevation changes, basket locations, and possible alleys. Nicely done. The homemade baskets are mostly a pro. Their bright yellow is very visible through the woods. They have three sets of chains, so spit throughs are almost impossible. But the bottom part of the basket is not as wide as normal baskets, so you won't get some makes that you would on normal baskets.

A few holes of note:

#7: One of the tighter holes. You have a tight uphill shot where going too far or short will leave you with few options. It's a hard right dogleg at the top of the hill followed by a gentle left to right to the hole. The gaps are there, but if you get overaggressive you have just crappy outshots to get you to the narrow fairway.

#10: This is one of the flatter holes, but it's a bear. You have to throw a long left to right shot to a landing area. When you're talking about landing areas, you're usually talking about a well-designed course. Then it's a long right to left curve to get in sniffing distance of the hole. If you're a pro, you might have a shot at a 3 on this 550-foot hole. If you're a mortal and drift off the fairway, good luck.

#8: It's the one with the 124-foot drop. If you can thread the needle, it's a thrilling hole. If you hit an early tree like I did, the hole becomes deflating pretty quickly (more from the wasted potential than anything). It's a steep hike down, tough on even healthy knees.

Each hole has just one basket position. This isn't a huge con (there are two other courses on the property, after all), but multiple positions are commonplace with the top courses.

The gaps on the fairways are demanding, which is good, but sometimes whether you hit them depends more on luck than skill, which is less good. The aforementioned #8's fairway requires precision over 400 feet, which I don't think is realistic even for players much better than I am. And #14 has one too many trees in your way, keeping you from safely landing in sunlight.

I wish they could have incorporated the lake. Could have had an epic hole or two.

I'll discuss hole #16 here since it's not a pro or con. The mando is not as gimmicky as I feared it might be (there are no reasonable way into the woods until shortly before the mando, so it's not forcing a long way around just for the heck of it). But any mando that isn't off the tee can deliver the most boring shot in disc golf: the 20 foot hyzer around the mando tree when your approach falls just short. Happened to me. Yawn. Still, the fairway has some strategy with trying to place your drives on the crests of the rolling hills, and there is some strategy with the mando that I apparently failed. The hole ends nicely, too.

This is probably the best designed course in Oregon. It will let you know exactly what your weaknesses are. My score was like Donna Summer: it got into the 80s, but it really should have stayed in the 70s.

Spring brings some new growth
Beauty surrounds the whole course
My score grows well, too

Eight, top of the world
Time spent finding a lost disc
great day, so who cares.

Eighteen ended my round
worn out, I have to sit down
Soon, I play again

Sixteen is a far basket to git,
The fairway has no trees to hit,
but the OB right of the way
cost me two throws that day,
four over, now I'll throw a fit.

No offense to anyone, but there are plenty of quality reviews for this great course.

This is a mountain man's course without having to take a chairlift to get your elevation! The incidentals such as the first rate tee signs and tee pads pale in comparison to the adventure ahead. The course winds through mature conifer forest and along wooded roads and a field or two to boot. It has epic length and elevation change (sometimes extreme) on every single hole. Finally, the pin positions are often set on steep hillsides, so there's never a dull moment (see this in Cons, too).

Exciting and memorable holes:
#1 - a downhill tunnel shot through the woods with the basket having a decent slope behind it let's you know the challenges ahead.
#8 - a top of the world shot- steep downhill through thick woods. Take a moment at the picnic table at the tee to absorb the hole and surrounding views!
#10 - works it way up an old road that will punish any errant throws. A hole that can be a round changer!
#16- throw your first few throws through a rolling field then "fishhook" left down a forested slope to hope for a 5.

Takes a while to get through this one. It's a workout as well. But you're playing disc- so is there any real complaints!

Some of the pin placements are a bit sadistic and do add some of luck factor (to memory #1,3, 7, 12, 15.) There have been several occasions where we "played it safe", to insure that a miss would insure a safe landing - and the disc caught an edge and just rolled, rolled away into oblivion.

Just a couple suggestions on a couple of holes:

#6 - the straight uphill narrow shot that has a L-shaped dogleg left. There is OB along the top far edge of the fairway. I don't see the reason for the OB, other than it may divide property lines. If you land up, I believe you have been punished adequately due to the trees that block a clear shot to the pin. Otherwise, I think the OB could go away.
#14 - the straight downhill shot out into the field. There is just one fir tree at the end of the fairway alley, right in the middle, that prevents the player from having the opportunity to really get one out into the field. Perhaps this is to protect the #16 fairway that shares the field. It would be a nice reward if that tree was removed to allow a very precise shot through that narrow opening. (pro - a better hole / Con - danger for the #16 fairway)

Combine this course with the experience of being able to camp out and soak in the outdoors and you've got true Destination Disc Golf. They also have a stocked trout pond on site, and they will rent out poles for you as well.

Bob Horning and his mom are usually somewhere on site - say hi to them as you go by. They are super nice folks!

The Meadow Ridge Gold Course in North Plains, Oregon, was the third course installed at Horning's Hideout. It was developed by Bob Horning in 2009, and helped to complete the epic trilogy, thus making Meadow Ridge one of the premier championship caliber courses in the northwest if not the world! Similar to the Canyon Course, this course utilizes the mixed terrain, including extreme elevation at times, ever so tight fairways, and open fields. First timers who come here truly get to experience what the northwest is all about. The course primarily plays in the woods with the exception of the 930 foot Par 5, which still ends in the woods after throwing over several hundred feet of rolling hills. Most holes require precision off the tee, with accurate upshots, and precise putts. Those who are less accurate will find deflections devastating to their score, and become rather frustrated with their overall experience. The course is most appropriate for advanced and open players, but intermediate will do just fine as long as you know what you're in for.

The homemade yellow baskets are fantastic up here in the northwest. With the grey sky and heavily wooded surroundings, these things pop out which makes it easier for those less familiar with the course. They seem to catch fairly well and have large black numbers on the side of the basket to help with navigation. The cement tee pads are truly some of the best I have had the privilege of playing on. They are extremely grippy, and are roughly 5 x 12 feet ( with the exception of hole #16 which is 5 x 16 feet), which allows enough room for a big run up. The tee signs, similar to the other two courses, are designed by Houck, and are the most accurate signs I have seen to date. The information on the tee signs show elevation changes +/-, par, distance, ob's, and obstacles down to the last tree. You couldn't ask for more.

The design of the course was extremely well thought out, allowing for 14 Par 3's, three Par 4's, and one Par 5. Holes range in distance from 255 - 930 feet, averaging about 390 feet per hole. Although several holes stood out during my round, holes # 8 and # 18 were my favorites. Hole #8 as many others have stated utilizes the most elevation on the course, throwing 420 feet with a 120 foot drop. To make things more difficult, the multiple lines toward the pin require precision all the way down or some serious luck. Hole #18 is over 425 feet, with the first 300 feet in an open meadow, but closes quickly into the woods again where there is an elevated basket that is heavily guarded. On this hole it takes both power and accuracy to score well on.

Because this course is only a year old, there is still some trimming to do on some of the fairways. Although I felt that the majority of fairways were well developed and provided multiple approaches to the pin off the tee, I still felt like a few needed some work (i.e. hole #6).

During certain times of the year the growth can get somewhat thick off the fairways as well, so a spotter is a must if you want to keep your disc.

To be honest though, I felt the locals have done a phenomenal job installing and maintaining this course and I really couldn't find a whole lot that needed to be improved.

I played this course this past June and was blown away by Horning's Hideout but couldn't make up my mind on what to rate it. I told myself that I needed to play it again before I could write a review so that I could spend a little more time analyzing the course hole by hole rather then HH as a whole. If I were to give HH an overall rating it would easily be a 5.0 due to the way that each course compliments one another. However, I felt that no one course was a 5.0 all by itself. Over time as the course continues to build character it could easily be a possibility, but for now I feel there is still a little room to grow.

I am so impressed with this entire facility however, and feel it is an honor to play disc golf at one of the premier disc golf destinations in the world! The owners are some of the most genuine and selfless people I have ever met and have put a lot of time and money in to this place so that we can enjoy the game we love. Thank you!

It's all been said before...
The tee pads are super long and grippy
Excellent tee signs with distances and directions to the next tee pad.
Here, we have par fours and fives
All sorts of elevation changes (and some interesting natural (?) tiered fairways)
Very challenging - many holes are difficult to par.
SOME nice vistas

As of July, 2016
I would now say that this course has reached maturity because the fairways are probably all fair enough, even if there are still some holes where you can hit your line and still need to get lucky. Hole 4 has actually become a get-able 2, if you leave your drive a little high and get a touch lucky.
There are now two pin positions on most holes.
Most of the holes now have sufficient flight path definition, and 2+ different routes to the basket(s). A lack of these in the past could have allowed this course to become boring more easily. I included Pier Park as an example where every hole provides options. I think Meadow Ridge has reached this stage.

I used to disagree with the overwhelmingly positive throng, but I think the course has been broken in enough (July, 2016)

Holes 4, and 11 are a bit similar, but that's not the end of the world.

It's a little easy to lose discs on certain parts of the course, but requiring an occasional spotter actually adds some nice variety.

I still worry a little about erosion in the winter. Steps could be added on a few holes.

The mando on 16, and OB on hole 18 could be more clearly marked for tournaments.

I agree with Valkyrie Kid that Meadow Ridge is not quite scenic enough. I need some more variety in terms of vegetation, and water if I'm going to give something a 5 disc rating.

*update - oh, and isn't there only one set of pin placements? - NOPE! Now there are 2
**update 2 (10/27/2014) - Some of the narrow fairways have opened up to be more fair in my opinion, and I am updating my rating from 3.5 to 4.

Updated July, 2016
This course is tough. I'm sure others probably thought I was a wimp for having previously voiced my relative disapproval of this course that had only received one review under 4.5. A course is not laudable merely on the basis of requiring difficult shots, possessing extreme elevation changes, and innovative tee-pads and baskets. But now this course possesses more than those things alone.

The two other on-site courses definitely make Hornings' a wonderful disc golf destination, and boy, does Canyon look good right now!

This course has definitely improved since it first opened (duh), and could use a few more touches. But I think it's now earned what I would deem it's mature rating of 4.5

Horning's Hideout Meadow Ridge is the "big kid" course of the Horning's complex. Like its smaller brother, Canyon, it offers mixed terrain and holes which vary from wide open fields to tight, almost ultratight woods and flat to extreme up and downhill holes. With a few exceptions, many of them fixable, the design is immaculate with holes mostly designed to challenge the gold level player.

Design - As stated above, many of the holes on this course were designed specifically with a gold level skill set in mind. An example of this comes early on the 2nd hole which is a long right fading RHBH turnover under a low-ceiling of pines. This shot requires either a long-distance RHFH through a moderately tight gap or a hyzer flip RHBH or equivalent which needs to challenge the relatively low-ceiling AND can maintain turn angle for the full flight - definitely not beginner or intermediate level skills! Other holes, like #1 are available to intermediates through open players and are just a matter of execution and percentages (with more skilled players just birding more often).

Overall, players at all skill levels will appreciate the most of the holes out here but may find some holes, like #2 or 18, above their reasonable skill level for consistent under par scoring, playing instead for easy (and perhaps boring) pars.

A few Oscar contenders - Holes 8, 10, and 18 stand out in my mind as "cream of the crop" type holes which won't soon be forgotten. I'll focus on 18 as the other two are mentioned frequently in previous reviews. Hole 18 is a 425ft bomb over an open field into a moderately tight uphill corridor of woods. To the left side, the hole is lined from start to finish by an OB line and steep drop off to a river valley. Longer throwing players may be able to reach this hole with an ultra high speed disc but will be playing a risky percentage game in terms of fading or skipping OB left. The gold-level bomber who can navigate this hole with a controllable fairway driver will be able to reap the birdie reward while minimizing the risks that high-speed disc throwers must take for a chance at 2. A great example of the hidden subtlety I'd argue some of these holes have.

Teepads - Yes a special shout-out to the course designers for creating the best tee pads I've ever had the privilege to play on! Anyone know who made these and how they made them - it would be great to distribute far and wide to other course designers/parks to serve as a model.

A few clunkers - Here is the main reason why my review does not rate this course a '5'. There are several holes which stand out in my mind as classic filler holes which don't add much to the course (ex. hole 15) with one in particular being a straight-up disaster (hole 9). Hole 9 is sandwiched in-between two of the most enjoyable holes on the course (mentioned in the "Oscars" section). The tee shot is a sharp left to right downhill arc around a tree line to the right side of the fairway. Almost all halfway decent shots land at the base of a small hill which jackknifes back right against the players throw, and because of this lack of separation the hole really boils down to who is able to make a 60-80' putt up the hill through small trees which guard the pin. In my three rounds here, I've seen 6 pars and 1 four and I'd expect that this sample is actually more diverse than the actual scoring distribution. I'm guessing nearly 85% of players get an easy par here with 5% birdies and 10% bogeys. It is clearly a filler hole to reach the next tee, but in my opinion only detracts from the course.

Another few holes could use a bit of careful trimming to open up lines off the tee. I always advocate for a very slow process over years to make these types of adjustments (much harder to regrow than to chop!) and perhaps this is exactly what the designers are in the process of doing so I'm not detracting for it in this review.

One of the fun parts about playing through this course is the different shadows of other courses you find here. I stepped up to several of the holes and immediately thought of courses which they are reminiscent of (Grange Darkside, Maple Hill, Hawk Hollow, Pulaski Top (KY)). Truly among great company, the Meadow Ridge course and the Horning's complex, while not quite 'top 10' material, is hard to beat for a fantastic disc golf experience.

The third and baddest of the three Horning's courses is a gold rated course playing mostly across and around one of the many hills on the property. The concrete tee pads are oversized and extremely grippy. They are 12 ft. long except the pad on the 930 ft. # 16. It measures 16 ft. long, that additional length is much needed for the bombs you'll need to throw on this monster. The signs are superd, giving the distance, par, flight path and elevation loss/gain on each hole. This is a wonderful piece of Oregon timberland on which to build a course. The baskets are the homemade yellow design with the catch basin made from truck rims. They catch well but probably not quite as good as manufactured ones. They do make a pleasant melodious tone when a disc falls in them. They are extremely bright and easy to spot through the forest at a distance. This course is not for beginners, novices, newbies, most children, wimps, the overweight, heart patients. WARNING-This course is not handicapped assessiable in any way. This will be one of, if not the, most physically demanding course you'll ever play. And on top of the physical demands, the course is extremely technical and long. It has two par 4's and the aforementioned 930' # 16.

The major con for me is a major pro for many. It is a pro rated course. It's so extremely difficult and physically demanding that many players won't play it a second time. There is a very fine line between fair and lucky. Throwing 420' downhill through a very narrow line and having to hold that line all the way to basket flirts with lucky in my book.

So is Horning's the # 1 Disc Golf destination is Oregon? With three courses of widely varying difficulty awaiting you, the answer is a resounding YES. In the Northwest. Once again, an easy YES answer. In the entire US of A? I haven't played some of the other mutiple course layouts but I'm willing to go out on a limb and say, Hornings Hideout is undoubtably one of the top 5 Disc Golf Destinations in the US.

Now on to the next question? Does Meadow Ridge merit a star 5 rating? Is it the top course in Oregon? Not in my humble opinion. A course that is so incredibly difficult (both golf skill wise and physically) so limits it's clientele. There's no water here. It's not nearly as scenic as Whistlers Bend or even Dexter. So I'm giving it merely a "Phenomenal" rating of 4.5. I'm ready to take the heat.

Great hole layouts, tremendous variation in shot shape and good use of the varying terrain.
Some of the best variance of elevation in all of Oregon.
Several stunning signature holes. Most notably hole #8, easily one of the coolest "top of the world holes" around.
Excellent, large teepads with grating, which is a big help in a wet forest landscape.
Beautiful tee signs.
Great, true par 4's with one true par 5, these are holes that really challenge you to plan out your shots to make a good par. Not just free birdies for the big arms.
Very challenging, gold level course.
2 other excellent courses on the property making it a top travel destination, being fairly close to downtown Portland.
Large variations in distance allow good players with a bit less distance to compete with the big arms.
Tests every aspect of your game, both physically and mentally.

Though the baskets have received an upgrade from the first two courses, they're not quite as consistent in catching as production baskets.
Just a couple of holes feel like there's no real fairway, just a wall of trees; a few open drives might have added some variety.
No signage indicating direction to first tee.
Easy to lose track of discs-- not a huge issue if you use spotters on the bigger holes.
Safety might become an issue, but only in large course-filling tournament scenarios as they are largely isolated incidents.

Bob Horning's third course is easily his best, each course seems to build on the small mistakes. The course is very well thought out, it easy to see the attention to detail that goes into both the minor aspects as well as the larger goals of the course. A number of the holes were truly memorable after the first time through, some for their visual spectacle and some more for the technical challenge. Hole 7 is a great example, the gap is just wide enough to tempt you to rip a big drive, but their is trouble all along the way, as well as a sharp drop off if you run a longer putt at the basket. Obviously, hole 8 is fantastic, a lesser course designer might not have picked that shot out of the dense Horning's forest.

Horning's is quickly becoming a top NW disc golf destination and I heartily recommend traveling to reach this forested haven. The 3 dollar fee is very justified because so much maintenance goes into these cool courses. Just a few tweaks could be made to bump this course up to the 5 star range, it'll be interesting to see how the course ages, as well as how tournaments might work out now that the property houses 54 holes.

The new gold course is in and playable now folks! YIPPEEE!

We start on tee pad number one looking in on a three hundred foot or so downhill shot through some of the tightest lines I have ever seen, great start I was happy right away. Early on the course is fairly short compared to the rest of it, especially the back nine which gets very long and very technical the whole way through. The course is only brushy off the fairway, the fairways have been worked on very nicely so no underbrush and are pretty open which I can't say for the fairways in the air, lots of tree and other obstacles. Hole eight was probably my favorite hole on the course, you are on this huge bluff looking down at a hole probably with a hundred and fifty foot drop and four hundred and twenty feet away with trees the whole way! Hole sixteen is the nine hundred and thirty foot hole, the only hole on the course that is open, at least for the first eight hundred feet anyway, then there is a mando right, then you come back towards the tee pad but back in the tree line, very long, very tough and very fun. The course is as technical as I have ever seen a course and it's long as well, tons of challenge here. I like that most of the fairways there have more than one or two paths to the basket and they take skill to get where you are trying to go, more so than luck with some very technical courses. The tee pads are superb, very grippy, long and wide. They have made the baskets a little different from the other two courses, since the PDGA made a new requirement they met that requirement and the baskets on this course catch better than the other two, they also have three lines of chains, not just two and they will catch a lot of sloppy putts like the other baskets usually did not. I just want to say that Bob Horning and the rest of the Horning's crew are really good at designing courses and put in so much work to make the place look great, Horning's Hideout now has a course for every skill level.

Some of the fairways get close to each other which could be a problem in a tournament situation. Some could argue that some of the fairways are a little less defined then some people want but the Horning's crew is letting players beat in the course over time instead of taking out trees and bushes and then regretting it later.

Hole nine is a bad hole. It is a left to right down the hill that makes every players drive land in the same spot and then it's all about a short upshot. This hole has little chance for a 2 or a 4 and is a classic example of trying to get to the perfect amount of 18 holes.

This course has it all and with the other two courses on site this is the best one stop destination for disc golf in the Northwest right now, props to all of the people who have played a roll in building and maintaining this wonderful piece of land. Remember there are lots of ups and downs so bring some sturdy shoes with you and prepare for a hike. Newbies scores will be higher than my asteroids arcade scores from the nineteen eighties so keep this in mind!

*UPDATE*

The course has new signs and lots of the issues have been taken care of making this course even better.

Let me start off by saying I love Hornings Hideout. There staff, there other TWO disc golf courses and there venue for wonderful music are all top notch. That being said on to the 3rd course. The place you start is the tee pad so that is where I will start. The tee pads are very grippy concrete and very long and wide. Maybe the best tee boxes I have played on. The lay out offers every type of shot one could ask for. There are tiny holes, impossible angles, wide open fields for the big arms to air out, little ups, big ups, little downs big downs, you name it. The lay out also brings you back near where you began which is important to me. There were temp signs and the next tee was always easy to find. The house by the lake has cheap sodas and icey treats for after the wonderful disc golf.

One con that I found was if it were busy or tournament time, there maybe some danger spots for cross fire. I am not really sure if that is true, because it was not busy when we went. Other than that the home made buckets could cause a little heart ache but hey thats part of the gameif you ask me. The length of the course maybe a con if you are lazy or just looking for and easier 18. Try the highlands course on the other side of the Hideout it will be more your style.

This is going to become a real destination for disc golf I believe. You can camp here it and it is fairly priced. There are 3 wonderful 18 hole courses for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can rent paddle boats and do some trout fishing. There are volleyball nets and practice baskets. If you are ever in the Portland area make sure and put Hornings Hideout on the list.