After a quick detour to Lee Fong, I know I wasn't going to stop at Lee Fong, but it is so close to the road and I'm an addict I just had to, I arrived at Junction City Park. There are two roads into the park one is JC Park Rd which goes straight into the park and horse corral, the other like the address listed here is JC Dump Rd. and then a quick turn off to the right to get to the parking lot. Either way will bring you to your destination as the course is literally right off 299 and there are signs on the highway. I have actually played here once before a couple of years ago, but at that point in time it was tone poles, not baskets, and it was very much a work in progress course and it was near impossible for me to navigate. It is still very much a work in progress course but now there are baskets, that look and catch like any other on the market. Although they appear to have been fabricated by a local machinist shop, they are well done. There is a club kiosk with some information including a hand drawn course map on the back. The park has bathrooms and a picnic area. There is a horse corral and a small playground. The fairways are quite tree lined and without gathering some local route knowledge are going to probably require some luck on some holes. The first 12 holes are very different from the back 6. The first 12, while there is some slight slope in play, are quite flat compared to the rugged back 6. The first 12 are also fairly easy going and relatively easy to navigate, although we had a few problems. Some of the holes play close to the parking area and picnic areas, and the incoming road, but seeing as how there really isn't anyone here, not really that much of a problem. At hole 13 you start making the trek upward to Miner's Point some 100 feet above the park floor. 13 is a rough uphill par 4 underneath the power lines. Holes 14 and 15 do some criss crossing the road up on top, before a slight downhill on hole 16. Hole 17 is another steep uphill across a valley but much shorter than 13, and then finally you arrive at Hole 18 (Miner's Point), a huge epic downhill run to the basket all the way down and across the valley floor. Most of the holes have very good length and are quite challenging to play.

Navigation. While greatly improved from the last time I played here, navigation was still very tricky. A lot of the ground with the needles and leaves covering it make paths and worn spots for tees hard to find. Figuring out where to go after hole 12 was a little tricky my inclination was to start walking up the road before realizing that the course plays up the rather steep hill as the road diverges. Without the course map I picked up at Angela's Beads in Weaverville I would have been lost though.
Tees. The tees are carved out of the soil in spots, or use the edge of dirt roads. They are adequate but not great, would definitely benefit from concrete pads or even rubber pads for better grip.
Signage. The tees are marked by 1 x 4 stakes painted white with a red number on them. They are staked in the ground at most holes, but a few had been broken and were simply lying on the ground. They were about 6 inches above ground making them fairly difficult to spot, although I think we found all 18, but it would have been impossible without the map as we walked past several along the way and had to come back to them. There were a few signs in trees pointing to the next tee but they were few and far between and as the tees themselves were difficult to find, only aided slightly. A few of the holes had 1x2 stakes painted brown that stood up a couple of feet off the ground, these signs had hole length as well as the number on them, but being painted brown were still hard to find.
Location. The location of the park is both a pro and a con. The pro being that the course is located about midway between Redding and Eureka and makes for a great roadtrip on the 299. However as a single play course this is located quite a ways from anything. The "city" in Junction City is a little bit of a misnomer because there is not much to Junction City, with a supposed population of 600 in the surrounding area. There really is nothing to the town, there is basically this county dump and park and a small store about a mile down the road heading east and that's about it. The closest place to really pick up any supplies is Weavervile.
Crossing Fairways. Hole 18 as mentioned is an epic downhill top of the world shot from up on "Miner's Point" and gives the course its name. It is a long bomb well over a 1000 foot hole that plays down about 100 feet in elevation. Like so many "top of the worlds" it is reminiscent of Dela's top of the world at hole 27. Like hole 27 it suffers from the same pitfalls though of crossing several other fairways to get to the basket. Hole 18 at JC crosses holes 7, 8, and 11 before getting to the basket. Unlike Dela though you don't have the same amount of traffic below but you still run the risk of beaming somebody with a disc.
Hiking. Holes 13, 17, and 18 require some significant hiking. Hole 13 is the monster uphill that takes you to the top of the ridge and really wears you out. Hole 14, and 15, and 16 are not that bad but after 13 you're worn out and it feels tough. Hole 17 is another uphill but nowhere as bad as 13, but erosion has made the trail up to it quite steep and narrow. Hole 18 though is the monster downhill and is quite steep on the way down. Somebody has tied ropes at places to help you climb down, and they have cut switchbacks into the cliff to help with the descent, but it is still one heck of a climb down. What goes up must come down.

Miner's Point Disc Golf Course is all the bare bones of a great course, what it lacks is the spit and polish to raise it to that level. This course would benefit tremendously from tees, signs, navigation aids, and benches, greatly raising the score I would give it to 4 or higher. This course is a long way from anything and I don't know how many people are working on it, but if it continues to get improvements I only see a brighter future. Trinity County has a real nice mix of courses located either right on the 299 like this one and Lee Fong or just a few miles off the highway like Lewiston. Lee Fong in Weaverville has an old school kind of broken in rec course kind of feel and fairly easy to play. Lewiston is a wide open long bomber with massive amounts of ob that even though its on a slope plays relatively easy and flat with control. Junction City in contrast has a much more rugged adventurous style with massive elevation changes and you're probably going to need a little luck to get you through all the tree lined fairways and heavy woods. All in all it makes for a good trinity of courses, and marks about the halfway point between Redding's grouping of courses and Eureka's.
On to Willow Creek.

1. Nice location for a course in a nice foresty park with little traffic.
2. Park does have bathrooms.
3. Practice basket on course.
4. Course has a really good challenging layout with a good mix of distances.
5. Nice elevation changes on course and well placed mando's.
6. Lots of tight shots thru small fairways down in picture frame like openings to the baskets, nice.
7. The baskets that were constructed for the course are very nice and very visible with the candy cane look.
8. Top of the world shot on 18 is cool, nice finish to the round and walking down hill to the beginning of the course is nice. Always nice to finish were you started.
9. There are birdie holes out there and layout was creatively done.
10. There is another 18 hole course near by in the town over and junction city earns its name to perfection because its a junction course. Its right in the middle of two major areas of disc golf. Right in the middle with Redding and Humboldt on both sides.
11. Park and course will be good for future tournies with the small turnout at the park.
12. Camping is right down the road.

1. Parking needs to be figured out. There are a lot of spots that you could park, but not many that look designate parking spots.
2. Yes there is bathrooms but when I went they were locked. Need to get those open, especially since the course is located out of town and away from other possible restrooms.
3. There isnt any close stores or fast food. 15-20 minutes away is Weaverville your best bet for getting supplies before you get to the course.
4. Tee signs will need to be upgrade from stakes with number and distances eventually. If you have never played there I would download a map because finding a few tee pads are tricky.
5. Teepads are dirt and some looked like they could get really muddy in the future. If they ever go to rubber pads or cement I could see my review rating going up.
6. Crossing fairway sucks, but the hole is nice. I would like to see maybe multiple pin places on the course in the future to stop this from happening.
7. Course is still young and needs to be beaten down in a few spots that still have a lot of vegetation. Course will open up and get better.
8. There are a few walks from baskets to the next tee that can be tough without a map or if your a first timer.
9. Watch out for poison oak, the course does have it lurking.
10. I felt a few holes were one demensional and didnt offer more then one look or direction at a hole. Always nice to be able to attack from multiple angles.
11. I would put some more trash cans out if thats an option or signs saying to pack your trash out.

All in all I liked this course. I would play at Miners Point more often if I lived in the area. Definitely not a beginner course, so for the more advanced and non weekend warriors its a great challenging course. Next time I come up I plan to camp down the road and get some fishing in at the near by river when I'm not golfing at junction city or Le Fong.