-Healthy Mach X baskets WITH arrows to guide to next tee
-Clean concrete tee pads
-Accurate tee signs with useful information
-Variety of shots, ranging from tight and technical to wide open
-Variety of elevation
-The rough is quite forgiving, not too grown up (played in mid June)
-Course upkeep is excellent, all grass mowed and area is clean
-Bathrooms and water available
-The park is just plain gorgeous

-Not all holes had clear lines to shape, but were still fair
-There were a few walks between holes that were confusing, but using udisc I had no problems
-Multiple paths cross fairways, so you need to be aware of random people walking through
-Limited parking

This is an awesome course that gives an epic Portland DG experience. We originally wanted to play Milo as we came through town, but didn't because of a tournament. This course allows for short technical shots and full power bombs through massive old growth forests, still in the city. Totally worth the trip for anyone wanting to see PNW disc golf.

+ It's common to rave about the natural beauty of this park, with its forest of towering Douglas Fir trees creating high canopies - but many of the holes themselves should also be praised. The deeply forested portion of the course runs from #3 - #15, and there are a half-dozen holes that deserve "picture postcards." They're beautiful holes to look at - in this beautiful park.


+ You will be tested by this 6000' par 54: great mix of right-to-left and left-to-right shots, along with some incredibly tight lines to hit between trees packed on fairways. Most of the holes are pretty flat, but the design takes full advantage of available elevation change on a handful of holes (two significant uphills and a few really dramatic downhills)


+ Poured concrete tees (the front 9 have numbers embedded in them). Excellent signage and navigation. Benches at every tee. The signs appear to have replaced the ones that earlier reviews found lacking. There's some stray graffiti on a few, but for the most part, they're intact. One mando to protect players on an opposing hole.


+ There's no rough to speak of. You can almost always scramble, although your line might be blocked by 200 year old Douglas Firs

- Seven of the par 3's exceed 400', making pars tough for rec players Nothing is unfair, but unless you have the ideal combination of length, accuracy and course management skills, you might find your birdie attempts are from Circle 2 or farther out. This course demands a lot of you. - the layout has more than a few "tweener" holes. #14 and #15 are a pair of brutes with narrow gaps way down the fairway


-. The signs illustrate the alternate basket positions and lengths but they weren't using the drilled holes to indicate basket in play. This is a minor "con" because most baskets are visible from the teepad or nearby. You might do a little bit of walking up to spot a basket hidden by elevation change or some trees

~ Course is well worn in, with concrete-like packed dirt around tees and baskets. Paths to the next tees are very easy to spot. The Mach X baskets are old and covered with stickers, but the catch well


~ The course switches to a "winter layout" to eliminate a few of the muddier holes, and it actually turns around the direction of several holes in order to make a loop (notice the odd "extra" teepads here and there)


~ As almost all reviewers have mentioned, beware of heavy playing traffic, and keep you eyes open for dog walkers and hikers. 10:00am on an October Monday was ideal though, with just a handful of other players on the course, and plenty of time to take in the amazing natural scenery

Personal Background:
#55620, current pdga rating 923, 10 years playing. Age 35.
Designed 2 permanent courses, and 2 temporary courses.
At least 80 courses played now in I think 16 states.
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Course rating prior to this review 4.3
Design- 3.5
Baskets/Tees- 4
Signage- 4
Replayability- 4
Beauty- 5

20.5/5 = 4.1 ... round down to 4.0.
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Design- This is a beautiful course playing through a mature forest of old growth evergreens. I got the pleasure of pairing up with a couple of very welcoming locals that were obviously familiar with the course and active in the local club. The club and park take great care of this place. Almost zero trash throughout the course, wood chips everywhere, no significant undergrowth. In regards to design itself, every hole felt unique in both design and appearance. My personal favorite was hole 4 which was RHBH dominant but required a slight hill crest to reach the basket. Most holes were very easy to par, but fairly difficult to reach. I think the course is Blue rated, and likely lots of tweeners. Would be very curious to look at hole averages for 950 rated players during a tournament. I personally shot even 54 with 1 birdie and 1 bogey... blind.
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Baskets/tees- Baskets are incredible. Perfect catching Mach X. Never been a fan of them before, but these are well broken in. Loved them. Teepads are concrete 5×10 or possibly smaller. They are worn and will likely need replaced in the next 5 years.

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Signage- Very nice tee signs on every hole and very good next tees signs nailed into the tree on almost every hole. No serious issues getting to the next tee on any of the routes.

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Replayability- As the only real course in town, this place gets a ton of play. Obviously people want to play it over and over. It is a great track! The multiple tweener holes take away from the fun factor somewhat. Would love to have this one in the backyard!

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Beauty- Did I mention the trees??? They are incredible. It felt like a storytale. Had to remind myself a couple times that I was there to throw and not Tree-gaze. This coupled with the great maintenance is really something special.

As noted above. Only major cons are tweener holes. However I assume that there are multiple pins and that possibly they are cured by moving the basket. Update the tee areas and tees and this score likely goes to 4.5.

Would just like to thank the Parks department, local club, and the Pacific NorthWest for being such a great host to me and my family this past week. Life changing experiences! Will definitely be back in the future!

Disc golf under the canopy of enormous pacific northwest evergreen. Nice baskets and tee pads. Well thought-out layout. I fair degree of elevation changes and variety of shot requirements.

crowded, slow rounds on weekends. Large groups. Could use a few longer holes (par 4) but size of park limits distance.

Some very tight fairways on a few of the holes requiring precision drives though corridor of fir trees. Great disc golf course for a densely populated city park.

-This course has some really solid amenities, great signs (with multiple basket placements), bag holders for when it gets muddy, and concrete pads that have held up impressively to the wear this course gets.
-Baskets are Mach X's, which are one of my favorite types. They are also yellow, which is super visible, especially in the trees. I'm sure that they used to be neon yellow, but these baskets look pretty worn down. Not that they don't function well, because they do, but because the rim and other parts are super worn.
-The fairway and rough are super nice out here. There isn't any underbrush that would hide your disc, which is great because hitting trees out at Pier Park is pretty much required. The other great thing is that what this course lacks in underbrush rough, is made up for with sheer quantity of trees.
-Elevation is a key component of this course. There are some great uphill/downhill shots, some downhill death putts, I mean, all the classic examples of great elevation.
-Another hallmark of this course is the trees. This densely wooded park is one tops those places where you could plop down a basket and have a great hole without any work. That being said, this course is designed effectively with both cool holes, and flow in mind.
-Navigation is a no brained on this course, as I just said, flow is great at Pier Park. Signs are clear, and it is almost guaranteed that you will find someone to follow.
-Once you dive into the woods, like for real, you will be amazed. It is a total wow factor. There are so many trees, but, the amazing part is, you aren't playing disc golf into a wall, there are different routes to take, that is amazing to me.
-One innovative feature on the course is the tree protection. Now that I think about it, innovative might be the wrong word because it is actually pretty simple. They have put wood sticks on certain trees to protect the trees from the constant onslaught of plastic. Super nice touch in my opinion.

-This is a very well played course. Tons and tons of people come here to play, I played on a Tuesday afternoon, and there was still a line to get to the first hole. People have good reason to come play this course, because it really is a great course.
-Because of how crowded this course is, both with disc golfers and normal park goers, there is a rather high "garbage quotient" as my dad put it. Definitely not the biggest problem out here, especially compared to some other courses of have played. But nonetheless, there's some garbage laying around.
- I feel bad bashing this course for the amount of people that play it, but it is legitimately a little annoying to wait on every hole. This course is worth waiting for, but I would much rather not wait.
-This course also doesn't have much opportunity for those "hero birdies" a lot of times, to really park a hole you have to get lucky. It is one of those places where you can miss your line by a three feet and end up in the circle, but miss by an inch and end up 50 feet in front of the tee pad.

Great course, swing by if you are in Portland, try to play on a less busy time, like early morning on a week day if possible. This course gets crowded.

Pier Park is a challenging 18 hole course with some fun shots as well as a pretty well maintained course. Pier Park is located in Portland Oregon with some very challenging holes.
It feels like almost every Saturday they have a doubles tournament at this course.

-The great things about this course is that it is has great tee pads and signs. This course is crowded on every weekend. It might even be the most crowded course in Oregon. Sometimes Milo Miciver is to far for people so they come to Pier Park.

This is probably one of the more challenging courses I have played for sure. Each hole there are different lines and shots. Its hard to select what disc I want to chose on every hole and shot.

-Also the course has two layouts so when it is winter time the ground does not get as muddy as the summer layout. Winter layout changes quite a few holes to this course as well as some fun unique holes. Number 5 is one of the most uphill holes I have ever played.

I like holes 2 through 4. On hole 2 you can play this big annie around a massive tree. There are people that have aced that hole. Hole 3 is the first hole in the woods. This hole is another fun hole just because some of the holes later have very tight gaps. This hole does not. Hole 4 is a fun S shaped hole.

There are no signs to the next hole but it is very easy to find were the next hole is. Most likely there are paths to the next hole but the holes are pretty close to each other but not squished together. The baskets on this course are Mach X and are not rusting unlike Milo.

There are a lot of holes where you have to go up about half way to see the basket. So I wish they would put a flag on top of the basket so you can see where it is.

No pay to play but this course gets very busy whatever time of the day you are in, It is very helpful to go in the morning but it is even busy then.

Some holes on this course need clearing badly. There are a ton of trees on this course and it is very hard to manipulate your way around this course.

Pier Park is a great course for people who have at least a year of practice because on almost every hole there are 3-10 trees that blocks your path but besides that it is great course!

- I like this course because it is long but not to long also this course does not have a lot of hills except for number 4. This course is a great course if you like technical shots around trees.

If you are in the area I would definitely check this course out. Although if you are new to the sport I would no recommend it as your first course.

Extremely nice fairways. Nice, easy to see Mach X baskets. Easy to read hole signs. Map of course at number ones tee. Lots of elevation changes. Large concrete tees.

Distances were a little too long. Hole 8 is hard to find. It was raining and muddy when I played. Not really a con of the course just a con of Portland.

If you are more of an experienced player this a great course.

Beautiful course with great upkeep. Challenging throws due to course design, not bad course upkeep. Requires you to use every disc in your bag and throw in your toolbox.

Some of tee pads were muddy. Nothing significant though.

Awesome course to play when passing through Portland. Doesn't take all day and is convenient.

Unique Beauty.

First and foremost, Pier Park is truly a one-of-a-kind experience. It has a unique personality that is unlike any other disc golf course. The towering firs provide an amazing shade covered backdrop for your disc golf experience. This is a must play course for visitors to Portland. I have had the pleasure of playing Pier Park numerous times on my visits to Portland. I have played short and long layouts in PDGA events and as a casual player.


Upgrade!

NewTargets were installed in advance of the 2014 Pro Worlds. They have bright neon chain tops and are much easier to spot in the shady environment than the old targets. The park was clean and in excellent condition for Pro Worlds.

I used bullet points for those that don't want to read the entire review.


Not your ordinary park

Holes One and Two look like most any urban park in America. They are next to some soccer fields and baseball diamonds. However, once you take the walk to Hole 3 you get your first taste of the amazing beauty of Pier Park. This initial view of the third tee takes your breath away as you scramble for your camera. Only this view doesn't fit in the frame. The towering firs line the grassy fairway and create dappled lighting everywhere. And now the bright neon basket is easy to spot from the tee, even on a super gray day.

Easy to Play

While the course was used for the 2013 US Women's Championships and the 2014 Pro Worlds, don't let that scare you. It is fun and easy to play. Pier Park is a great place to take beginners. If they don't fall in love with disc golf here, they likely never will. There is very little underbrush, so it would be nearly impossible to lose a disc here. Even though there are not any super long holes, (like Milo and Blue Lake) Advanced players will still be challenged. Pier is a technical course where players need accuracy and a good putt to score well.

Tees

There are ample concrete tees on every hole. These are in great shape and are level with the surrounding area. Some of the tees had benches. Every tee sign post had hooks for holding bags off the ground just in case it is muddy. There were trashcans and recycle containers at several spots along the course.

Multiple Pin Placements

Variety is the spice of life. There are alternate pin locations for several holes. All locations are marked on the tee sign graphics. The shorter locations make the play fun for newer players. The longer placements will provide some challenge for advanced and pro level players. If you are playing the shorter layout, be sure to bring that putting game.

Signs

There are signs with great graphics on each tee. The signs include all the pin placements. The quality signs are mounted on wooden poles near each tee pad. Each sign pole also has hooks for holding bags off the ground (for when it is wet and muddy). There was also sponsor information on many of the signs. If you do visit a sponsor, be sure to let them know you saw the ad at Pier Park and thank them for supporting disc golf.

Kids and Strollers

Go ahead and bring the tots and strollers. It is a pretty compact course and is stroller friendly. There are a couple of hills to climb up and down, but it is not difficult terrain. There is a "splash pad" and a playground near the tee for Hole 8 as well. The restroom at the first tee was pretty scary. The restroom by the splash pad on Hole 8 was a little better. There is also a playground by the spashpad. There is also an outdoor pool at one end of the park.

Poison Oak and Ivy

As far as I could see you don't have to worry about Poison Oak or Poison Ivy in the park. There really isn't a lot of rough here.

Very Popular

Pier park is popular. Plan to play weekdays or early on weekends to avoid the largest crowds. Otherwise, there will likely be some waiting.

Repetitive

Even though it does offer a variety of shots and elevation changes, it eventually feels like you are playing the same hole over and over. Even for players that don't throw far, it comes down to missing trees and trying to make big putts. Even the alternate positions don't really change the fact you are still throwing through tall trees to targets.

Routing and Backtracking

Sometimes the next tee is not that easy to find as you walk past other tee areas on the way. There is a long walk from Hole 18 back to the parking area by hole One. You actually walk by the tees for holes 3, 2 and 1 on your way back to the parking area. Even if you were to park on the street by Hole 8, you will still have the long walk from 18 to 1. I am sure there are reasons for this and it doesn't appear to be easily fixed.

Facilities

The restrooms at Hole 1 are pretty scary and the sink was not working on my last visit. The only other restroom is a short jog from Hole 8. It would be nice to have some more facilities as there really isn't a chance for privacy on the course.

Fairytale Setting

Pier Park looks like the kind of place where fairies and pixies live among the moss and ferns. It is no wonder they film scenes from the TV series "Grimm" here. There are a couple of old buildings with moss growing on the roof. The dappled light shining through the trees creates and a really cool look during the day. However as a female, I would not feel super safe in parts of this park after dark, and not because of goblins or gnomes.

Destination Portland

Portland is a disc golf destination and offers several must play courses for any serious disc golfers. If you only had time to play one course on a visit to Portland, choose Pier Park. While it is not a Championship level course with extra long Par 5 holes like Milo and Blue Lake it is pretty quick to play if there are not a lot of players. It is certainly the most popular course in Portland. Stop by and find out why. You will not be discappointed.

Hotel Recommendation

I had the pleasure of staying very close to Pier Park on Hayden Island at the Jantzen Beach Holiday Inn Express. I stayed here on two separate visits to Portland and was happy each time. The hotel is located on an island in the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver, Washington. It has a pool and offered free hot breakfast. It is close by Pier Park and right down the river from Blue Lake. Except for some sucky rush hour traffic, it will provide easy access to all the courses around Portland. FYI, when the traffic sucks in Portland , it sucks real bad. I am from So Cal and thought it was excruciating.

Support the Sponsors

There are sponsors listed on the awesome tee signs. Please stop in and let them know where you found out about them. Thank them for supporting disc golf at Pier Park. I visited the Huk Lab store right down Lombard street from the park. They have an awesome selection of discs.

Rating

This must play course is filled with awesome beauty. There is a smart use of the elevation and hitting a line is more important than raw distance. In addition to the brand new bright green targets, I love all the extras such as bag holders on every hole, nice tee signs with up-to-date graphics. There are alternate placements and benches on many holes. Pier can be enjoyed by players of every skill level. This must play Portland course earns a 4.0 rating.

I started playing Pier Park about a year ago, and I've played regularly through all four season (about 2-5 times per week). The course is moderately long, and when busy will take a group of four about two hours to play. There is an open field and a warm up basket near the parking circle.

- The course is beautiful, and most of the holes are well situated with regard to the walking paths that crisscross the park. It's pretty rare to have random park goers cross into fairways, and on only a few occasions is there the threat that your disc will fly over a path.

- Variety between holes is fantastic with elevation change being an element on at least half of the holes. You'll have to use most or all of your shots to play well at Pier.

- The course signage is generally pretty good. Each hole has a sign showing the multiple pin position locations, and the distance for each.

- During the winter months the course layout changes to accommodate the additional rain and mud. Certain holes are taken out of play, and others brought into play. The course signage also changes to reflect the switch, which is nice.

- The course is used for multiple tournaments and league events throughout the year.

- Walkouts between holes can be confusing for first time players, but there is a map at the hole 1 kiosk for those who need help. The biggest trouble seems to happen between holes 2 and 3, 6 and 7, 9 and 10, and 17 and 18 (summer layout).

- The city doesn't seem to maintain the course as well as it could be. The grass can get quite long at times, and it's not uncommon to find tree debris littering the course.

- Winter layout pin positions often turn into muddy messes that could be easily fixed by the city spreading out some wood chips. Holes 3 and 10 are most notable in this regard.

- Tee pads also get quite slick and muddy in the winter, and many have big puddles right beyond the end of the tee pad. Test your grip beforehand, and prepare to get your feet wet if you step past the edge.

- Garbage cans are present on the course, but are too few and far between. Often times people leave garbage under the benches near tee pads. Additional garbage cans are sorely needed.

- There is a large dream catcher hanging high in the trees on hole 15 (summer layout). I looked for ages, but couldn't find it. A more experienced player eventually pointed it out to me. It's worth looking for if you have the time. It's waaay up there!

- If you're playing on weekdays after work it's often times best to get there around 6:00. There seems to be a rush at about 5:00-5:30 that really slows things down.

This is a very scenic course inside the Portland city limits, although it is not 'close in'. Last week a pair of Bald Eagles flew through the course! Dogs are allowed on course (w/ leash) and many people bring them. Lots of garbage cans and open till midnight.
Scenic
Most 300+

It would be nice to have a four par mixed in somewhere, or perhaps a hazard. While the course is a blast to play, none of the holes are really 'memorable'.

Please pick up your garbage on this course. The signs and pads are not mini-dumps.

Great challenge - Moving back to Portland in 2010 brought me 3 blocks away from Pier and thus started my journey into disc golf. Having you first and home course as Pier Park is quite a challenge to overcome. My drives have increased in distance, but the woods keep you humble.
Beautiful woods - you cannot deny it is nice to be walking around in the middle of a pine forest for an hour.
Uphill, downhill, dogleg left and right, Pier has some great variety. It even draws you in with nice straight lines to the basket, but those trees are just in play to mess you up.
Nice full size tee pads and great signage. It would be an improvement to get some kind of marker for knowing which placement the basket is in.

Graffiti and vandalism of signs and benches has been a problem.
Unfortunately I cannot get through one round without smelling someone on the course smoking pot.
Trash can pile up over the weekends thanks to people's empty beer cans/bottles.
Mosquitoes can be a pain during the warm summer.
Bathrooms are few and in serious need of repair and care. I wish Portland Parks & Recreation would put some love into the facilities.

Even though I don't have the "big arm" for driving the distance on this course, it has been great to learn here. My confidence is really boosted when I take my game to a "shorter" course and can drive the basket because of my experiences practicing at Pier.

Just wanted to submit a bit of an update...
The winter layout has changed holes 3, 4, 5, and 18.
There is really good signage though to show the new layout.

Other than that what more to add? For a free course in a city park this is one of the absolute best courses anywhere.

All types of shots, long, short, technical, up hill, down hill. The course plays in beautiful 200'+ trees. Friendly locals if you get lost or confused. Good tee boxes and signs.

Some pedestrians that are out hiking. litter at most holes. Can get busy and backed up. Honestly though, these are VERY minor.

This is one of my favorite courses I have played. I loved the layout and use of the landscape. Wish I lived closer so I could play it regularly. I will be coming back to this course again for sure.

- Course is set in a fairly large city park that has a few other activities present. There are some tennis courts, and a walking path, but there shouldn't be too much interference from non-disc golfers. Pedestrians at worst, most likely.
- Lots and lots of fir tree trunks here to define the hole shapes. The vast majority of the course plays in the wooded areas, basically starting with #3 and continuing through #16. There are some pretty generous fairways, like a slight anny on #3 and #4, a downhill shot with trees by the basket on #6, and a fairly straight shot on #12. Other holes are a lot tighter, like the hallway shot on #15, a sharp hyzer on #7, a long RHFH flick shot on #9, and a very low ceiling anny shot on #16. Much more punishment off the fairways on those holes due to a ton of trees.
- A few other holes have less trees to worry about; more rough/brush to contend with. #1 is the most open, a long downhill shot with a low ceiling. #2 is a sharp RHFH hyzer downhill around thick woods, with a blind pin position. #17 is a lot rougher, with low ceilings and nasty schule in the fairway. Can try a straight shot or a wide hyzer. #18 finishes it off with a fairly open downhill hyzer, with more trees near the pin.
- Good mix of shots needed to navigate the course, with some sharp hyzers and anhyzers or flicks, as well as some more gradual ones. A good collection of holes that require a straight shot as well. Should be pretty fair to righties or lefties; having a good anny, flick, or offhand throw goes a long way.
- Very good elevation changes present here. It starts off with three downhill shots, with #2's elevated teepad the most pronounced. #5 is a pretty steep uphill shot through some trees, while #6 shoots all the way back down the hill. #16-#17 all play fairly downhill as well, and #18 is a big downhill bomber shot. #15 is a long, low valley shot as well.
- Lots of length to this course, with an average hole length of 378'. Many, many holes to rip long drives through the trees. Some of the holes take a bomb to reach, on top of navigating through all the tree trunks. A handful of holes are under 300', but are still no picnic.
- Good signs, pads, and baskets throughout. Navigation can be a little tricky without a map, like #1 to #2, or #14 to #15, but it shouldn't be a big issue.

- The landscape of the woods here doesn't really vary that much; once you get amongst the tree trunks you are in there for a while. Can feel a little repetitive as some of the holes look very similar. The lines are different, but the feel is the same.
- Long walk back to the parking after hole #18, with hills no less.

- Solid course, start to finish. Lots and lots of distance, with lots and lots of trees. Also some more open holes on the front and back to mix things up. Good elevation changes here and there as well. Definitely suited for experienced players who can easily clear 300' of distance, any shorter and you'll be scrambling for par on most holes. Still, there aren't too many hazardous areas to frustrate beginners.

Great signage
Concrete tee pads
Winter/summer layout
Every hole was different and required a different shot
Tree coverage was nice and made for added challenge

Busy, even very early, just after dawn
Some directions were confusing for 1st timers

Great overall experience!
My favorite hole was 18 with the huge drop off
Definitely one of the best I've played!

Loved the tee signage! All courses can learn from these signs. Great use of the natural ups, downs, and side hill-lies of the land. Which forces you to have many a shot in your bag. Like courses with multiple basket placements.

Would have liked the baskets to have some type of mark to help guide you to the next tee pad. Most were easily spotted and/or close enough to find. But a couple were more difficult. But thats really a minor flaw, for first timers.

17 & 18 seem to be the same hole. Kinda sad after playing thru with all the different hole layouts to end with 2 holes that are the same. Possible idea- make 18 hole 17 and run 18 up the access road to the top of the hill near tee 3. A totally different type of hole.This also would also make the long walk back to the parking lot shorter.

- Well maintained
- Always entertaining
- Always a challenge
- Hot Dog / Sausage dude in summer
- Regular pro visitors (selling discs)
- Amazing trees

- Crowds
- More crowds

I've played this course more times than I can remember or count and the best compliment I can bestow upon the course is that every time I play it, it provides a challenge.

The variety of the holes (distance, orientation, throw options) never cease to bore me. When I decide that I am getting bored is when I throw something I know I shouldn't. And when that happens, the course can throw you for a double bogey. Fast. I love the 6th hole so much. I always look forward to throwing there and it always gives me a thrill.

My friends and I have started to show up early on weekends and have found that doing so weeds out the larger groups and the crowds in general. If you can avoid the crowd, you can move through the course relatively quick and get a very satisfying game out of it. I wish we had more courses like this inside of PDX but since this is it, I take advantage of it.

Love the new tee markers too. Well done and well maintained too.

Where to start? The beauty of the park would earn this course at least a one disc rating even if it had one pin and two teepads. Luckily for us, there are 18 teepads, most (if not all) of which have multiple pin placements. The final 16 holes play through an old growth pine forest, and 1 and 2 play across a field with guarded pin placements from the tee. The variation in holes is perfect. There are uphill and downhill shots, right and left turning ones, and there's a good variation in distance as well. It's worth the drive to Pier Park for hole 15 alone. There is minimal undergrowth, so losing a disc should be impossible... Although it clearly isn't, because I found one and they don't have a lockbox there for nothing. Also, it's free to play, but there's a donation box there for park upkeep that I highly recommend adding to.

Although this isn't a con for me, I at least have to point out that there are no holes that let you air it out. Holes 1 and 15 seem to be the longest, but they're both heavily guarded by trees (especially 15).

The locals that I ran into were rather standoffish, but a few of them were friendly enough that I can't really judge the park based on a select few. I did have to give up on my second round after being stuck behind two groups for a roughly 5 minute wait on each tee (with another group waiting behind me). We also were thrown on on hole 3 after being told that we could play through.

Although there is ample signage on the teepad (which is extremely helpful), the navigation can get confusing if you're here for the first time. A few wood numbers have been nailed to the trees, but I didn't notice those until about hole 15, so they aren't that noticeable.

Definitely worth a stop if you're in the Portland area. I hear that it gets very crowded in the summer and muddy in the winter, but it's just too gorgeous to pass up. I would liken it to a longer NAD Park or Lake Stevens. The locals are lucky to have this course and should work hard to keep it as nice as it was when I was there. If you aren't going to give a donation, the least you can do is pick up some of the (minimal amount of) trash that you find in your round.

Also: If you get distracted easily by sudden noises that ruin your shot, you might have trouble here. The trainyards nearby sounded roughly like a WWII bombing at times. It didn't seem to bother anyone's game, but I could see it being an issue if you were totally focused on that birdie putt and expected total silence.

Speaking of putts: The practice basket placement is one of the best that I've seen. You get your standard flat shots from as far out as you need, but can also throw uphill or even from down on the baseball diamond to work on many different types of shot placement.

All in all, this course is a winner and was the best that I played in the Portland area. I recommend it as your first stop, especially if you don't have time to drive out to Horning's Hideout.

Beautiful course set in a forest of trees that tower over you. On my 3-day trip to Oregon I played Pier Park by chance (because it was closest to downtown), and returned to play it two more times before leaving I liked it so much. Good mix of left turn, right turn, and tunnel shots. Almost no underbrush, so losing a disc is next to impossible. Good signs show pin positions with diagrams. Some hills to shoot up and down. Disc lost & found / recycling bin at hole #1. Sausage Guy sells sausages and Innova discs on weekends at park entrance. Permanent bathroom (not a port-a-potty).

Not much to complain about here. No water in play. Dog walkers. cyclists. There could be more open bomb shots.

All baskets were in the "B" (far) position when I played this course. Had they been in the "A" positions, it would look more like an Ace Race course, or have a lot of birdies.
Overall, this course was super fun. I loved being in the trees and playing this technical course. It's a must play for anyone in Portland. I liked it way more than McIver Riverbend.