When I think New Hampshire, I think mountains, so I was glad to see some big elevation here. It's not exactly mountainous, but it is set in the big hills in the woods behind a middle school that has a ton of outdoor sports (football fields, tennis courts, hockey rink, track, a ropes course, etc). Only the first hole is in the open.

Design is really solid. There is a nice mix of tough par 4s and birdie-able shorter holes. As I said, elevation is used and used well.

Hole 2 is a 375-foot uphill hole with a drive along the path and then an even steeper approach over the hump of the hill through a gauntlet of trees. I liked this approach.

Hole 18 is a fun short downhill hole through a reasonable gap with the basket on a slope. Feels like an ace run with a lot that could go wrong.

There are technically three sets of tees, but only the long ones have any kind of tee pad. The others are just stakes.

The tee pads are all natural or gravel. They weren't in bad shape, but I'd like to see rubber. Put those in and this is a four-star course.

Tee signs are adequate, and I usually had a pretty good sense of what the fairway was shaped like, but they're not great.

I'm sure there are good reasons, but I really wish the ski jump area (seriously, there is a ski jump tower next to one of the fairways) could have been used for a great hole.

One of the holes late in the course has a short drive around a corner before a maybe 100-foot uphill approach. I don't love the design of this one. I don't see any way to get a 2, but getting anything worse than a 3 would take a serious screw up.

Really enjoyable course in a nice part of the state where the White Mountains fade into the Green Mountains. There are worse places to spend a summer afternoon.

Pinnacle plays on the mountainside behind Newport Middle & High Schools. This mountain also has Nordic Ski trails, some kind of a challenge course and a large wooden ski jump practice facility. There is a kiosk at ground level (the start) with course map, disc golf rules, advertisement for Mount Sunapee Resort Disc Golf, etc. The signs are homemade. There are two sets of natural pads, plus The Box, which I didn't exactly get? The Blues are longer than the Reds but sometimes the Box is longer yet. Sometimes they're the same. The baskets are older models of a brand unknown but they do have the large, yellow number on top.

I appreciated the helpful next tee arrows that are placed around the course. I also greatly appreciated the many benches. I rested on each one of them.

This course is truly a challenge, both physically demanding as it is and mentally. The extreme technical nature of the course combined with the constant up and down elevation changes makes for some dramatics moments as you'll see almost great shots carom off a tree and rocket well off the fairway.

I feel that # 17 is the signature hole on this course, if only for it's Epic danger factor. It's a 374' downhill throw with kind of a "S" curve action needed. The fairway narrows closer to the basket. There is a deep rough on the right that is OB. The basket sits on a narrow ridge, maybe 50' wide. On the left of the basket is a 30' deep tree filled ravine. And just six feet behind the basket the deep ravine continues.

# 18 is so much fun, too. It's just 225' almost straight down to a visible basket. The route is there if you can just put the right amount of touch on your tee off and hit your line.

# 16 requires to walk up quite a few steps in order to get to the tee pad. And the hole is? A very steep 214'. I can't throw when I'm turning blue!

The natural tee pads are not the best answer. They are rutted in places, usually when you want the best footing.

The signs are not the most informative.

The baskets are old but catch well enough.

I played Pinnacle first thing this morning, then three easier courses ( Tilton Park, Singing Hills & Foster's Meadows), then finished my day with another James Beaulieu designed course, Storrs Pond Recreation Area. I have now decided that I truly hate Mr. James Beaulieu. He is obviously a sadistic human being. Doesn't New Hampshire have any nice flat land to build a disc golf course on?

I have also completed what I consider the tri-fecta of mountainous type courses around here and close by in Vermont. This is how I would rank them, for my personal enjoyment.

1. Storrs Pond. So many incredible holes.
2. Otter Brook. Front 9 is delicious and it doesn't physically maim you like Storrs and Pinnacle.
3. Pinnacle. Has it's great moments.
4. Base Camp Outfitters. It's best holes don't compare to the top three on this list.

This is a pretty challenging course for me right now and I need to appreciate that. I have been working on my distance in drives and have played a few more open fairway courses. This was a humbling experience to be back at Pinnacle where accuracy is KEY. The course is clean and well maintained. All the bugs are gone by now (Sept) so it was an extremely pleasant day on the course. If you are up for a wooded challenge, this is the course for you.
Oh.. and it is free... always a plus.

The trees are brutal. You can through a great drive and it sails down the fairway... but careens off a tree and lands a bit off the fairway. Typically no big deal but at Pinnacle that can add 2 strokes as you fight through the dense trees to find the fairway and basket again. I can totally see this as a pro for the course but on this day... It was very frustrating playing pinball through the maze of trees. My fault for throwing off the fairway...
The Tee pads are a bit eroded and could use a raking.

This is a course with a fair amount of variety but the overall theme here is narrow fairways and heavily wooded. I think next time I will put away my distance drivers and focus more on my fairways and mids to keep me on the fairways.

The Pinnacle Disc Golf course is located behind the Newport, NH Middle High School in the woods. The course is free to play, which is often not the case in New England. The design of this course is wonderful, weaving up and down a wooded hill. There are many memorable shots here. There is plenty of variation between left, right, straight, uphill, flat, and downhill shots. The first hole starts out in the open but then the rest of the course is in tight woods. There are benches on many holes. The course is quite clean despite the lack of trashcans throughout. Challenge here comes from thick woods, varied elevation, some OB, and creative basket placement. Hole distances run between 208 and 511 feet on the long holes and shorter tees will make life easier on beginners. The scenery is beautiful, the area has a lovely smell of pine and the shade keeps things cooler in the summer months. There's also a huge ski jump here which is a sight to behold. I was here on a beautiful summer day and it seemed I had the whole course to myself, so crowds are not an issue. There are many mountain biking trails, and a ropes course here too.

The tees are functional but could be better. They are made of gravel, but small and often ripped up by an aggressive pair of cleats. Baskets aren't in great condition, but they still catch ok. Hole signs are hand drawn and not very informative and questionably accurate. There are navigation signs, but they are easy to miss. We never got lost, but navigation could have been easier. There are tons of bugs here, you'll want to take a bath in Off! before you arrive. There's plenty of parking, though I imagine it could be an issue during the school day. No restrooms unless you can get into the school.

The design aspect of the course is where the course really shines. Lots of great holes with a steady flow, beautiful scenery, and adequate challenge. However, a lot of the basics of a disc golf course do leave a little to be desired. With mediocre baskets, tee pads and signage, this 4 star course gets knocked down to a 3.5. Still worth a visit and plays great, but there are better courses out there.

Very beautifully nestled in the woods. There is a lot of challenging holes. Tee pads were well taken care of. The signage for each hole was great. Multiple tees for most all the holes but not all the tees have pads.

No course map showing location of next tee pad from basket. A lot of TREES, no cheap plastic.

This was totally different from the courses in San Diego, I will be back. Maybe instead on the flags or old pieces of wood marking the extra tee spots, how about using some of the natural rocks or wood as markers, similar to the beautiful benches on the course.

1st pro = FREE!

A great layout (and workout) using Pinnacle Mountain for a challenging 18 holes. Heavily wooded, this course is hard for beginners and pros alike. Recently I have noticed a lot of work and time getting put into clearing up brush and fallen trees.

Trees. Lots of trees. This course has a very narrow fairway, on some holes not more than a few feet wide, and the trees are unforgiving.

Bring old beat-up discs, for you will need them to get yourself out of the woods to save your better plastics.

A nice course with decent baskes, placed at proper height. And this course provides a great physical work out and a beautiful walk in the woods.

Too many trees. I've played plenty of wooded courses but this one is crazy. There is not enough variety in hole layout. It seemed every tee or at least every other tee was faced with a wall of trees. I actually like courses with some wide open holes or at least some forgiving routes. If you throw a disc even slightly out of the narrow fairways, it's nearly impossible to recover a decent score.

Hole 1 is nice and hole 2 is interesting and there are a couple of open holes, but I don't see why all the praise for this course. I drove 1 1/2 hrs to play in the tournament and the first time at the course. I had a great time but I wouldn't drive that long to play there again, when I can drive a little less and play Maple Hill.

1/8/2013 Update - With development and improvement in my game, I now enjoy the challenges that this course provides.

Great trails, well marked holes. Free! Good course, I took two friends who had never played disc golf before and even with the tight fairways and many trees they both had a great time. I would play it weekly if i lived closer. Has HUGE potential with some more work.

Not for the impatient. Many a disc will find the trees even for more experienced players. But it makes each good shot that much more enjoyable. This course will make you a better golfer if you play it.

The tee boxes are pro distance but there are red and blue markers for intermediate and beginner. I met James, the builder/caretaker Great guy, if you see him out there take a minute to talk to him or even lend a hand.