Root River Parkway 18 Hole Disc Course is in a large sectioned park . The parking is odd . You have to park on the road , preferably close to hole #1 . You can tell hole #1 by the large kiosk near it . Port O let nearby .
The Equipment . Root River has 2 level concrete tees on most of the holes , and multiple pin positions for each , that are supposedly changed routinely . This could give you a different look every week . The baskets were in the back position when I played . The baskets were Chainstars and in good condition . The signage was adequate and also gave the position that the tee was supposed to be in . The kiosk near hole #1 had no map on it ( ? ) .Practice basket near Hole #1
The Landscape : This particular course plays very flat . There was a man made hill on #14 , but my basket position required me to throw around it and another 200' . Not much else but a couple of slight grades . There was a creek that you could put into play if throwing from the longs on a couple of the back holes . There is also woods and some tight technical fairway holes on #'s 2-6 . After popping out of the woods , it becomes a park course for the rest of the round . The park was mowed and in good shape when I played it .
The Amenities : This course has trash cans in some places and benches everywhere . Also , there are port o lets at #1 and at the #10 tee . I'm not sure why a map isn't on the #1 tee kiosk . Nice practice basket
The Highlights : With the baskets in the back positions , this course will play long . Some of the woods holes are mind racking . #2 was a tight with trees guarding the fairway and the basket tucked to the right . #4 was a low canopy tunnel shot through a narrow fairway ( 392' ) After popping back out of the woods , #11 had a cool mando through a tight window over a creek , opening to a fairway that was clear to the right but had heavy foliage all the way down on the left . #14 had a large mound with trees blocking the fairway to the basket on the other side and next to a heavily brushed treeline .#18 was a great finishing hole . 365' from the longs , through a window and across a creek to a more open fairway , with the basket flanked by a tree with a canopy .Short tees on 15 and 18 take the creek out of play .
My Signature Hole : #15 was a bending right to left shot ,( 499' ) to a basket with a large creek in front of it . .
Disc Risk : Maybe less that average . The creek on 15 and 18 ( if you clip the tree guarding the window ) are your biggest problem . Otherwise , there is some growth lining a few holes , and a ricochet in the woods might cause you to look some . Other than that , maybe a high tree shot in the fairways could cause a problem .
Time : It took me about an hour ( minus the time looking for the #2 hole ) . A group of four could play it in around 2 hours or so . The long pinned course is going to be a challenge from either tee pad .The course adds some good variety to it's holes . With the challenge and variety combined , there is still some room for fun factor here .
The ambiance of the woods was so-so , but the park was nice to look at after you came out on #7 .

Safety . The holes are spaced well , but there is open air here , which can mean wind in some spots . You will be aware of the cars going 35 miles an hour past you since the fairway is semi close and unless you griplock a drive , you might not hit a car on the first throw . But if closer to the road , what about a 2nd throw since some of the holes are longer ? Also , there is a path and some dog walkers that might wander into a fairway . Be courteous and use good judgement .
Navigation : Tough in spots . If not careful , you can wind up on the wrong tee pad and throw at the wrong basket . Especially if in differing pin positions . The look for #2's tee pad in the woods from the #1 basket can be confusing . You have to walk over the bridge to your immediate right , cross the road and look for an opening in the woods . Next Tee signs in spots would help this a lot .
Pay to play : I think $5 for a park course is fair , but some will disagree. I understand completely .Just worth mentioning.At least the $5 ( or $40 per season ) is good for all of the county pay parks you play for the day .
Normal amenities : A kiosk with no map . No real bathrooms . and No Parking Lot ? They didn't forget to put the envelope holder for the cash near hole 1 , did they ?! . Anyway , it looks like the money is going back int the course .
Some long walks here . #1-2 , and 9-10 come to mind . The course is cut up into sections that are divided by busy streets that you will cross every so often .
I felt that there were a few filler holes on the course .Straightaway shots that were either open or with a tree between you and the basket .

A course that has multiple pin positions and 2 tees per hole and has decent equipment Has to be at least good . The course supplies you with what it has . which is a hill hole , some woods , window shots , creek throws ,,, Mark Peterson did a good job of course design here ,and the course gets gets a lot of love from Milwaukee County Parks Disc Golf and Milwaukee Parks District . The players must be respecting the course , too .
Variety here . Some shots you just don't normally see at most courses . This course can add fun to the course . I can imagine a local throwing from the longs and parring a hole like 16 will feel pretty good about himself .

My Recommendation : With the pins and 2 tees , it is a good play for newbies ( hope it is in the easier basket positions ) , 1 disc players , locals , intermediates ams and yes , pros ( longer positions , especially ) . The traveler will like this since it is right off of I-94 and I-41 as well as the Course Collector ( grab Dretzka , Brown Deer and Estabrook if you have the time since your $5 covers all of them ) . You will find something you like here . PLAY IT !!!

(3.155 Rating) A nice city park course that offers moderate challenges and appears to have gotten some layout tweaking in the last year or two.
- CHARACTER - A bunch of comfort items and extras. To start, it's always great to see two practice baskets to pregame a round. Also a community board (no map) and porta-potty at tee (1). Despite no map at the community board, there are scorecards available with a map with the course fee. On the course itself, there are a bunch of holes that have a two concrete tee set-up. I think every hole had multiple baskets placement and most had 3 placements. There is tree wind shielding and shading at a majority of the tees and there are benches at many holes as well.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I wasn't expecting this course to look as good as it did. Several large beautiful oaks flanking a few baskets. There are several fully wooded holes in the beginning of this layout as well. The back 9 brings the overall beauty back a bit with several roads in fringe play and in view, but these holes still had some appeal to them.
- CHALLENGING - I thing the back tees here will keep the local advanced player challenged as the baskets are often well guarded. I figure your average 950 rated advanced player will average a couple down give or take. Rec players will enjoy the challenge from the front tees.
- SKILL LEVEL FRIENDLY - With two sets of tees on many holes, Root River will be able to attract a wide swath of skill levels. My twin brother joined me for this one and he shot +19 from the short tees and he's played only a handful a rounds.
- QUICK PLAY - It took two of us a little over an hour to play all 18 holes and there were other groups on the course. I think its feasible that a four sum could knock this one out in well under two hours, maybe even approaching 90 minutes.
- NAVIGATION - Fairly straight forward since you'll have a scorecard with map. The hole signage is attractive and informative. I did make the mistake and jump to (17) after (9) as (17) tee is right there. My fault, I should have looked at the hole signage more closely. Please also note, there must have been some tweaking to this layout between 2015 and 2017 as the map I originally saw on DGCR did not match the layout I played. For one, once you cross the road to play (2) there is a total of 5 holes now instead of 4. (14) and (15) are combined, and it's now just (15). I went ahead and updated the map link on DGCR.
- UNIQUENESS - For a par 54, a really nice mix. Open shots, tunnel shots, duel fairways and several well defined deep pockets to the right and left. Water came into play twice on my round (7) and (15) but this could be less depending on the basket placements you get. Missing items include, elevation, par 4s, par 5s and doglegs.
- MAINTENANCE - The course was in great shape during my visit and from reading a few other reviews, it stays this way.

A solid course with only one major drawback and a few ticky-tack things
- SAFETY HAZARDS - Roads and sidewalks in play on several holes, mostly on the back 9. These types of issues typically make minimal impact on my enjoyment and rating of a course unless its epic bad, and I don't think Root River reaches that level. As stated earlier in this review, my brother, a beginning player, threw this course with me and he never threw it into the road. It's still very much possible though. Even I grip lock one 50 feet right from time to time, and that's all it takes on this course to put one in the road on a few holes.
- TIME WAITING - Why take a chance. I played during the evening rush hour and it seemed like there was a car zipping down the road every 30 seconds. I had to wait on numerous tees to throw so all the cars could clear. In addition there are a few sidewalks that run along the layout as well. So having to wait for pedestrians is possible as well.
- PAY TO PLAY - Five dollar to play per person or you can get a yearly pass for all the county courses for forty bucks. Well worth the five dollars in my opinion but there are definitely better free courses within an hour's drive.
- ELEVATION - Maybe one hole had 10 to 15 feet of elevation to it. Hole (14) had the basket perched on top of a large mound.
- LAYOUT FLOW - A couple odd and longer transitions on this layout. The transition between (1) and (2) is around 300 feet. The transition between (9) and (10) is about the same. You'll have to cross a semi-busy road 5 times as well. Also, it would have been nice to have had some basket placement indicators as I had to run up several fairways to check the basket placement.
- PARKING - Street parking only.
- SPACING - OK, but less than ideal. the closeness of the road is far from optimal. The hole (8), (9) and (17) are all packed together. My brother accidently threw to (17) from tee (8).

Root River is not going to win any major awards but this is a solid course all around. A good course for rec thru advanced level players. Probably not the best course for beginners but its manageable. The course finds the perfect balance between too easy and too hard. I will definitely look forward to coming back to this general area as there are just so many courses like this one to explore and try out.

-has about 6 of the coolest holes in the whole of the Milwaukee county parks department
-a testament to DG course design ingenuity
-wooded shots, open shots, tight gaps little bit elevation its got a little taste of everything really
-great neighborhood
-coolest tree ever
-coolest bomb over a river
-awesome risk/reward
-engaging and fun for all levels
-super high fun factor

really the only con is the limitations of the park itself, there's lots of open areas that must be utilized but i can't think of a better layout
before the redesign it was really boring bomb after boring bomb but now with the alternate tees and new layout the only thing boring is waiting for cars to pass so you can cross the street
-the only shame is that we can't get a few more courses like this one along the milwuakee county parkways i mean really, there are numerous places in wawautosa, west allis, milwuakee northwestside that could easily be turned into world class DG parks

when i played this course in the spring, i believe it had been just after all the work had been done and all the spring flowers where in bloom and the course was totally fresh and un-trampled. It was honestly one of the most beautiful disc golf experiences playing those tucked away holes 2-6 and a couple others that are tucked away. i really couldn't believe the improvement of this course from last year. i only played this course once last year because there was no reason to come back, it was totally blah other than the first few. after my initial round this spring with all its beauty and freshness i probably would have rated this course like four discs or four and a half discs. i was pretty stoked but after playing it a few times i realize, and appreciate the drastic improvement that was made but it kind of is what it is. if every hole was as cool as 1-6 this course would be fantastic! then it would be a four and a half rating. really i have fun on all the holes every time i go. it shouldn't be rated as high as browndeer or dretzka but it's ALMOST just as fun.

It seems to be a well kept, family-friendly park.

It has some variety, from wooded to open holes but not really enough to keep you interested.

Some people were saying that this course is too wet but as far as I can tell it is better than Abendschein in that regard.

Short holes are too short and not very technical.

Long holes vary from being about the right length with a few trees to just being open and long with nothing really special about the hole to spice it up (as another reviewer said, cutting a hole into the woods for a basket would add something to the otherwise boring long holes).

Another decent course in the Milwaukee area. There is definite room for improvement but it is a good start.

I will definitely be back.