Sault Seal Rec. Area reviews
12
0
If you think of it as a nature trail with baskets, maybe you won't be disappointed!
Reviewed:
Played on:Sep 24, 2022
Played the course:once
Pros:
Sault Seal Recreation Area is located in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. It is basically divided into two distinct sections. The first section is a large wooded area with gravel all-season nature trails running through it. The second section is a wide open hillside that appears to function as a ski hill in the winter.
Someone thought it would be a good idea to add some disc golf baskets around the nature trail. And the concept isn't all bad. The baskets are typically placed near tree trunks located somewhere between 10'-50' off the trail. The forest near the trail has been thinned out in many areas, creating technical DG fairways. The trail crosses small bridges over low-lying areas in several places. These were mostly pretty dried up when I visited in September, but might make for fun casual water hazards in the spring.
16 of the 18 holes here play along these wooded trails, but the other two move into the ski hill section of the park. One hole is a wide open throw down the ski hill, and the other hole plays back up. A few of the holes in the wooded area have significant elevation change as well. My favorite hole was #9, which plays down a relatively open valley, across one of the deeper watery creek areas, and back up the other side.
Someone thought it would be a good idea to add some disc golf baskets around the nature trail. And the concept isn't all bad. The baskets are typically placed near tree trunks located somewhere between 10'-50' off the trail. The forest near the trail has been thinned out in many areas, creating technical DG fairways. The trail crosses small bridges over low-lying areas in several places. These were mostly pretty dried up when I visited in September, but might make for fun casual water hazards in the spring.
16 of the 18 holes here play along these wooded trails, but the other two move into the ski hill section of the park. One hole is a wide open throw down the ski hill, and the other hole plays back up. A few of the holes in the wooded area have significant elevation change as well. My favorite hole was #9, which plays down a relatively open valley, across one of the deeper watery creek areas, and back up the other side.
Cons:
This course has the feeling of a dream that never fully came to fruition. Right off the bat, I could not find the beginning of the course. Forget practice baskets, kiosks, porta potties, etc. - I had to determine whether the mailbox number "1" I found stuck to a tree next to the "Lynn" trail entrance, was in fact meant to be the first (natural) tee. By walking up the trail about 200' and seeing a basket labeled "1", I deduced that it was.
If you can believe it, signage actually went downhill from there. There is no navigational signage throughout the course, and no tee signage other than similar mailbox hole numbers - and I couldn't even find those on about half of the holes. As far as I could tell, holes 2-7 inclusive had no signage at all - just a basket somewhere off to the side of the nature trail. The hole distances probably range from about 200'-400' - but with many tees unmarked, who really knows?
Those baskets, by the way, are portable models. Some of them had wrong numbers on them, but just enough of them had correct numbers to reinforce my feeling that I was playing the course correctly. The nature trail actually forked a few times, and it didn't occur to me to take a photo of the trail map before I started. Let me tell you, it took every bit of my hiker's intuition and good sense of direction to make it around this course. I turned that knowledge into a course map, which I superimposed onto a photo of the trail map that I eventually found at one of the forks. Unless you want to relive my adventure, I highly recommend using this map (uploaded here). UDisc doesn't even have a map for this course!
I got a little confused towards the end of the course, where I found baskets that had multiple numbers stuck to them. I finally figured out that hole #16 plays to the same basket as #14, #17 plays to the same basket as #13, and #18 plays to the same basket as #1. All blind from different directions. If the course were ever busy, this would obviously be a pretty big safety concern. If the trail were ever being used by non-DGers, there would be safety issues there too. Many of the holes are likely line-of-sight, but several are definitely blind - no matter where you decide the tee is. Gravel isn't an ideal fairway ground covering for discs either.
I finally reached the ski hill section of the course (hole #15). There was a clear mailbox #15 on a sign at the top of the hill, so I felt pretty sure I was supposed to bomb it down the hill. I peered down there and couldn't see a basket through the light misting rain that was falling - but I figured it was probably hidden behind a small shed near the bottom of the hill. When I got down there, I could not find a basket. I'm pretty sure it is missing. Then the following hole #16 plays straight back up the same hill, to the same basket I had just played at (again, #14 and #16 share a basket).
I wasn't really sure if I was even supposed to be on the premises. I initially drove over from my hotel around noon, only to see a "Sorry, We're Closed" notice on the entrance sign for the recreation area. Next to this was another posting noting the area hours, where I saw that it would open at 1 PM. I verified this on Google Maps, then left to eat some lunch. I returned after 1 PM and the "Sorry, We're Closed" sign was still posted. I looked online and could not find any information. There was no gate or anything, and no other cars in the parking lot when I drove up. I decided to play and leave a note on my dashboard with my phone number explaining that I was just there to play disc golf, and would be happy to return to my car and leave at any time if there was an issue. When I returned to my car over an hour later, there were still no other cars around.
If you can believe it, signage actually went downhill from there. There is no navigational signage throughout the course, and no tee signage other than similar mailbox hole numbers - and I couldn't even find those on about half of the holes. As far as I could tell, holes 2-7 inclusive had no signage at all - just a basket somewhere off to the side of the nature trail. The hole distances probably range from about 200'-400' - but with many tees unmarked, who really knows?
Those baskets, by the way, are portable models. Some of them had wrong numbers on them, but just enough of them had correct numbers to reinforce my feeling that I was playing the course correctly. The nature trail actually forked a few times, and it didn't occur to me to take a photo of the trail map before I started. Let me tell you, it took every bit of my hiker's intuition and good sense of direction to make it around this course. I turned that knowledge into a course map, which I superimposed onto a photo of the trail map that I eventually found at one of the forks. Unless you want to relive my adventure, I highly recommend using this map (uploaded here). UDisc doesn't even have a map for this course!
I got a little confused towards the end of the course, where I found baskets that had multiple numbers stuck to them. I finally figured out that hole #16 plays to the same basket as #14, #17 plays to the same basket as #13, and #18 plays to the same basket as #1. All blind from different directions. If the course were ever busy, this would obviously be a pretty big safety concern. If the trail were ever being used by non-DGers, there would be safety issues there too. Many of the holes are likely line-of-sight, but several are definitely blind - no matter where you decide the tee is. Gravel isn't an ideal fairway ground covering for discs either.
I finally reached the ski hill section of the course (hole #15). There was a clear mailbox #15 on a sign at the top of the hill, so I felt pretty sure I was supposed to bomb it down the hill. I peered down there and couldn't see a basket through the light misting rain that was falling - but I figured it was probably hidden behind a small shed near the bottom of the hill. When I got down there, I could not find a basket. I'm pretty sure it is missing. Then the following hole #16 plays straight back up the same hill, to the same basket I had just played at (again, #14 and #16 share a basket).
I wasn't really sure if I was even supposed to be on the premises. I initially drove over from my hotel around noon, only to see a "Sorry, We're Closed" notice on the entrance sign for the recreation area. Next to this was another posting noting the area hours, where I saw that it would open at 1 PM. I verified this on Google Maps, then left to eat some lunch. I returned after 1 PM and the "Sorry, We're Closed" sign was still posted. I looked online and could not find any information. There was no gate or anything, and no other cars in the parking lot when I drove up. I decided to play and leave a note on my dashboard with my phone number explaining that I was just there to play disc golf, and would be happy to return to my car and leave at any time if there was an issue. When I returned to my car over an hour later, there were still no other cars around.
Other Thoughts:
Prior to my visit, DGCR had this course listed as pay-to-play. I found no evidence of that, and updated the listing accordingly.
My 1.0 rating for this course honestly feels generous. Sault Ste. Marie has a lot going for it in general, but disc golf is just not established here yet. Your two options in town are this course or LSSU, which I just rated at 0.5. The two next closest options in the US are each about a 45 minute drive away in different directions, and both of those I only have/will have at about 2.0 rating. For DG visitors to the Soo, unless you are a serious course bagger I recommend one of two options:
- Take a day trip over to the Pictured Rocks area which is home to one of my all-time favorite courses (Superior Pines - about a 2 hour drive away). OR...
- Bring your passport! I can't speak from personal experience, but there appear to be some better options a short drive away on the Canadian side. If I find myself in town again, it's this latter option I will be planning on.
My 1.0 rating for this course honestly feels generous. Sault Ste. Marie has a lot going for it in general, but disc golf is just not established here yet. Your two options in town are this course or LSSU, which I just rated at 0.5. The two next closest options in the US are each about a 45 minute drive away in different directions, and both of those I only have/will have at about 2.0 rating. For DG visitors to the Soo, unless you are a serious course bagger I recommend one of two options:
- Take a day trip over to the Pictured Rocks area which is home to one of my all-time favorite courses (Superior Pines - about a 2 hour drive away). OR...
- Bring your passport! I can't speak from personal experience, but there appear to be some better options a short drive away on the Canadian side. If I find myself in town again, it's this latter option I will be planning on.
6
0
No reviews in two years= my first clue... 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:May 20, 2014
Played the course:once
Pros:
Aesthetic-- plays through hiking trails and apparently down and up ski, sled and tubing hills. The hill holes were not in the ground in mid-may when I was there. There was NO snow or any hint of snow... The hiking trails I'm sure are used for HIKING so be careful and vigilant.
Baskets-- Since the hill holes weren't in, I wasn't overly depressed by the baskets. They were portable baskets and single chained but they caught nicely.
Baskets-- Since the hill holes weren't in, I wasn't overly depressed by the baskets. They were portable baskets and single chained but they caught nicely.
Cons:
Routing and nav-- not terrible for the first 5 holes, after that, it was anyone's game. seriously, there were so many intersecting trails that I had no clue where I was throwing. I ended up walking from 6 to 10 and then back to the parking lot because that was the last basket in(on) the ground.
Teesigns-- only numbers. no distance or diagram or anything of any use.
Teepads/pathways-- chew the hell out of your discs so avoid at all costs.
Risk v Reward-- not really any to speak of. the "water" was nothing more than small creeks that were a foot wide at most. the muck was more of a challenge to avoid as there was standing water everywhere.
Teesigns-- only numbers. no distance or diagram or anything of any use.
Teepads/pathways-- chew the hell out of your discs so avoid at all costs.
Risk v Reward-- not really any to speak of. the "water" was nothing more than small creeks that were a foot wide at most. the muck was more of a challenge to avoid as there was standing water everywhere.
Other Thoughts:
I should have known but as a dedicated course bagger, I had to come up... glad Silver Mountain was next.
