Seneca Creek State Park is a huge, beautiful park, with the course being tucked away in one corner on its own away from other park activities. I'm sure the locals love playing in a setting like this being so close to D.C. This is a really nice area to play in and the course has that established feel that makes it special. It's apparent that the locals have put in a ton of effort to get the course to where it is today. A lot of attention to detail with ample signage pointing you in the right direction, indicators for the current pin position, and paths and steps to guide you to the next tee.

The course weaves its way throughout a few areas that offer different levels of woodenness. You have some tighter shots at the bottom of the hill and near the stream (mostly on the front 9) and then plays through more moderately wooded sections with a few more open holes near the parking lot. Conveniently, each set of 9 holes begins right next to the lot.

This course is a beast when the baskets are in the C position, often taking me two long throws to reach the circle (if not more). It offers a real nice balance of challenge while still playing very fair. In the long position, the baskets were often located in precarious positions, whether being tucked away among trees, near a stream, or located on a fast green. The multiple pin positions do a fantastic job of changing up the hole, with the A and B locations still being challenging but more friendly to beginners.

The streams add a nice effect by offering a possible chance to land O.B. on your drives or approaches.

The tee signs are great and are very helpful. The tees are a little mixed, but I had no problems with any of them. The designers did a nice job of changing the look of the hole between the three tees.

When taking the holes for what they are in and of themselves, this is a great course. There are two problems when having 27 holes like this though. For one, they started to blend together by the last 9 holes. I agree with another reviewer that I at one point throughout the round may have rated the course higher. Other people may feel differently about this, but I like to rate the course as the sum of its parts. I noticed some people playing only one or two of the 9 hole loops, and I would probably do the same thing if this was my home course.

Also, the course is congested and fairways often run close together. Sometimes there were multiple baskets in view and it could cause confusion for some players. I personally didn't have any problems with the course layout for my round, just something to keep in mind on a busy day.

Nothing that takes away from the course, but keep in mind that there is a small fee to enter the park on the weekends and the gate closes at sunset.

This is definitely worth going out of your way for, I really enjoyed my round here. State park courses are hit and miss, but this one definitely has seen a lot of care and attention. This is a beautiful area worth taking your time and spending the day at. Definitely one of the best in an area with a lot of solid courses.

Excellent shot variety here. Great mix of dense woods, with some more open shots. Lots of route options on this course, that will test every shot in your bag.

The signage is good, with well thought out tee and pin positions. Pin Positions were clearly marked.

Maintenance was great! well defined areas of play, well landscaped, with well worn paths. Good tee boxes.

Some of the holes run fairly close to each other, with mediocre to bad shots often sharing the same space. This really isn't too much of an issue, but if you aren't paying attention you bight get beaned by a rogue throw.

This really is a great course. Every hole offers excellent variety. There are doglegs in all directions, and lengths from ace run to long bomb. The trees are dense in some spots, but there is almost always a choice no matter where you land.

This is a fair course that really challenges and rewards thoughtful play. Its a good workout for your decision making and course management, which I thought was very fun.

As said above, some of the holes are pretty close together, and when it gets busy can be a bit crowded. This is something that I'm just not used to, but its not that big of a deal.

I have only played here once, and all the pins were still in the long position from the recent Seneca Soiree. This is a tough layout! I will definitely be returning to see the other pin positions, looks like pin position has a big impact here.

I will absolutely play here again, its worth visiting if you are in the area. The park on the whole is very nice with lots of other well maintained activities.

Absolutely beautiful course with some very picturesque holes, with challenges to match. A whole bunch of factors come together to basically make this the best course I've played to date.

The 27 holes weave in and out of a fairly dense forest and back into grassy clearings with much more spaced trees. Each set of 9 holes forms it's own loop returning to the parking lot, so that you can play any set of 9 or 18 holes you desire. The parking lot and start of the course is on the high ground of a hill that slopes down into the surrounding creeks, so there's usually an uphill/downhill factor in most holes.

The baskets are adequate older DGA baskets with no issues, well maintained, and the various tee pads are often made with large paving stones and bricks with a few newer poured concrete pads. All are nice and long though sometimes slightly narrow. The signage is good and most of the course has various indicators of how to move from a basket to the next tee. Navigation was rarely a challenge.

There's red and white tee pads for every hole, and on some of them an additional blue (hardest) tee, that generally seemed to take the tact of giving you a more occluded entry into the fairway without being much further. Then on top of that there's 2-4 pin placements per hole to keep things fresh if you come here often. There's even a bead on a set of hooks on the tee sign to let you know which placement the pin is in!

It's hard to put my finger on exactly what it is that makes this course exceptional; everything about it is great with no weaknesses, but what exactly is outstandingly unique about the course? I think there's 2 really memorable aspects for me:

First, it's pretty. Very pretty, at least the parts within the grassy clearings with some trees with lots of character and rolling hills surrounded by the forest. There were a few tees where I just stopped to enjoy the beauty of the hole for a second before throwing. There was one completing a loop, I think it was hole 18, that made me regret not bringing my camera because I could have made a great desktop background out of that view.

Second, there's some really good course design here largely due to just how conducive the landscape is to disc golf, but credit to the designers that they didn't waste it. Some of the holes are really interesting in how they play the ceiling created by the trees against the rolling landscape of the hills. Traditionally when we talk about hitting a gap in disc golf, it's implied that the gap is horizontal in nature, between the trees on the left and the trees on the right. Here, on numerous holes, the gaps are vertical, and you've got to hit a spot between the ceiling created by the tree branches and the floor created by the rising or falling slope of turf.

One hole stands out for me where you have to play downhill and then uphill again, but in the apex of the gully the tree cover will knock down your discs as you try to squeeze out max distance. There's a risk reward decision there and on many holes, challenging how high do you dare throw in the name of distance.

You can always nit-pick, but the complaints here are really small.

The strongest complaint I can come up with is that there's an over abundance of holes requiring left-to-right shots relative to the right-to-left shots, meaning that a really good RHFH or LHBH game would have a significant advantage here, I think. I have a heavy preference for RHBH but found myself trying to throw a lot of long distance forehand here because the hold demanded it.

Besides that, while the holes that played through the scenic grassy clearings near the parking lot were amazing, some of the holes playing through the forest were a little too "plinko" for my tastes, with the fairway not being fair. I'm pretty confident hyzer flipping up tunnel shots, but there were a few here where all you can do is throw it up the gap and hope you get fairly far before you inevitably hit a tree, and don't kick too deep. One hole I recall, the biggest gap was 3 to 4 feet (it would have been okay from the tee pad immediately in front of it, but didn't play very well from the harder tee). To put this into perspective, though, it's a 27 hole course and this is maybe 5 holes we're talking about where I'd complain some trees needed to go. Generally, there's a well defined fairway to hit even through the wooded holes. This problem is sparse.

The tee pads were a bit narrow. The grass was thin and since it rained the day before it was a bit muddy. Stuff like that. You really have to reach to try to criticize this course.

It's a challenging course and I like that. I didn't play great in my 2 rounds here but that's what you'd want if you're lucky enough to get to play this course a lot. It would take time to learn the best shots for all the holes and put up some good scores.

What I'd give to have this as a home course... I could play thousands of rounds here with the multiple pin placements and never get bored.

It's great golf all around, and lots of variety. I am really glad I made the trip out. The drive through the state park to the course sets up some high expectations, and you're not disappointed in the slightest when you get there.

The course was well maintained, with signs listing the pin, pin location and distances at every hole. The course mixes both wooded and open holes, also includes some holes that are bordered by a stream. The combination of woods and distance provides a reasonable challenge (however also provides some easier holes).

The bugs at this course can be very bad. At times you will be swarmed with gnats, I have also found ticks after playing. The course is also lacking holes with any significant "wow" factors. No great downhill shots, or shots over a lake, etc.

This is a great course in this area, the cons I have listed are minor nit piks but placed to explain why I rated this course as a 4 instead of 4.5 or 5.

This course was very well-kept. The holes were challenging, yet fun to play. There were novice tees for new player and children. Each hole had a variety of basket placements, which I assume are regularly changed.

The layout can be confusing at times, you will find yourself walking past tees and baskets to find the next hole. A few holes were spaced out a little farther than I would have liked. $5 out-of-state entrance fee into the park.

Very beautiful layout, and 27 holes. The holes were very fun to play, and it was always quite easy to find your discs. Coming from Kentucky, it was a nice change of scenery. The addition of some old broken down cars on the front nine was very interesting. Didn't get to play the last nine holes though, maybe next trip.

This course has a great layout of 27 holes which has three 9 hole loops that all meet in a central location so you are never too far from where you parked. There are multiple tees and basket locations per hole and plenty of benches around the course. There are signs on each hole and the entire course is set up nicely for tournaments. There is a good mix of woods and open holes and the forest is never too thick with undergrowth so losing a disc is less likely to happen. The course is also located in a nice park.

The park has an entrance fee. Some of the signs can be a little confusing and finding the baskets in the different locations usually requires a quick walk down the fairway. Some of the tee pads were pretty bad with lots of holes and potential spots to trip over when throwing. This is not a course for really opening up some long drives, there always seems to be an inconvenient tree that is randomly placed in a spot that forces you to lay up on many holes.

This is one of the best courses in Maryland. Its definitely worth going out of your way to play here. Be ready for some crowds sometimes because this is a popular place. They should increase the frequency of tournaments here.

of the hundreds of courses i have played, this is definitely one of my favorite. just a beautiful layout with 9 holes all looping back to the parking lot. the long holes are incredibly challenging, the short holes are a birdie fest, and the mediums are pleasantly in between.
great OB line markers.
the creek never hurts for ambiance!

lack of trash cans is a minor annoyance, but hardly a big deal.
there was a tremendous amount of creepy crawly wildlife (i saw 2 snakes, a large toad, a gillion caterpillar things that fell from the sky and a giant millipede dealie). so it goes.

granted i was here in the midst of spring on an 82 degree day with low humidity. am not sure i would have been AS enchanted here in january or july.

27 holes with a varitey of holes, a few lunch eaters and few aceable holes and everything in between. Each 9 starts and ends right by the parking lot. There's two practice baskets right by the parking lot as well. There's plently of signage and new tee pads have been installed on 8 holes. Multiple pin placements. Cost you $3 to get into the park on the weekends from Easter till October, but it's worth it. There's a crew of guys that maintain and improve the course regularly, if you see them, please thank them, without them it wouldn't be the course it is.

No trash cans, so please whatever you bring in, please take it out with you, that includes your cigarette butts too!
The only real cons that I see is for players new to the course, it can get a bit confusing going from #5 to #6, you have to go up the hill to #6 tee pad. And from #12 to #13. You have to walk down towards #6 tee pad and walk down to #13 tee pad towards the creek. And from #7 to #8, because it intersects with #24 to #25, but if you open your eyes and use your head, you should be just fine. The only other con would be #13 & #14 can get really muddy and slick after a solid rain and make throwing a bit tricky.

The pin placements get changed pretty regularly to keep things interesting. In the warmer months you will have bugs and other critters but you're playing disc golf outside, in the woods, in Maryland, you're bound to incounter a few, be prepared.
Out of Bounds on #3, #4, #5, #13, & #14, and will put a hurtin' on your score.
All & all, it's a great course and if you haven't played it yet, you need to play it.

A major effort to replace the older teepad has begun. The local club installed ten new concrete teepads in 2015. They are ready to play on holes 2 Blue, 3 Blue, 6 Red, 7 Red and 7 White, 11 Red, 13 Red, 18 Blue, 23 Blue and 27 Red. Average size is 4 1/2' wide x 15' long. They are large and level!

Three separate nine hole loops, multiple pins and two tees on every holes give so many options for the casual player and tournament layouts to be different.
Outstanding design and use of the land (which is pretty great in its own right). Many different shots must be played through the field holes and the wooded holes alike. Having a good, well balanced game of power and finesse comes into play here - too much of one and not enough of the other will not yield a tournament winner.
Back to the land, nice elevation changes, streams, nicely mowed grass fields, beautiful wooded areas with views of the creek and far hillsides on several holes.
The park itself has nice amenities, heated bathrooms, running water, ample parking, well maintained. This is a pack it in, pack it out park - so don;t expect trash cans. But be respectful and clean up after yourself.

The tee pads always seem to be a work in progress. They are being worked on and I like what I'm seeing.
Used to be very narrow tee pads, and the older, shorter concrete ones are being expanded on.
Last time there I saw 4x6s around a few tees and others were already expanded and had a gravel base down, so this one draw back is being worked on.
And I do know just how much work it is to install 54 tee pads in some not too easy to get to places... But its my only con at Seneca

I've been traveling to and playing Seneca for 10+ years and really love it here. Seasonal allergies do just about kill me as I'm allergic to the invasive Olive trees & have had a really tough time at the Soiree more than once...
The course is well worth the 3 hour drive for me, and I would recommend it to any golfer.
The design is what I really like, it has worked through the old roller course (still was a great course) and evolved into one of the more well rounded courses in my opinion. As stated, it takes all your shots to do well here.
The variety of shot selection, risk/reward shots, as well as the mental & physical challenge of playing 27 holes in the longer pins - Seneca is truly one of my favorite courses.
If/when the tees get finished and are all large, level and consistent, this is easily a 4.75-5 course for me. I'd put it at 4.5 even with the variety of tees in use today.

27 holes

Good signage. Not confusing as a first timer trying to navigate.

Great variety of holes. Plenty of lengthy holes.

This course seems to have some good support from a local club. I went on a Saturday late morning in late fall and it was busy. There appeared to be a possibly some random draw dubs going on. There was also a work crew out there. All the signs of healthy club to support this well maintained course.

Great variety of tees and basket positions.

Would definitely go back if I am ever in the beltway again, which I am sure I will be.

Very fun course. Tons of different shots, S shots, long bomb hazers, short putter driving holes, low flick skip shots etc. You will need a wide range of skills to succeed here.
Good variety of length and accuracy, and with the variety of tee pads to shoot from, there should be a configuration for most skill levels.

A few holes just hard for hard sake. I think even a tour pro might be banging their head against a wall after playing a few of these holes. Tee pads could use a bit of work.

If the park was free to enter, this would be a 4.5+ in my book. However, with the rather steep price of admission, my standards go up. I expect more trash cans throughout, better tee pads, and some of the trails were hard to follow for someone playing the course blind. All in all, definitely one to play if your in the area

Seneca Creek State Park hosts 27 holes of disc golf bliss. There is an terrific blend of grass, woods, water, elevation change, fun and frustration that is all contained in a wonderfully beautiful and clean park. There isn't really extreme terrain, but all of the elements that make up a good course can be found here. My favorite holes were 5, 13 and 14, some of the longest, and more wooded holes, with a creek running the length on the left of the fairways. The course was obviously very well loved, and someone was dutifully trimming branches here and there while I played. Long and short concrete tees for most, if not all holes, and usually multiple pin positions.

I couldn't really complain, but trash cans would be nice. They are going for pack in, pack out trash, and it seems to be working. All par 3, but on some holes, certainly with the long pin positions, thats no gimmie. Pets must be leashed to my doggies dismay.

Would be playing this one frequently if I lived in the area. The 4.25 average rating is dead on, but I went ahead and gave a 4.5 by virtue of having 27 holes with great equipment and impeccably clean and beautiful surroundings. I really liked the personality of this course, and it was in magnificent condition. I played the day after a tourney was hosted there. There may not be a trademark awesome hole here, but there is consistent high quality through all 27 holes. I shot a 10 over par 91 on my first and only round so far. Hope to get another crack at it someday. Very fun course in a very nice park. Other activities in addition to disc golf.

There isn't much that can be said about this course that hasn't already been said - it's well known as an excellent course. My personal take-aways:

Plenty of variety in shots, this isn't a RHBH course where you might have to throw one or two anhyzers per round, there are plenty of those shots here, a few thumbers, and of course the legendary rollers when the grass isn't too high.

Very little chance of actually losing a disc, unless you really huck one into the brush or into the creek or something like that.

Excellent signage, some of the best I've seen.

Each set of 9 holes ends up back at the parking lot, making it easy to play them in sets.

Some of the tee pads are uneven and could use some improvements.

Middle 9 can be a bit arduous with lots of walking/hiking between holes. This is even more noticeable if pins are in the A position.

Cedars... ugh. Stay away. At least there are poles here and there to try and poke your disc out from their hungry clutches.

It's listed as moderately woody, but honestly it's on the low end of that. There are distinct, well-defined lines for most shots.

Bugs are there but not really too bad.

Two separate practice baskets, which is a nice plus.

Variety of difficult shots. Fairly easy to navigate. Bugs are not too much of an issue. I consider myself very amateur and I did not lose any discs.

Most of the hole were very difficult. Only about 5 holes were open enough to make a very simple shot. Although they weren't terrible, some of the tee boxes could be redone. As mentioned the course is easy to navigate, but some new arrows and signs could be fixed or added.

If you plan on playing all 27, it'll take you at least 2.5 hours, so start before 6 during the summer! I haven't been to TOO many disc golf courses, so my rating may be subject to change at a later date. Make sure to bring water because their is no running water or bathroom facility besides a portapotty.

Layout - Seneca is three 9 hole loops that is comprised mostly of smaller rolling hills dotted with trees; there's also some more wooded technical holes thrown in.

There are multiple pins and tees so the possible layouts you can play is a huge plus. I only played once but from the looks of it these changed the course quite a bit. The different pads usually had different angles or earlier tighter gaps for the longer ones.

Overall the course just has a really nice mix in lines and elevation changes that will give you a solid challenge if you play from the longs. It's a course that really pushes you to be creative in your shot shaping because there are so many options off the tee.

It says all the holes are par 3's but for most people you're going to play a lot of holes that take multiple shots to get to the greens. Although again on many holes the option of being creative with rollers or huge shots above the canopy is possible.

Really nice pin placements from what I remember. Some were tucked in corners, guarded heavily by trees or on slopes that made them difficult to access and second guess running that long putt.

Equipment - Baskets were in good condition. The pads were a mix of different things depending on which one you were on, all were large/solid and I didn't have a problem with any of them.

Really nice tee signs that had a map of the hole and different pads/pins. It also had beads showing which pin position the hole was in, huge plus.

Atmosphere - The course seems to be in an area of the park all to itself which is great, never saw anyone not playing disc golf out there. The park is really beautiful, nice venue for a course.

Layout - My biggest complaint about the course is that it just seems repetitive, especially after 27 holes. No holes really stand out all that much and even the transitions in and out of the woods don't do enough to give you a fresh feeling as you play.

The holes did seem to play left to right more so than any other way so it does favor certain players from what I could tell.

Also many holes that were more open didn't do much to punish bad shots or reward good but not great ones. Seems like you either nail it just right or you're playing a simpler second shot looking for par.

Atmosphere - Bugs my god the bugs. They were even worst than I imagined. They go up your nose and in your mouth and eyes; bug spray didn't seem to affect them.

Half way through this round I may have rated it higher but by the time I got done with 27 I was ready to leave.

It's a really solid course and some holes are a ton of fun but like I said it just feels repetitive at a point. If I lived close I'd probably get in the routine of playing one or two nine hole loops.

I had two of my all time greatest drives out here and when I think about this course that's mostly what I remember.

I was under the basket on #13 (375' version). Threw my aires on a super high turnover line and it just held around the corner, beautiful line.

The other was the finishing hole 27, we played long to long (507'). I threw my cannon on a high turnover line up over the tree on the left and it just panned all the way to about 20' from the basket.

-Holes with varying degree of difficulty. You can go from having a wide-open fairway to throwing into a nest of cedar trees.

-Tee boxes were in pretty good shape.

-Blind shots, narrow fairways, sudden drop-offs. I love having a course with character like that.

-Saw a snake. That was pretty cool.

Everything is perfect and it always will be.

It was the morning of my best friend's wedding, so we decided to get him some fresh air (and distract him a little) by playing a few rounds.

Very good wooded course. Has a nice variety of shots. I threw most of the discs in my bag which is uncommon among most wooded courses.

Good looking tee signs with a successful way of representing which location the basket is in.

Nice concrete/paver tee pads at every hole

Fairways were mowed

Great course

Only con is that there is no bathroom or water nearby.

One of the best wooded courses I've played. When I played I went with some beginners and even they loved the challenge of the course. Hopefully when I go back the baskets will be moved to the longs so I can see what this course is really made of.

We played in a Thunderstorm, no other players, just 50 to 60 White Tails, trying to be moving obstacles.

Maybe a bit better use of all the great elevation change would improve this to a higher rated course. It is great, could be even better.

Lost a Morley Field Hat and a pair of Sunglasses, please contact if found. Hat was Black. Glasses have a strap. Can you ask if park staff found it for me, please?

27 holes of top notch disc golf holes. This course is in a State Park, that recognizes how popular the sport is. Course is laid out in 3 9 hole stretches that come back to the parking lot. 3 tees per hole. Multiple pin positions that get moved around. Tee signs are pretty good at indicating which pin position is in play.

Only a Jiffy John in the parking area. No water or other facilities at the disc golf course (there are other facilities in the park.) Signs are only at one of the tee pads per hole.

I had played this course in its original 18 hole configuration 20 years ago. A configuration I prefer over today's design. However many of the trees (cedars) from back then have grown out and closed out that course. This is (for the most part) a tight technical course, through a wooded section of the park. Some areas are old growth (tall trees with few lower branches), others are recent open growth area (aka lots of branches).

Discs for sale (and bags) are available at the Park headquarters. There is an entrance fee for the park on weekends ($3 for MD residents, $5 for out of staters). Park Headquarters is accessible without having to pay the entrance fee.