- free to play even if you aren't staying at the campground
- super fun course for all ages/skill levels - great for families
- some good incorporation of elevation change
- despite the short length, great technical challenge on most holes
- signage for disc golf parking spaces along road
- all baskets intact and in decent repair
- next tee indicators on baskets
- map at beginning of course
- navigation is generally straightforward
- rough is very forgiving despite being in woods
- variety of technical shots, just all shorter distances

- technically, doesn't open until 10 AM
- extremely short
- short rubber tees
- very basic signs with hole number, par, and distance
- Chainstar baskets are a bit dated and nothing special
- no numbers on baskets, but didn't cause issues

I loved The Tinderbox. Yes, it is VERY short, possibly the shortest 18 hole course you (or I) have ever played. Somehow, the designers made it incredibly fun and accessible to everyone despite this. I love tight, technical wooded courses and this brings that challenge without being overly frustrating to younger/inexperienced players.

The fact that it is open to people not staying at the campground AND free to them is amazing - please follow their posted rules so our community doesn't lose this privilege! Opening at 10 AM is unfortunate; I'm lucky I happened to show up early afternoon, but it is what it is. I have no idea if this is actually enforced.

The Tinderbox plays through woods near the campground; at time you can see tents and RVs, but we didn't cross paths with campers besides one group of kids exploring the woods nearby. I saw nobody else playing the course; I expect use is fairly infrequent. There are lots of birdie opportunities here, and the course is generally pretty well maintained and has some moderate natural beauty. If you go with your kids, you can shoot for birdies on just about every hole while they throw for par - which is 3 on every hole, as the longest one clocks in at 225 ft, and only 5 total are over 200 ft.

The equipment here is serviceable but basic - the rubber tees are very short and leave a bit to be desired, but there's not much need for run up given the hole lengths, and the signage and baskets work well enough. Most paths through the woods are beaten in enough that navigation was clear, and the next tee directions painted on the baskets were helpful.

I probably only pulled out a fairway driver a handful of times here; the majority of the course is a midrange and putter combo. With my 9 year old son, we played 18 holes in right around an hour - this course plays very quickly. It isn't going to be an immense challenge for an experienced player, but you do get a decent hike in due to the elevation change, and this paired very nicely with the much more formidable workout at nearby Flip City.

I didn't really note any safety hazards here; you have to cross the road once but you don't play over it, and generally the course flowed forwards and wrapped back to the beginning well. Despite being a pretty casual course, The Tinderbox has earned a place in my Favorites - one of 9 out of 174 played in 20 states. I highly recommend this for a fun, technical round paired with some of the other great western Michigan courses. Subjectively, I wanted to give this course a 3.5 (ironically, another reviewer said something similar). I really enjoyed it that much. Objectively, it's a bit on the short side and really isn't a 3.5 caliber course - but as you can take away from my review, I enjoyed it just as much as many 3.5s, and probably more than some of them.

The Tinderbox is a very short course that plays through dense woods adjacent to the Mason County Campground. Hole 2's sign says it best "designed for a short distance disc golf round that ANYONE can enjoy but challenging enough for those already with the skills." Length (3,088' total with a 120-225' spread of distances), gap width (tight lines abound), woods (mix of mature and young trees with dense underbrush in some places) and elevation (undulating ridges) define the character of the course. Basically every hole (except for maybe 16), gives the opportunity for an ace run, but you need to hit your line just right. Both the fun and challenge per foot here is excellent.

There's a nice variety of shot shapes required by the tight wooded alleys carved out of the hilly terrain. All holes have defined flight lines, but a couple allow multiple routes. There are a few greens with roll away risk, but most are small and back/side stopped with trees/brush.

Equipment is good, but not great. Chainstars are in great shape and have a rung marked in orange to point you to the next tee. Although they look nice, these are not one of my favorite baskets for catching performance. Tees are a rubber/plastic mats with a diamond pattern for traction. They are fairly level and were the right amount of grippy when we played (dry conditions). Tees are quite small. The signs have nice graphic design and provide some interesting background, but only list hole #, par, and length. No hole map or inline/decline information is shown. No benches or trashcans. The previous complaints (outside of the baskets) are negated by how short this course is. Hole maps and 6x12' concrete tees aren't critical on a course with an average hole length of 171'. None of these criticisms amount to cons. The equipment is appropriate for the course.

Lack of distance variety is both a feature and a con here. With the longest hole being 225', controlled power is not rewarded here. Tinderbox allows even the shortest throwers to be competitive with much longer throwers. Again, that's part of the course's appeal, but also a negative. Which one really depends what you, the player, and your group are looking for: scoring separation due to skill over luck or a fun, casual round for all skill levels.

I struggled to assign comments to pros or cons in this review. For this course especially, how you view some of the features will depend on what type of player you are, your course preferences, and the composition of your playing group. I decided to not get too hung up on which section each paragraph ended up in, so please read accordingly. The overall rating is also a challenge, I strongly considered giving it a 3.5, but decided it fit better in my 3 disc tier of courses.

I played this course with my wife and two sons (7 and 10). It really leveled the playing field and gave everyone but the little guy multiple ace run opportunities. I was throwing putter for most shots, with a few mids and a FH fairway driver sprinkled in. Everyone had a lot of fun (and hit a ton of trees). Although the course is short and most holes should be easy 2s for players that consistently hit their lines, hole 16 gave me fits. It's an uphill dogleg right with the bend less than half way down the 225' length. Instead of playing for what should be a simple 3, I went for the a high rhbh anhyzer that never had a realistic chance and deflected left of the turn and onto an adjacent green. I think I hit every tree between that lie and the basket and ended up taking a 7.

I would recommend this course to a wide variety of players. It really is a fun round for all (except for those with Redneck Machismo/Avery Jenkins leanings).

I think I'm going to sound like your mother telling you to eat your vegetables with this review. I admit, even my noodle arm self looked at the distances listed on the Hole Info page for this course and smiled. A course with a MAXIMUM hole distance of 225' and average around 170' can't be any good, right??? The Tinderbox proved me wrong.

Let me give you my usual encyclopedia intro. The Tinderbox is located at the Mason County campground near Ludington, MI. It is less than one mile from the three fantastic courses at Mason County Park (to be more exact: two fantastic courses, plus a third "course" that is just a layout playing to most of the baskets of one of the other two courses in reverse order). The campground and park are so close that according to signage in the campground, there is a dedicated walking trail between the two. The Tinderbox is a brand new 18-hole course as of this writing - it opened in 2021. Holes 1-11 play on the right side of the campground road as you drive in, and the remaining holes play on the left side. During the off-season when the campground is not open, you can still park outside the gate and walk a few hundred feet into the campground to play this course.

Why was I wrong about this course? In three words, "wooded elevation changes." The Tinderbox has a lot of them. There are holes that play up steep hills, other holes that play down the other side, and some holes that play across precarious flattish ridges on top. The most memorable holes here might be #12-14, which together are designated "Ace Run Ridge". All three of these play between 125' and 140' on the top of a ridge - but in tight woods. You'll have to shape your shots just right to card any aces here, or anywhere on the course. Several baskets have rollaway potential too, punishing failed ace attempts.

In addition to the elevation changes, there is good variety between left turning/right turning/straight holes. Every hole has a plethora of tree trunks between tee and basket. If these holes were 300'-400' long, I would be saying that some of the lines are too tight. But at these distances, I felt like they were excellent for testing my control and accuracy. This is obviously a par 3 pitch and putt course, but throughout your round the feeling is basically: Shape your tee shot well? Chance for ace or easy birdie. Hit a tree with your tee shot? You're playing for par now. Hit another tree with your second shot? You might even card a bogey. I managed to bogey a 178' downhill hole in this fashion, though I also had three birdies elsewhere to finish two under par for the round.

The basket are Chainstars. I had to wonder if these are actually some of the old baskets from Mason County Park that were recently replaced with Chainstar Pros. If that's true, the course planners only kept the best of the best because these baskets were all in fine shape.

The designers chose to keep things simple with the tee signs - they only have the hole number, distance, and par. That's fine for this course, as most baskets are visible from the tee. A couple high-visibility flags on hard-to-see or over-the-hill baskets would be icing on the cake. Similarly, navigational signage mostly consists of tape in the bottom of the baskets pointing towards the next tee. The short paths between holes are well maintained, and at the one longer walk (hole 11 to 12 crossing the campground road) there are nice signs with arrows staked into the ground. Navigation is easy throughout the course.

The rough is thick enough to add challenge, but thin enough on the ground that disc loss is near impossible. This is a perfect course for beginners camping on site to try out the sport.

There is only one bench, but it is strategically located at hole 10's tee pad - halfway through the course.

The Tinderbox is one of the quickest 18-hole courses you will ever bag. I had the course to myself and finished a solo round in about 45 minutes. You could play just #1-11 or #12-18 if you were really short on time.

Overall, the course manages to squeeze into the available space very well. But I did have a couple of safety concerns. Hole 14's tee is too close to hole 13's basket. Holes 14 and 16 are a little too close together for my comfort. And an unfortunate tree kick on hole 18 could find the camp road. On the plus side, the course stays well away from campsites, walking paths, and other campground amenities.

The tee pads are rubber mats. They are in good condition, but some were not quite level. With these hole distances most DG'ers are going to stand and throw, so this choice of pad material isn't as strong of a Con as it normally would be for me. I played on a dry day and judged them to be fine for this course - but still, concrete would be better.

Yeah, the distances are quite short. There are no water hazards either. DG'ers above recreational level might get bored. DG'ers who prefer wide open bomber holes will probably get frustrated.

There are no trash cans. Pack out what you pack in, or throw it away after your round in the dumpster at the front of the campground loop. Extras like a kiosk, practice basket, and porta potty are also missing. I'm not sure if other restrooms at the campground entrance or in the loop are available for disc golfer use or not.

There is no parking lot. Signs tell you to pull off the camp road to park.

The previous reviewer mentioned that hole #6 was unplayable as of that review. This has now been fixed!

I drove through the campground loop after playing my round and it looked like a very nice place to spend a couple nights. Even though I live only about a 75 minute drive away, I would love to come stay here for a couple nights and play this course before and/or after tackling (or being tackled by) the challenging courses at Mason County Park and others around the Ludington area. This course is almost perfect for what it is. It was never meant to be a destination in itself, but it definitely adds to the DG appeal of the Ludington area by offering something different than all of the challenging 24-hole marathon rounds. In my book, this course has some of the longer ones beat just by sheer fun factor.

Unless you have a big arm and cannot get enough of Beast, I recommend playing this course over the Goliath layout. If you are NOT staying at the campground, don't skip Whiskey Hills, Beauty, Beast, or even Labyrinth to play here. But if you have an extra hour to spare and like technical disc golf, The Tinderbox can fill that hour with a seriously fun time!

-FAMILY sized 3000' feet overall length means my kids won't give up on a hole like they do on many of the area's par 4 800' holes.
-short but very technical! A disc golf course where good players can two-disc it with a putter and midrange, the holes are brilliantly designed to challenge everyone's approach game.
-Laid out around the Mason County Campground with many sites actually being directly next to the course.
-PURE SIMPLE DISC GOLF FUN!
-Ace runs galore(but not easy ones). Even three holes on a ridge called ACE RUN RIDGE. Hit a tree though and you're looking at a 4 on a 150' hole.
-Literally right down the road from Ludington's Beauty, Beast, and Goliath disc golf park complex.
-GLOW ROUNDS as a camper!!!

-Short holes, but this is also a pro(see above)
-As of opening, one hole (6) is under some massive fallen trees that were blown over by a storm. The same storm that destroyed the Beauty course down the road. Play either hole 5 or hole 7 twice for a full 18 hole official UDisc score.

What a great little gem in the perfect location of the campground that caters to the much larger Mason County Disc Golf Park! Can finish an incredibly fun round in under an hour. The concept of being family-sized as well as being a challenge for more advanced players is laid out perfectly in this small course. Can't give it quite a 5 due to its size but it excels from a 3 to a 4 for its pure fun factor! Congratulations to the Mason County disc golf family for creating yet another gem in their crown of West Michigan disc golfing!