+ Very cool terrain, albeit quite rugged. Lots of elevation in play, mix of open & heavily wooded areas. Very low (basically zero) foot traffic in the area, so your odds are pretty good to see some neat wildlife.

+ Great views all around, as is typical for Yellowstone National Park. On holes 8 and 9 you actually get a look down onto the top of the Mammoth hot springs area, which is a unique angle that the hordes of tourists really never get a chance to see.

+ Some of the throws are cool. A few big bombers and multi-throw holes. Some of the apparent greens are pretty fun and technical.

- Very difficult, nigh impossible to navigate. We found one marked tee, and the tone target for Holes 1 & 18 is tough to mistake. Aside from that, you're squinting at the map and trying to figure out which unmarked rock/stump might be the target. And which piece of ground is flat-ish and clear-ish enough to serve as a tee.

- Seriously, sorry to go on about it, but just really tough to consider this a true course, since almost nothing is marked/designated. It's really just a rough layout that guides you through somewhat of a choose-your-own safari.

- I mean, really. You could take a map of any 20 acre plot of land, and just draw on 18 tees/fairways/targets, and it would be about as easy to navigate as this course. If we hadn't found the 10th tee (3 sticks pointing in the direction said the 10th fairway should go) I might very well think this "course" was just a prank to fool gullible course baggers.

- Depending on the season, the foliage and undergrowth get very overgrown. I'm talking waist high in many areas, and there are no cleared/mowed fairways. You have to watch where your disc flies very closely, and avoid blind hucks if you want to find your disc. Also some stinging nettles in areas, so watch out!

- Oh yeah, and there are snakes. Saw two ~4' long snakes on consecutive holes (4 and 5). They appeared to be bull snakes [non-venomous], but I'm no expert on the snakes native to Yellowstone. Certainly not looking to get bit and find out if my identification was correct.

If you can find a local guide to let you know where the unmarked tees and targets are, might be worth a spin. (No guides currently listed on DGCR as of 6/30/18. Might try asking at the Mammoth Hotel front desk, or just asking around the park employees.)

But really, it doesn't seem like many people play here anymore. Not sure how "established" and broken in the course ever was, but right now it sees next to zero use. And it's pretty well grown over. Again, tough to even consider this a course. Without a map telling you it's a disc golf course, you'd never be able to distinguish the area from any other plot of wild land.

With no guide, only the hardiest and most dedicated baggers will manage to hack through a round here. Even then, probably still not a good use of time.

Sort of a bummer, because the land is really awesome. You could design a top-notch course on that terrain.

-Its a disc golf course IN Yellowstone National Park
-Long shots, some technical, make for a well rounded game.
-Close to Mammoth Hot Springs developed area.
-Fun terrain-driven variety
-Away from the crowds, abundant wildlife nearby.
-Cool, historic graveyard near tee 16

-Objects course, and designated objects can often be confused with other nearby objects.
-REALLY need a guide to get through the whole thing, even with a map.
-Man Made objects to mark holes are often missing.
-Many holes are exposed, noticeable during the summer heat.

Mammoth Ridges DGC is an object course built by Yellowstone Employees for their use during the summer. While it is not marked and very difficult to follow, regular visitors to the park are welcome to try to play. Typical NPS rules apply; stay away from animals, pack it ALL out, and respect each other.

The course is found on the hillside and along the ridges behind the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. While much of the land is quite open, this course utilizes the abrupt changes in elevation often, and there are also some sections with dense pine coverage. Some steep climbs both uphill and downhill are incorporated into the course.

The attached directions and map are a valuable resource to completing the course, as you would be utterly lost without them. Even so, there is some confusion to be had for the first time player, and even after that. Targets like "hole is a rock next to a bunch of dead trees" or "hole is the dead tree with a few branches and most of the trunk missing" can make for a very difficult time distinguishing the hole, especially on par 4 or 5 shots. To add to this issue, if you shoot toward the wrong target, you will have trouble finding the next tee.

This course was my first exposure to a 100% object course, and with the 'par 5' shots to the 'rust colored rock on the left' it proved to be very difficult to figure out on my own. By all means, once we figured it out, it was fun, but we certainly felt like we were in on a secret.

The beginning and end of the course proved to be the most interesting. Hole one starts fairly simply with a shot to a tone pole. This is immediately followed by a long uphill par '5' shot which is easily obtainable. Danger lurks on the left with a fenced off section and the right with a steep drop off in the wrong direction.

Hole 3 plays off the steep hill just climbed to a very large rock, and the course proceeds to a wooded section at this point. After a very steep climb at hole 7, the course opens up on top of the ridge overlooking the Mammoth area.

Holes 10 to 14 are where I encountered the most confusion navigating. The area is huge and spread out, and with directions like 'The hole is a large L shaped rock next to a small pine on top of the ridge,' I was never sure exactly where to go. The only terrain features out here are rocks and small trees! Make that a par 4 hole, and it is almost impossible to understand where to go. It is easy to remember once you figure it out but this helps very little with the first time player.

Hole 15 leads you back to familiar territory, eventually ending the course where you began with some fun, open downhill shots. Beware of wind on these holes, and remember that it is very difficult (and illegal) to hop the fence into the power substation. They made it animal proof which makes it pretty human proof as well.

If you walk up the hill behind tee 16, you can get a good little history lesson and visit a historic 1800's era graveyard.

While a fun course to play while in Mammoth Village, in the grand scheme of courses, this one is very skippable. There are better courses in Yellowstone National Park, and you probably should not waste your vacation trying to figure out this nature walk. If you are working in the area, then congrats on the opportunity to grip it and rip it all summer!