Blissfest is the name of a folk music festival that takes place every July near Cross Village, MI (at the far northwest corner of the mitten). For the rest of the year, the festival grounds are mostly unoccupied and play host to a campground - as well as 19 holes of disc golf.

The Blissfest grounds are overflowing with natural beauty, and the disc golf course offers a great self-guided tour. The course plays in kind of an "L" shape, navigating out and back from the parking lot. The first five and last five holes play along relatively wide but shaped fairways, with the edges mostly defined by large pine trees. The trees have grown up a lot since the older photos here were taken. It's still pretty easy to stay in these fairways, but very errant throws will be punished. The grass was a little bit long when I visited in late August, but nowhere near thick enough to be a problem. Hundreds of small purple wildflowers were blooming on these gently sloping and curling fairways. Dozens of bees were buzzing around tending to them.

The second distinct section of the course (holes 6-8 and 12-14) plays through a tighter wooded area at the corner of the "L". These holes are classic well-executed Michigan woods holes - tight but not unreasonably so. Any birdies on this section of the course will be well earned.

The final section of the course (holes 9-11) has a similar aesthetic to the beginning section, but the lines here are a little bit tighter. #9 plays along a right turning fairway that tightens up as it goes. Several large pines guard the approach to the basket, with the lowest 10' or so of each one's branches cleared out. My favorite hole on the course was #10, which starts out on a straight narrow fairway playing slightly uphill between two rows of large spruce trees. The approach to the basket curls slightly to the right and finally reaches an open area that is maybe 50' across. This little clearing among the pine trees with a basket in the center is Blissfest DGC in a nutshell.

There is a good mix of distances in the one layout available here. The shortest hole is listed at 180' and the longest 435'. The average is about 290'. Overall, I would say that the course plays at a moderate difficulty level. Beginners will be way over par, and experienced players will probably be under par - but both groups would probably still have a good time.

The baskets are numbered Chainstars in good shape. The tee signs are hand carved out of wood - basic, but with the required info. Benches are positioned at most tees, made in the same rustic style.

There is a covered area at the parking lot with a picnic table, kiosk, and recycling bin. Next to this are two porta potties. There are a couple of trash cans scattered around the course, plus another porta potty conveniently located where the layout converges after holes 5 and 14. Speaking of which, although this is an out-and-back design you could easily play holes 1-5 then 14-19 for a shorter 10-hole round.

The last thing worth mentioning is a complete lack of any safety concerns. I always like being able to jot down "No issues" in that section of my notes.

There aren't any navigational aids. The paths between holes were well mowed/cleared when I visited, but I would still recommend downloading the map here before going out (as it wasn't posted on the kiosk when I visited, and cell service is spotty on site). I was lucky and got enough cell service for a minute to get the map downloaded, as I did use it on a couple of occasions to prevent extra walking.

The tee signs for holes 17 and 19 were missing as of my play.

The tee pads are large pieces of carpet. These were in fine shape when I visited in August, but still not ideal I suppose. They do have brooms next to some tees which was a nice touch.

No practice basket.

I don't think you'll lose a disc in the rough here, but it's possible that one might get stuck in one of the large spruce trees. Use a spotter especially in that middle section of the course if possible.

Although many holes play slightly uphill or downhill, my feeling was that most of the time it's not really enough to actually affect play.

If you're planning a visit during the summer, make sure that the festival is not going on - as the grounds are closed during that time.

This was my 200th course played. After more or less completing my quest to play every publicly available course in/very near Michigan's Upper Peninsula, I found myself at the end of a 9 day trip to the UP with 199 courses played, other courses more local to home that I wanted to bag in the near future, and no "bucket list level" courses within that mix. I debated what to do, and in the end decided to research courses outside of my normal "home" range but near my route home from the UP. That's when this course caught my eye.

I have absolutely no regrets about making this one #200. It is exactly what I was hoping it would be when I selected it - a solid course in a peaceful, secluded setting. Just a refreshing round with me and nature. It reminded me why I got so hooked on playing disc golf in the first place.

I was initially thinking a 3.5 rating here, but I changed my mind while writing this review and am bumping it up to a low 4.0. Similar to Superior Pines in the UP (one of my very favorites), Blissfest DGC kind of punches above its weight in my book due to the...serenity of the place. If you find yourself in or passing through the top of Michigan's mitten, this course is 100% worth the detour.

I always get a bit nervous when deciding to drive to a course in a bit of an unconventional area. Is it still active? Is it maintained? Is it worth the 40 minutes in the car? Blissfest disc golf course turned out to be a winner.

The course is located on the Blissfest festival grounds and dips in and out of woods and meadows. The property must be absolutely massive and the designers had a lot to work with. The result is a well thought out, easy-flowing course that it's quite apparent love was put into. "Languid" is the term that comes to mind, as the peaceful setting and comfortable layout let you concentrate on throwing plastic and enjoying the company of your party. We played on a sunny Sunday and there was only one other group on the course.

Navigation is simple enough. Paths are mowed through the grass or driven through the woods that leave little question on where to head to next. There was only one hole that was slightly confusing due to two paths being available (one to the next hole, one back to parking I believe) and the next hole being a bit of a walk.

Benches present throughout.

"Groomed" is the only description that really fits the property. I swear there wasn't a branch or stick out of place. If I didn't know any better I'd say they must have folks clearing deadfall and whatnot from the forest floor because it's immaculate.

The course makes some clever decisions to keep things interesting. One of my personal favorites was 11, which used a barrier of pine trees across the fairway that you were obliged to skybomb over. I believe 13 used a similar trick to make an island in the middle of the fairway you needed to navigate around using a left or right tracking shot.

All in all I had a very enjoyable round here.

Facilities are somewhat minimal. There appears to be a water spigot at the front next to a small kiosk/pavilion and parking. Didn't use it so can't speak to the quality of the water, I imagine pretty good given it's northern Michigan. One porta-jon I could see somewhere in the middle of the course. I can see there being issues with needing to go after the drive to get here as you're certainly coming in from somewhere distantish.

Carpet tees were actually ok. I'm sure they'll bug some folks but I didn't have a problem using them. Not sure how I would feel after a good rain though.

Signs were...there, mostly. I think 17 was broken. I'm not sure they had much to do with reality though. They look nice, but I swear as often as not the basket was on the opposite lie the sign implied. Perhaps things were moved about at some point? I stopped looking at them about 1/2 way through.

No water in play, but what are you going to do?

I suppose an argument could be made that you can sky bomb literally every hole on the meadow due to the lack of a ceiling and plenty of space. I usually tried to play the fairway and had a good time with it.

Course is located down a dirt road. For some reason it seems like some of the better courses are on dirt roads. Must be the price of land.

Course is accessed via gate A4. It's pretty clearly marked with a giant "Disc Golf" sign but we came across A1 first and got confused until we asked somebody who happened to be in what I assume is their yard.

The course is a private course that feels like it's maintained to a municipal park's quality. It's owned by the...entity...that puts on Blissfest. Talking to the other group out there they were very enthusiastic that the course is open and playable by the public though and want folks out there using it. Private property open to the public always impresses me.

Donation box is present at the kiosk but not very well marked.

Course is closed during Blissfest music festival. This year it's July 12-14. Might want to double check your dates prior to coming out. Not sure if the course was in exceptional shape because we're relatively close to the festival. It's a month out so I assume it must be maintained throughout. Looked like it had been mowed a day or two prior to us arriving.

Good course - well worth the trip. We came down from camping at Wilderness park and it was a very reasonable drive. Hit Moosejaw for dinner on the way back and it made for a very pleasant day.

Wide variety of challenge, found a lot of holes to be difficult par 3's. Beautiful trees, Course starts in the open and goes into the shade for some relief on a hot day and great variety. Then back into meadows filled with Spruce trees, then back to shade. Finish in meadows. Lots of opportunity for using thumbers to 'hop' over trees. Good signage and easy navigation in summer, trail to next tee mowed or well worn. Did not see any poison ivy, no one broke out today, Friendly people led us to the course.

Tees pads are carpet. Could use an online map, no water fountains for 19 holes, bring some extra water. Hole 18 as described by others was a bit of a beating after a long round, A bit hard to find, it is 3 driveways before the 'Blissfest' building.

Great but very challenging course, worth the drive. Nice scenery, There is a donation post, throw in a couple of extra's for the kids who can't afford it. Store in Cross Village makes homemade quiche.

- Nice assortment of holes throughout the course providing the opportunity to play a wide variety of different shots; From wide open meadow holes with strategic tree placements to wooded tunnels that force a specific line.

- Excellent tee signs which provide decent navigation. The signs do a good job of showing the layout of each hole and highlight the preferred line to throw. Each sign also gives a rough direction towards the next tee from the basket.

-Baskets. Chainstar baskets in excellent condition with bright orange markers on the poles and the occasional flag on top.

- Good placement of benches and picnic tables throughout the course. Plenty of garbage cans available.

- Rugged terrain has some well defined paths to follow and wasn't too difficult to navigate. The "rough" didn't feel overly punishing to play from

- Teepads. The tees were a mix of carpet and rubber mats. I didn't mind too much and it didn't affect my play significantly, however I know this is a sticking point for some players. Some of the tees were a bit rough, being lumpy or not level.

- While a porta-potty was provided on the course and it was placed rather well, (Near the 5th tee, the course also routes you past it on your walk to the 13th tee.) it seemed rather unattended to, as if it was just left in the woods since the end of the festival. Attempted to use it but it was full of maggots and other nasty insects and was completely gross.

- Very beautiful course with varied scenery. Plays through farmland, meadows, and woods that perfectly capture the "Northern Michigan" feeling. There were some very striking multi-colored evergreen trees lining a handful of holes.

- I didn't attend the festival/play the course during it. The course was completely empty the day I played it. It was a very quiet and relaxing round. I imagine that it would have been interesting to play with the music of the festival in the background, and possibly having other players out enjoying the course as well.

- No vandalism. The course was in excellent shape. Fairways were clean of garbage and well mowed. Tee signs, benches and tables were free of graffiti, and the baskets were pristine.

19th Hole- While short and simple compared to the 18th hole before it, it breaks up the otherwise boring walk back to the parking area. I liked it.

Overall, I really enjoyed playing this course. I had to drive a long way to play it (about 300 miles) and I'd say it was well worth the trip when paired with some of the other fantastic courses in the area.

Aesthetic-- plays through a section of the festival grounds. Area seems to be DG exclusive with the exception of the woods which have some trails. I highly doubt that during non-festival times the property is very busy.

Tees-- I'm not usually a big fan of carpet, but these were good for what they were. nice and level and without ruts. They served the purpose nicely.

Teesigns-- Awesome. Hole number, diagram and footage really helped on this course.

Routing and navigation-- worn grass trails helped navigation here a ton. Most tees were visible from the preceding holes basket.

Variety-- a TON of variety here. The available land was used extremely well. A little something for every one here. The longest hole is 435'. The woods holes were completely different from the meadow holes

Trees-- The trees were fairly well utilized. I don't believe many trees were removed to build this course. I didn't see any stumps on the fairways on the meadow holes. There may have been some in the woods but it's hard to tell.

Baskets-- looked brand new, orange bands really helped visibility. Very Grippy.

Challenge-- the challenge of this course lies in the topography and the tightness of the woods holes. Pretty hard to lose a disc here.

Amenities-- Course could certainly use more benches. I would have liked to sit and rest a few more times during this course but there really wasn't anywhere to sit. Also, a few more garbage cans would have been helpful.

Course map-- would have been nice to have a map on the kiosk but this is really a minor problem.

Hole #19-- This course should/could have ended at #18. #19 is a bit of a throwaway hole. #18 is the signature hole here and #19 just feels like a let-down after the awesomeness that is #18.

Very impressed with this course. Very Very remote course that I'm sure is not played very often. The other course in Harbor Springs is a chuckers dream and this challenging course I'm sure is underappreciated.

Very good mix of open-tight shots.
You will use alot of your bag.
Very peacefull, not very crowded.
Chainstar baskets!!!

Navagation was a little iffy at times.
Carpet tee boxes, I didn't mind.

A little otta the way, but well worth it. This part of Michigan needed a course and they are off to a great start.