Stunningly beautiful long advanced course with water, OB, and steep, rugged terrain. A fine mix of water and forest and hill. Great for advanced players in peak physical shape.

The 1st four holes are essentially unplayable, IMO, due to water, snakes and barbed wire. Or feel free to lose some discs. . Yes. Snakes. The mountain is a 60+ degree incline and the terrain is extremely rugged. A few holes are perched so that a missed shot could fall 200+ feet into the valley below. I would not advise playing this course alone because, if you get injured, it would be difficult to get out. Players with breathing or heart conditions might find the steep climb up the cliff face too challenging. It would be helpful to have the online map (http://www.pdga.com/course-di...side-bluffs).Bring hiking shoes/boots, water, and a cell phone in case you need rescue. Be careful leaving the course on #18 as it would be easy to slip and roll 200 feet down the rugged (rock scrabble) mountain side. I walked about half the course (couldn't find #6-14) without throwing but still found myself suffering from sore muscles and shoulder/neck strain 24 hours later. But I am over 50, so there's that.

Summary: Take your hiking shoes and some disposable discs and be prepared for an extremely physical and beautiful hike. About 11 holes are (realistically) playable. Beware of snakes and barbed wire. It would be easy to fall due to the steep inclines. Anyone with breathing or heart issues should beware. The course itself is advanced intermediate but parts of it could be unplayable for non-athletes due to OB issues (barbed wire, water, and extreme inclines). Still, it's spectacular. I might come back and try it again. It would be more fun with local player guides.

-Designed by and for real Disc Golfers
-Great Bogie/Birdie short holes
-Unique and challenging pin placements
-Close to town, free, easy parking.
-Mostly a disc only location.
-Clear ambition to be more some day.

-Could be a real challenge for 'Recs in Keds'.
-Highway noise, especially first few holes.
-Still a work in progress...not much infrastructure yet.
-Would be nearly unplayable without map or guide.
-Barbed Wire O.B.: How 'No Trespassing' is it?

{NOTE: I am going to keep this short: I endorse Mark Mcc's full review! I will only add or double down on what I think will be helpful.}

Like 3 other reviewers, I am giving this new course the benefit of the doubt...it should be 4 stars someday but might still be 3.5 for now. And yes, if you can't hook up with locals, you NEED to either print out the course map or keep it open on your phone.

I play many steep, rocky courses, but this one really does need boots or at least hiking shoes.
And some of the elevated pins are WAY up there. Enjoy.

Hole #1 has over a dozen park and educational signs that just scream 'Don't put a hole here' LOL. Throw in the No Trespassing tight to the left and what appears to be O.B. tight to the right and another hole should be found somewhere else. Five of the first eight holes have a very undefined field to player's right where sometimes it's fenced O.B., sometimes not/ sometimes part of the course, sometimes not? Really hard to tell playing blind and the map did not help there.

I thought the last ten holes were outstanding! There were no more ambiguities and the signage improved as well. Except for construction on new housing up top, there was also a much quieter experience away from the highway.

It took some patience to get started here, and having the map on my cell was necessary, especially early on. But this course had what I look for the most: Great Shots! One after another, a few of them up there in 'Wow' territory. For that alone, serious players should find Show Low on any Southwest road trip.

Please read review below this one, I agree 100%! This course is a gem in progress. Absolutely love the design! Potential to be the best in AZ. The local designers/builders should be very proud of their efforts!

There is a TON of hard work going on so just nic picking here, but #'s on the baskets would be a huge help for us 1st timers.

So glad I drove a little out of the way from my gma's house in Payson to play this course,mainly due to the review below. Instantly one of my favorites!

First and foremost - ignore the first review of this course. The course has been re-designed and improved since that review was written.

This is an excellent course that is getting better. It plays below, up, down, along, and on top of a big hill (or small mountain). It offers a great variety of holes and shots that will challenge every aspect of your game (as well as your physical and mental stamina). With that being said, I am a rec level player, and I never felt frustrated with the difficulty level. In fact, my wife and I had a blast both times we played it. The first few holes are long, but fun to play with a nice creek and strategically placed pin on a small peninsula on the creek. Then the rest of the holes are good varying lengths and well designed - traversing up, down, and along the heavily wooded hill/mountain side. There are a number of very cool holes. In fact, while many courses struggle to identify a signature hole, this course is loaded with signature holes. Every hole we came to offered a slightly different challenge, and took advantage of the beautiful hillside property. There are some really nice views and several picture opportunities with the unique landscape, hole design, and pin placement.

The course is a work in progress. The locals here are working on continued improvements. Minor tweaking is still needed and being done. Signs, benches, better pads, next tee markers, etc... are needed and are being worked on. Alternate pads on a couple of the long holes would be a nice addition too.

Also, by nature, this course is built on some rugged and rocky terrain. If you are in decent shape, you will have no problems as they have been working on paths and making the course relatively easy to traverse. But if you are out of shape, you will be worn out by the time you finish the round.

We played this course while on a disc golf trip from Illinois to Phoenix Arizona (30 rounds at 25 courses in 16 days). This was one of the best courses we played. We were lucky enough to meet some of the locals here, and they were some of our favorite people we met during the entire trip. They love the game, and are like a brotherhood of disc golfers. They are dedicated to improving and making Ironside Bluffs the best course in the state of Arizona. And they are doing just that. Ironside Bluffs was one of our favorite courses we played on our entire trip. Its a championship level course that will be top notch once they complete the tweaking, add signs, etc..

If you love disc golf, and are in shape, find a way to make it to Show Low, Arizona to play this hidden gem. If you aren't in shape, get in shape, and then go play this course.

Thanks to Manny, Chris, Nick, Will, Doc, and all the folks in Show Low who showed us around. We will definitely be back - and are looking forward to it!!!

This course offers a great variety of shots, from long open drives to shorter steep shots up and down a hillside.

The first three holes are among the longest on the course and play across a flat meadow. Each basket is placed close to Show Low Creek and a careless drive or approach may result in a lost disc.

The remaining holes play on a wooded hillside, bringing both elevation and trees into play. These holes vary greatly in length, from as short as 125' to as long as 535'. Most are in the 200' - 300' range and require driving either up or down the hillside.

Excellent new Innova baskets show up very well in the shadows. Rubber mat tee pads are flat and level, though a couple of holes still have dirt pads. Nicely done wooden tee signs give hole number, and there are several "Next Tee" signs to aid navigation. There were some painted arrows on the ground that helped as well but are fading. When they fade out some additional "next hole" signs will be needed to aid navigation.

Notable holes are Hole 7 which is a short 125' straight down the hill to a basket guarded by trees. Looks like an easy birdie, but you are one tree away from par or worse.

Hole 11 has a great basket placement up on a large boulder. Missing a putt may leave you another that is longer than the first.

The basket for Hole 15 is placed at the top of a small cliff. An approach that misses the top shelf will drop back down below the basket.

Hole 17 has a basket placed on a steep sidehill, where rollaways are almost a sure thing.

With a little better signage and navigation this would be a outstanding 4.5 rated course.

This is a steep course at high elevation, so physically it will test you. Some of the footing on the hillside is rocky and loose, so sturdy boots are recommended.

I am not a fan of the first hole. It requires a drive directly up the main paved path for the park, with fences tight on either side. The barbed wire fence on the left side is marked with "Private Property" signs, though there are breaks in the fence and a lot of trampled grass. The thick grass beyond this fence is waist deep and makes it very likely that any disc fading into this area will be lost.

The wooden signs marking the tee pads are very nice, but include only hole number. Distances and par would be nice.

The baskets for many of the holes are hidden from the tee pads. First timers will be walking forward on many holes to spot the basket.

No water or restrooms on the site.

The first tee sign is a little confusing, as it says "Hole 1" with an arrow pointing down the path. We walked down the path expecting the find the first tee, but ended up at the basket. It turns out that the first tee is immediately next to the bulletin board on the paved path. The signs are actually at the tee pad and point toward the baskets. The second hole also tees off of the paved path. It isn't until the third hole that you'll find a "normal" tee pad.

There were baskets

Very rocky terrain, steep slopes with lots of loose debris, the tee-pads I could find were poorly constructed with rocks embedded in the dirt.

The fan page this course has on Facebook posted a map that was completely and totally worthless, I pretty much had to make up my own course...Wear Hiking Boots!