Portland, OR in March

[rybob42]

Hey Northwesterners,

The wife has given the green light to a disc golf trip, and I'm thinking the Portland area looks like a mecca of disc golf in the western US. I'm aiming to go in late March. I've got some questions for people in the know.

How would the weather be?
What are the course conditions then? Are some too muddy or wet to play?
How is the weekend traffic at courses in the area? Should I try to get some weekday play in?
What courses should I definitely hit? Horning's Hideout looks awesome. Any others you'd personally recommend? (I don't have much of an arm, if that helps 250-300)

Any other tips would be welcome, including other possible destinations in the West. Thanks!

 

[Hippy007]

How would the weather be?
What are the course conditions then? Are some too muddy or wet to play?
How is the weekend traffic at courses in the area? Should I try to get some weekday play in?
What courses should I definitely hit? Horning's Hideout looks awesome. Any others you'd personally recommend? (I don't have much of an arm, if that helps 250-300)

Any other tips would be welcome, including other possible destinations in the West. Thanks!

Ok Weather. should be getting dryer and a little warmer at that point in the year.

Traffic. If sunny and warm most will be busy get there early.

Courses to hit: Horning's, Pier, and Timber, are my fav three. Milo is cool and all the baskets might be back in by then. Some like troien but there is lots of water there. there is also Dabney, Grand Lodge, and hagg.

There is tons to see and drink all over ton. Lots of beer. If you want a guild at Horning's shoot me a pm when it gets closer and see if i can make it out to play.

Hippy007

 

[ptld2001]

March can be a funny month. It probably won't be very cold, my guess would be highs in the mid-50's, maybe low 60's. It can be wet, but there are sometimes nice spells. If you can get out during the week, do it. If there's good weather during the weekend, the courses will be packed. As far as courses, there are a lot of great ones. I throw much shorter than you do, but I still enjoy Pier Park. Horning's is great because there are three different levels, so there's something for everyone. I really like Leverich, which is right off the freeway in Vancouver (just north of Portland). It doesn't have the really long shots that can frustrate people with a shorter distance.

 

[rybob42]

Excellent! Man, you guys have it good up there.

If I were to play weekends, which courses aren't packed? I'm willing to drive, especially if I can hit a few on the way.

 

[ptld2001]

Unfortunately, the best ones WILL be crowded on the weekends, if the weather's good. You might consider heading out to the gorge, for Dabney and Rooster Rock. They're a little off the beaten trail, so they'd be a little less likely to be crowded, although Dabney's pretty popular. If you don't mind shorter city types of courses, there are a few in the city, and they won't be totally packed. If you can drive farther, there's Wortman in McMinnville, Ewing Young in Newberg, and Champoeg. There's also Herbert Hoover, but that's such a wet area, I wouldn't stop there unless you like playing in a mudhole. That's four pretty good courses within about two hours of driving, and I don't think any of them will be packed unless there's an event.

 

[mpac]

check out Pier Park, in St. Johns, (North/nw Portland). Cool stuff nearby, it would be on your way to hornings hideout(kind of).

enjoy oregon, she is a beauty. Lived there for a year, i miss the greenery, but not the cloudy days. I miss the coast the most.

I'd head down to mcminnville/newberg as well, play some disc, taste some wine. Willamette valley is know for their good Pinot Gris/Grigio, as well as others. You may catch a glimpse of the spruce goose if you drive the bypass behind town.
And Beer, so many to choose, good luck, Oregon brews the best beer in the country hands down. Portland has plenty of brewpubs to check out.

Have fun, it will likley be wet in some way.

 

[Sloan]

where you from? if your going up the I5 you might want to stop and play whistlers bend in roseburg or tom pearce in grants pass.

 

[Turkey Sandwich]

Have you taken a look at this map? http://www.oregondiscgolf.com/

I'd say take a look at that and then cross reference them with the reviews here.

If I was planning a trip for an out-of-towner I would do:

Day 1:
Leverich and then Pier. Leverich is a great beginner to intermediate 12 hole course right over the river in Washington. It would be a great warm up for Pier which is considerably longer and more difficult. Both courses can get busy on weekends.

Day 2:
Horning's Hideout. The Canyon Course and Meadow Ridge courses are awesome. Highlands will definitely practice your approach and putting game, but I found it a little boring.

Day 3:
Milo and Timber. Its a bit of a drive (a little over an hour) but well worth it. I've only played each course once when I was really new so they kicked my ass but I'm looking forward to playing them again. I know they pull baskets in the rainy season but I'm guessing they would be back by then. The guys over at www.nwdiscgolfnews.com will know for sure if you want to check before heading out there.

Day 4:
The gorge - Rooster Rock East/West and Dabney. I'm not the biggest fan of Rooster Rock but thats probably because I've only played the more open course on windy days and the wooded course tends to eat my discs, but combined with Dabney, they form a pretty good day of disc golf.

Obviously you can mix up those days in any way you may prefer.

On top of those there are quite a few small courses that aren't really worth going to such as Greenway, Orchard, Lunchtime, Rockwood, Vance, etc. There's nothing wrong with these and I enjoy playing them, there is just nothing special and if you're on limited time it would be better spent hitting the bigger courses.

I haven't played any of the courses south of here such as Champoeg, Ewin Young, and Hoover but they are next on my list to try. I can see how those would make a good day trip. I'll leave any input on those to others.

Disclaimer - I'm still a noob noodle arm who has lived here and played less than a year so the more advanced players may have a different opinion.

 

[ptld2001]

I'd heard that Milo is down to 9 baskets until May.

 

[rybob42]

Great info, thanks guys!

Sloan: I'm from SLC, and I'll be flying into PDX, so I won't catch anything on the way.

Turkey: Thanks for the itinerary! That's perfect information. I'll probably just steal your plan and shorten it by a day. And your "noodle arm" fits my play style well , so probably good advice all around. Thanks for the links too.

ptld2001: Is Milo worth playing with only 9 holes? Or will it be a marsh? I'll probably head down that way anyway for Timber.

 

[ptld2001]

I looked into it, and they say that there should be 18 holes by mid February. A lot of the holes are in the woods, so it might not be too bad as far as the mud.

 

[rybob42]

Another question: is there a disc shop in town? I imagine I'll lose some plastic along the way, and it'd be nice if I could replace it while still in town.

 

[ptld2001]

I usually go to Next Adventure, which is in the middle of downtown. There's a place run out of a garage on the east side, Disc Golf Depot. Then there are a couple places on the West side, such as Rainy Days games. Then, of course, if you want something generic, the REIs and Dick's in the area have a small selection.

 

[Turkey Sandwich]

I usually go to Next Adventure, which is in the middle of downtown. There's a place run out of a garage on the east side, Disc Golf Depot. Then there are a couple places on the West side, such as Rainy Days games. Then, of course, if you want something generic, the REIs and Dick's in the area have a small selection.

Next Adventure is great but discs are buck or two more than online or other places. If you buy 3 discs, they'll give you either a 10% (base plastics) or 15% (premium plastics) discount.

I haven't been to the guy who runs a shop out of his garage, but you can find his ads on Craigslist. It looks like good prices, but I can't say anything about his inventory.

There is also a guy at Pier who sells discs and food by tee #1 sometimes, but I have no idea when he's there and when he's not.

 

[ptld2001]

I agree about the prices for Next Adventure, but you pay for the convenience and selection. Disc Golf Depot actually has a better selection, but isn't convenient unless you happen to be in the Gresham area. The hotdog guy at Pier won't be there in March. I think he starts either in late May or early June.

 

[The Valkyrie Kid]

Have you taken a look at this map? http://www.oregondiscgolf.com/

I'd say take a look at that and then cross reference them with the reviews here.

If I was planning a trip for an out-of-towner I would do:

Day 1:
Leverich and then Pier. Leverich is a great beginner to intermediate 12 hole course right over the river in Washington. It would be a great warm up for Pier which is considerably longer and more difficult. Both courses can get busy on weekends.

Day 2:
Horning's Hideout. The Canyon Course and Meadow Ridge courses are awesome. Highlands will definitely practice your approach and putting game, but I found it a little boring.

Day 3:
Milo and Timber. Its a bit of a drive (a little over an hour) but well worth it. I've only played each course once when I was really new so they kicked my ass but I'm looking forward to playing them again. I know they pull baskets in the rainy season but I'm guessing they would be back by then. The guys over at www.nwdiscgolfnews.com will know for sure if you want to check before heading out there.

Day 4:
The gorge - Rooster Rock East/West and Dabney. I'm not the biggest fan of Rooster Rock but thats probably because I've only played the more open course on windy days and the wooded course tends to eat my discs, but combined with Dabney, they form a pretty good day of disc golf.

Obviously you can mix up those days in any way you may prefer.

On top of those there are quite a few small courses that aren't really worth going to such as Greenway, Orchard, Lunchtime, Rockwood, Vance, etc. There's nothing wrong with these and I enjoy playing them, there is just nothing special and if you're on limited time it would be better spent hitting the bigger courses.

I haven't played any of the courses south of here such as Champoeg, Ewin Young, and Hoover but they are next on my list to try. I can see how those would make a good day trip. I'll leave any input on those to others.

Disclaimer - I'm still a noob noodle arm who has lived here and played less than a year so the more advanced players may have a different opinion.

Rybob42- I just wanted to second Turkey Sandwichs list. Personally, if I was going to be in Portland for only three days, I'd bust my ass and try to play all of these in three days. You'll be worn out some but with the right planning and a little help from the weather gods, you'lll have a great time.