Pros:
-Just off I-5, south of downtown Salem lies Cascades Gateway Park. From the large lake, I imagine this is a former quarry property donated to the city.
-The course plays through the open southern section of the park, and does not share property with other park amenities.
-The course is reasonably laid out given the land available. No holes are thrillers, but there are a good variety of hole lengths and baskets set in the limited trees available. The layout is very straightforward -- every basket is visible from the tee.
-Concrete tees and Innova baskets were well taken care of, and the tee signs were excellent, displaying all basket placements, as well as tees and baskets of neighboring holes -- a nice touch when multiple baskets are in view.
Cons:
-The park surroundings consist of an auto junkyard, homeless shelter, storage facility, RV park, Walmart, and the I-5 freeway. Previous reviewers as well as Google reviews have mentioned rampant homelessness throughout the park. I didn't encounter more than a few pieces of trash and a couple tents near the western fence. Unpleasant, yes, but not unplayable by any means.
-The layout is less than inspiring. The land is very flat with small scattered trees. At least 12 holes can be approached with a simple hyzer shot. Holes 3, 7, 8, 12 and 15 require more technical shots.
-Hole 13 may be the ugliest hole I've ever played. It's 370' across an expanse of rough concrete with the RV park behind the basket
Other Thoughts:
-It appears significant work has been done in the past few years to improve the course and mitigate the homeless issue. Thank you to everyone involved.
-Overall, the course is OK. It's not exciting, not thrilling, but a perfectly nice place to get your disc golf fix.