Pros:
When I was deciding whether or not to go to Jellystone, it was hard to get a feel for the course from the reviews I read... and now I see why. This is a very unique "mountain-style" course that is not in the mountains of Colorado. The course is 18 holes with a wide mixture of shots, dipping into and cutting out of the woods various times. This is to say you will get 4 fairly open shots to begin, followed by 6 tightly wooded shots, then 2 open shots, 2 wooded shots, and 4 open shots to finish off the round. To further clarify, when I say wooded, I mean most of these are tight, technical holes/fairways with loads of trees. This is unique for Colorado, because many tight mountain courses do not have the ability for wide open fairway shots. The course also has far more deciduous than evergreen trees, making it easy for the large stands of trees to consume your disc if you throw poorly. This is one factor that makes this course harder! There are tight alleys, which if missed, can result in a very hard second shot... but even worse a buried disc. There are many blind shots here, so you may want to do some scouting, but blind shots always make a course more fun and harder.
It is easy to get to, and costs $5 to play, which is certainly well worth it. You will more than likely not see any other people while you are here... Jellystone is mostly a campground area for tourists, and the disc course is tucked off to the side, away from all other visitors. All of the baskets here are BRAND NEW.
This was certainly an extremely fun course. While I am never a fan of wide open courses, Jellystone does a good job of mixing them in with some VERY technical shots. I feel that most courses that have the technicality do not have the openness... and most courses with openness lack EXTREME technicality. This course does a great job of showing both, something unique within itself that I greatly appreciated.
Holes 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, and 18 are all mostly open holes. They are certainly the longest distance holes on the course, but there is highly minimal technical challenge.
Holes 1-4 are fairly open, but each hole has the pin hidden in or behind some trees. These are also semi-hard and entertaining enough to not be considered a boring-nontechnical hole. They are certainly enjoyable holes
That leaves 8 AWESOME holes that go through the woods of Jellystone. Holes 5,6,7,8,9,10,13, and 14 are all very technical holes, many of which require different shots. I threw most (but not all) of the throws in my bag. These holes are all much shorter, but the technical aspects will certainly have you in trouble if you are the least bit inaccurate. You will need hyzers, anhyzers, s-curves, forehand flicks, and perhaps a tomahawk or two if you get into trouble. Many of these holes have elevation factors, and extremely tight windows... so be careful. Risk & reward within the woods here for sure.
Cons:
The natural tees here are not of the best quality. I am normally a fan of mountain-style natural tees, however the dirt at this course is extremely soft and any amount of moisture will muck up the tee instantly. Some seem to be more developed than others, and the underdeveloped ones can be bad fairly bad.
The "rough"... or prettymuch any are that is not the fairway is THICK & DEEP. There are many spots here that could easily eat any bright colored discs. The fact that there are so many low-to-the-ground deciduous trees acts like mat that will let your disc go through, and then cover it once it does. This is truly risk and reward so be wary. Some may consider this a con... I consider it an extra factor to increase difficulty... "mountain-water-hazards" if you will.
The map they give you is semi-hard to follow. However, if you are good with directions, using the map will be easy. Having said that, the signage here is not the greatest. After every pin, there is a very small wooden sign (about 8-12 inches off of the ground) with an arrow and hole number pointing to the next hole (written in black marker). Some can be hard to find, but if you stand at the pin you just finished and look in 360 degrees, you will eventually find the sign.
The large amount of open holes is always considered a con to me. In the end, the last 4 are truly the ones that bothered me. I was having an awesome time, and it felt like a bit of a let down to play a great course an end on 4 wide open holes which greatly lacked creativity compared to the rest of the course. It was just hard to go from amazing to boring in my opinion. I understand they have to work with the land they have, but I felt a little underwhelmed at the end. At least hole 16 is in a teepee.
Other Thoughts:
They did a great job using the land they had to create a very unique Colorado course. I am not sure how much more land belongs to them, but I can see this place having so much potential by cutting through the woods further to the west. It looks like they could continue the run of 6 amazing technical holes by delving further into the woods. That being said, the technical holes that are already present are top notch. A wide variety of throws, and a wide variety of views to each pin. And with two pin placements on each hole, I imagine this place can mix it up enough for locals to enjoy.
Comparing it to top-notch Colorado Mountain courses, this may not be the greatest... but it is one of my top 3 favorite courses before getting into the Rockies.
USE THE NEW COURSE MAP (6/20/11) IF YOU ARE TRYING TO LOOK AT THE COURSE!! They will give you a map when you enter to pay $5 and get a wrist band. But if you want to view the course beforehand, the new map that I uploaded is up to date. The other map on DGCR is an old course that Jellystone used to have.
This course is worth driving a decent amount for... and a definite play if you are in the area.