Road Trip - Joliet to Boulder

[ActionJackson]

So my buddy is moving out to Colorado and I am going to help.  We decided to make the most of the drive by disc golfing as much as we can handle.  Since I have never thrown a round outside of Illinois, I have no clue what to expect out there.

Are there any courses that we should make sure we throw?  We will be heading west on 80 for a long time.  Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[tjdub26936]

In order of awesome-ness:

#1  Davenport - West Lake Park:  DO NOT MISS  http://www.pdga.com/course/courses_by_city.php?id=2804 , get a course map here:  http://www.qcdiscgolfclub.com/courses/westlake/westlake_scorecard.pdf  5 miles off I-80


#2  Iowa City - Peninsula Park:  http://www.pdga.com/course/courses_by_city.php?id=2491  1.5 miles off I-80


#3  Geneseo - Richmond Hill Park:  http://www.pdga.com/course/courses_by_city.php?id=205  less than a mile off I-80


#4  Bettendorf - Middle Park:  http://www.pdga.com/course/courses_by_city.php?id=2592  4 miles off I-80


#5  Des Moines (Johnston) - Walnut Ridge:  http://www.pdga.com/course/courses_by_city.php?id=286  6-7 miles off I-80

[CEValkyrie]

Sterling, IL Sinnissippi Park
Geneseo, IL Richmond Hill Park

http://quadcitydiscgolf.com/Courses_WestLake.html
Davenport, IA West Lake Park
Bettendorf, IA Middle Park

http://www.discgolfdesmoines.org/AreaCourses.html
Des Moines, IA Ewing Park, Grandview Park
Johnston, IA Walnut Ridge
Polk City, IA Big Creek
Indianola, IA Pickard

[Bruce Brakel]

I don't think you can get there on I-80 unless you got a month!   

[roman]

Definitely hit up the courses in Iowa. There's some good stuff out there! (I think about the only good thing about driving through that state).

Enjoy your trip man, Colorado is a beautiful state. Unfortunate that you have to drive through absolute nothing to get there. Make sure you have some good music ready for your drive through Colorado, because until you reach the Denver area you'll be driving through something that looks mostly like this:

http://www.notroman.com/gallery/albums/jul02-05-04/coloradograssland01.jpg


edit -

Not sure if you've driven out to Colorado before, but I figure I must warn you just in case. Make sure you have at least one phone on you that is not on the Sprint network. I've driven out there in '04 and again in '06, and both times our Sprint phones had absolutely NO service through most of Nebraska into Colorado. Cingular seemed fine. Just giving you a heads up because getting stranded in the middle of something that looks like the picture above with no cell phone reception would suck. Again, the last time I was there was in '06 so who knows if they finally got something working out there. Considering how it's mostly bare land I have little faith that someone spent the money to put any kind of infrastructure up.

[can't putt]

A sweet gem that gets little play is Maytag Park just off I-80 in Newton, IA.  This course is kinda like Mokena with hills.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=newton,+ia&ie=UTF8&ll=41.692463,-93.062696&spn=0.026758,0.043817&z=15

[Bruce Brakel]

Maytag is pretty.  Unfortunately I was in a hurry when I saw it and did not really play it.  Lots of park, very little schule, some elevation but not ooh-ah elevation, road o.b.s.  One of the better courses that only the juniors played for 2004 Worlds, but not a course you should be kicking yourself for missing.  Grandview, Ewing and Walnut Ridge all should have higher priority when you are close to Des Moines. 

[Dan Michler]

Another sweet little creamy nugget filled with tasty disc golf pleasure is right off I-80 in North Platte, Nebraska.  Just take the Hwy 83 exit north and it runs right into the park.

http://www.pdga.com/course/courses_by_city.php?id=2607

Its got all 3 types of disc golf holes and what else are you going to do in Nebraska?

[damonshort]

Maytag is pretty.  Unfortunately I was in a hurry when I saw it and did not really play it.  Lots of park, very little schule, some elevation but not ooh-ah elevation, road o.b.s.  One of the better courses that only the juniors played for 2004 Worlds, but not a course you should be kicking yourself for missing.  Grandview, Ewing and Walnut Ridge all should have higher priority when you are close to Des Moines. 

Grandmasters played Maytag as well. Very enjoyable course, but not as good as Grandview and nowhere near as good as Ewing. I think I may have watched the pros play a few holes @ Walnut Ridge (I think it was Walnut Ridge)  but didn't play it myself.

[spike]

ActJack,
I lived in Denver for 8 years before moving to Chicago.  I have made that drive probably 50 times or more.  It sounds like Iowa has already been covered by previous posts. Besides what has already been recommended, here are some other courses that I have enjoyed:

Kearney, Nebraska
http://www.pdga.com/course/courses_by_city.php?id=557
There are four (!) courses in this sleepy little college town , but Cottonmill is the one to play.  It is just a couple of miles north off of the interstate in a sleepy little college town, with a real good steak house on the south side of the highway called Grandpa's, http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&q=steakhouse&near=Kearney,+NE&fb=1&view=text&latlng=9589007559031444975
which John Madden once said served him the finest steak of his life.  Be sure to sit in the lounge.


Fort Morgan, Colorado:
http://www.pdga.com/course/courses_by_city.php?id=1472
Fort Morgan is 90 miles west of downtown Denver.  This course hosts an annual Supertour event, and is always challenging and fun. The last time I played this course (last April), I saw bald eagles and rattlesnakes within a couple of minutes of each other.  You can find real good Mexican food at this taqueria:  http://yellowpages.superpages.com/profile~SRC_portals~C_Restaurants~LID_cVNQT3C5lOUJd3uwI4XLyg%3D%3D~attres_true~lbp_1.htm, and across the street on Kiowa is a great Old West Saloon called the Queen Lounge. 

If you have the time to get into the mountains, do yourself a favor and check out Leadville, Frisco (get there early, as the chuckers fill the course by 10am), Beulah (call ahead, it is a private course), Empire (open to public only on fridays and saturdays), Guffey (down south, 1 hour west of Colorado Springs), Red Feather Lakes and Glenwood Springs.

Check out the Denver club's website:   http://milehighdiscgolf.org
PM me if you need places to stay/eat/drink in Colorado or for any more info...

Tell 'em you are friends of Spike.

[ActionJackson]

Thanks for the responses.  Though the drive will be somewhat agonizing, I am certainly looking forward to playing some of these courses you guys have mentioned.

Make sure you have at least one phone on you that is not on the Sprint network.

It is going to be 2 t-mobiles and and 1 verizon. Hopefully we have some luck with those.

I don't think you can get there on I-80 unless you got a month!  

LOL Its not thaaat bad is it?   


And finally Spike, thanks for being so considerate.  I will definitely keep it in mind!

[skipache]

the I-80 joke was refering to the high number of courses along that route!

[ActionJackson]

The 5 day adventure was completed upon my return Tuesday morning.  Here how things broke down:

Left Joliet on Friday at about 5am

First stop was West Lake Park in Davenport, IA.  This course was unbelievably hard, but certainly enjoyable.  It was very windy, however, which resulted in the loss of my Crush.  I wasn't too attached so it was easy to move on.  I would love to hit this place up again so I can get a score of less than +99999

Next we threw Ewing Park in Des Moines.  This course is beautiful.  It is now in my top 5.

Heading west a couple more hours, there was Treasure Cove in Council Bluffs.  This was another great fun course.  Though I must say it seems like you have to walk 5 minutes to get to each hole.  But for the first time I threw at a "hanging basket"

We ended up stopping in Kearney NE for the night.  Went to a couple bars, etc.  I have to say this and I hope no one is offended:  Nebraska is the biggest toolbox in America.  Unbelievable. haha

In the morning we played Cottonmill which was in Kearney.  Loved that course too.  There were some fun holes that played over water.

Enter Colorado.

First stop was Mines Park in Golden, Co.  It is a niner with a variety of interesting shots.  We ended up just throwing 3 rounds in a row because we didn't want to leave.

Now it is Sunday.  We drove up into the mountains a bit to Russel Gulch, CO and played Ghost Town, an 18 hole private course.  Of the 7 courses we threw on this trip, Ghost Town was my favorite.  Beautiful views, very technical shots and lots of elevation.  All of that for $3

Lastly we played Birds Nest in Arvada.  This is a chuckers course for sure.  It was extremely windy so we didn't get through the whole thing, but the holes we played were fun.

Overall it was an amazing trip.  And we only lost 1 disc between the 3 of us, which I would consider a success