United States
Michigan
About
The Mitten State borders four of the five Great Lakes. This means a lot of coastline with beaches, towering cliffs, huge sand dunes and lots of picture perfect lighthouses. And when you're done exploring, Michigan offers some some of the best disc golf in America.
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Why Visit?
For the disc golf traveller, Michigan gives you many great options to play with a variety of courses. Disc golf destinatons open up once you hit the road, exploring all the regions of Michigan. Detroit or Motor City has seen hard times, but there is the belief that it could be the most underrated city for tourism with great food, museums and history. Many suggestions for what to do in this state of more than 10 million centre around the Great Lakes - four of them, Michigan, Superior, Erie and Huron border the state. In summer there’s great lakeside camping spots, hiking and a chance to get out on the water if that’s your thing. Grand Rapids , Kalamazoo and Western Michigan have some destination top 10 disc golf courses to play but are also popular for the Gold Coast and the beaches. The UP, Yoop or Upper Peninsular has a more remote feel about it and plenty of wildlife to explore but a lot less disc golf action than the rest of the state. In the Traverse City region there’s wineries, craft beers and huge towering sand dunes. The less touristed, much rockier Sunrise Coast of Michigan on Lake Huron still has plenty to do including lighthouse hopping, kayaking and hiking. Sidenote trivia - which US State has the most lighthouses? Answer: You're reading about it.
Things to Do
It’s called the Mitten State because if you ignore the Upper Pennisular and scrunch your eyes, the Lower Pennisular looks like a mitten, albeit one that your dog chewed a little. That said, it’s a great reference for where things are as you skirt around the state exploring all it has to offer while you’re playing disc golf. Put your hands up for Detroit, as Fredde Le Grand demanded in the midnoughts. You think Motor City, you think cars and there's the Henry Ford Museum. And then there was Motown, a record label that started in Detroit and which now has a dedicated museum in the city. If you're an art fan, there’s the Detroit Institute of Arts. Up north, off the Upper Peninsular is Mackinac Island in Lake Huron. It’s a car-free island reached by ferry where you can explore on foot, bike or get a horse-drawn carriage.
Tackle one of the most difficult hikes in Michigan, the Dune Climb at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near Traverse City. Hickory Hills disc golf is in Traverse City on a ski hill, giving you a decent work out while you play.
If you’re heading to play Flip City in Shelby then check out the free sweet smelling Cherry Point Farm and the Lavender Labyrinth that's nearby.
On the edge of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsular is Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Take a cruise or paddle your way past the kaleidoscope of colors on the cliffs. South of this park is North Bluff disc golf - a popular course that is in the US’s top 100. Grand Rapids has the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park and for good beer, Founders Brewing Company. And if photographing the famous covered bridges is on your list, try the Historic Fallasburg Covered Bridge in Lowell west of Grand Rapids during fall with all the spectactual colors.
Where to Play
The Wolverine State has more than 550 disc golf courses, which is scarily about the same as the number of McDonalds restaurants in Michigan. It’s the runner-up to Texas for being the best state to enjoy the sport in the United States. So in a nod to its auto-industry history, the best way to explore Michigan’s disc golf courses is to jump in a car and tick em off on a road trip.
Many of Michigan’s courses are seasonal, so if you are not swatting off bugs, it’s winter and you need to fly south for warmer climes. If you were to purely stick to the top courses according to UDisc, then you’d have a large region of the lower peninsular to navigate just north of Detroit starting with Bald Mountain Disc Golf Course heading west to Black Locust - South and then the temporary course, Kensington Toboggan that ranks in the world’s top 100 disc golf courses. These courses got a lot of attention from the world's disc golfing community at the 2026 Pro World Disc Golf Championships.
Keep tracking west on I-69 and you’ll hit Renegade’s Trail, that’s also considered among the world’s best. Keep going an hour west and you get to Hammond Hills disc golf course, considered by some to be a must play in the Grand Rapids area. Then drive over towards South Haven and enjoy another of the world’s best, Arvesta Sports Complex with some epic water carries. From there head up Route 31 north until to get to Shelby and Michigan's top ranked course Flip City. Disc golfers have been playing this course for more than 45 years, it’s the oldest course in the world’s top 100.
And if that isn’t enough to grab ya, ladies get to play for free.
If you want to camp on the shores of Lake Michigan, in Pentwater there’s the Fairway to Heaven disc golf course that’s on the campground. In Ludington you can play three courses at Mason Country Park known to locals as the beauty, beast and goliath.
