Here you can learn about one of the world's best disc golf courses, Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course in Colorado. Conveniently located less than 45 minutes from the heart of Denver by car (and under 30 from many parts of the city), Beaver Ranch is a pristinely maintained course in the Rockies that will give you the feeling of being in a remote disc golf wonderland without all the time and hassle it usually takes to reach one.
Its multiple layouts and additional putting course also make it a destination for all ages and skill levels, from complete beginners to seasoned, high-level players.
Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course is ranked #20 in the most recent World's Best Disc Golf Courses top 100 released annually by us here at UDisc. The rankings are based on millions of player ratings of over 16,000 disc golf courses worldwide on UDisc Courses, which is the most complete and regularly updated disc golf course directory in existence.
Read the whole post to get a full picture of Beaver Ranch or jump to a section that interests you most in the navigation below.
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- Basics: Times in top 100, year established, designers, cost to play, & availability
- History of Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course
- How hard is it?
- What's it like to play?
- Three real five-star reviews
Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course: Basic Info
- When did Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course open?
2006 - How many times has Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course made the annual World's Best Disc Golf Courses top 100 since the rankings were first released in 2020?
Year 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Top 100? - Who designed Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course?
Rudy Gorke - Is Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course free or pay-to-play?
Pay-to-play (cheaper with reserved tee time). See its UDisc Courses entry for pricing. - When is Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course available for public play?
Year-round
History of Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course
In 2024, people from all 50 U.S. states and Washington D.C. recorded rounds on UDisc at Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course.
Not impressed yet?
We'll turn it up a few notches: The same is true for 2023 and 2022. While other courses have done this one or two of those years, Beaver Ranch is the only track of over 16,000 in the UDisc Courses directory to reach this milestone the last three years running.
But the facility wasn't born a tourist-drawing, meticulously maintained masterpiece of western U.S. mountain disc golf. That took years of hard work and planning that began with a man named Rudy Gorke.
According to the current head of Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course, Brad Hicks, Gorke grew up in California playing a lot of disc golf. When he moved to Colorado not far from Beaver Ranch Park, there wasn't a course nearby. He'd constructed a course on his own land using buckets as targets, but he became interested in building a proper course on the spectacular land at Beaver Ranch Park. He pitched the idea to decision-makers who eventually approved course construction.
That first iteration of the course was a grassroots project made possible through volunteers clearing fairways, creating basic dirt tee pads, and installing baskets in exchange for a season pass. It opened to the public in 2006.
While the course wasn't packed from the outset, its beautiful views of the Rockies and fun layout attracted a steady stream of disc golfers. Their word-of-mouth helped draw in more players, and updates were needed to accommodate them, including adding concrete tees, increased maintenance, multiple basket positions, and plans for erosion control.
"It started to slowly grow, and it grew to the point where it needed some attention," Hicks said.
And increased attention meant Gorke, who was not running the disc golf course as a full-time profession, needed to bring in some help. So in the mid 2010s, Hicks began to assist Gorke with oversight of the course's day-to-day operations. Intimately familiar with the area and deeply attached to it, Hicks had been visiting Beaver Ranch Park since he was five and playing disc golf there since high school after Gorke did a guest lesson on the sport in his weightlifting class.
With an extra set of hands around, Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course became an even more attractive destination. Course maintenance could be done more frequently, more infrastructure to help mitigate erosion was created, and basket positions started being rotated weekly to give the track a constant fresh feel.
"We started shifting the baskets so there was a variety for the locals and, also, from a land preservation standpoint, we had less overtravel," Hicks said.
The work suited Hicks, and when Gorke realized the facility was in good hands, he opted to step aside so he'd have more time focus on his family and career. That was in 2017.
Nowadays, Hicks assures the course always looks its best by having his team constantly mow, weedwack, and clear brush and dead plant matter from the floors of forested areas. Signage, bridges, tee areas, and other infrastructure are always in tip-top shape, too. That attention to detail paired with the three sets of basket permanently available on each hole (each offering a different level of dificulty) have gone a long way to growing Beaver Ranch into what it is today.
"It's been great to see how the course has grown over the years," Hicks said. "Adding multiple layouts for different skill levels, improving maintenance, and making navigation easier have all played a big role in that. What was once a course solely for dudes in-the-know is now a place where anyone can play, from families getting into the sport, to couples enjoying the game and the scenery, to hardcore disc golfers chasing a challenge."
How Hard Is Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course?
Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course offers three layouts with 21 holes intended for players of different skill levels. This is how they stack up in terms of distance, difficulty, and more:
| Name | Distance |
Technicality | Overall Difficulty | Par Rating* | Scoring Average* | |
| Easiest Layout | Silver Layout | Short | Technical | Moderate | 175 | +3 |
| Middle-Difficulty Layout | Blue Layout | Mid-length | Technical | Moderate | 211 | +11 |
| Hardest Layout | Gold Layout | Long | Highly Technical | Very Challenging | 233 | +16 |
*Scoring average and par rating constantly adjust as more people score rounds with UDisc. These numbers reflect stats from the time of publication and may have changed slightly since then.
There is also a putting course, Bluebird, on site that's great for complete beginners, children, short-range practice, or simple fun.
Take a closer look at these layouts via Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course on UDisc Courses.
To learn more about what the categories for distance, technicality, overall difficulty, and par rating mean, check out these posts:
What's It Like to Play at Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course?
Brad Hicks, current head of Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course, belives his course offers a lot more than just excellent disc golf.
"It's like stepping into a postcard-worthy mountain landscape, but instead of just taking in the view, you're part of the experience, throwing discs through the terrain and making every shot part of the adventure," Hicks said.
While the course certainly offers a number of more open holes where players get to watch their discs soar with stunning views of the Rockies as a backdrop, that's not all it is.
"When Rudy [Gorke, designer of Beaver Ranch] laid out the course, he wanted to create a design that challenged both forehand and backhand players, forcing a variety of shot shapes so you can’t just rely on a hyzer every time and expect to park it," Hicks explained. "There’s a balance of open shots where you have the freedom to throw your way and tighter, more technical lines that push players out of their comfort zone and demand precision."
No matter what sort of fairway you're faced with, you'll always have three options for where to play. All holes have three permanent basket positions, creating three permanently-available layouts. Each one is a different difficulty level, and you can check out the "How Hard Is Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course?" section to learn more about them.
Flora and fauna are a huge part of Beaver Ranch's draw, as well. Moose, elk, fox, deer, rare birds, and plenty of other creatures can all be found on the property. There's a variety of tree species, too, and in the right season you'll see abundant wildflowers that Hicks' maintenance crew attempts to highlight rather than mow down.
You'll also rarely play a course that is kept up as well or as clearly signed as Beaver Ranch. Hicks is deadset on making rounds there exceptional in every way possible so that everyone who goes there walks away understanding exactly what's kept him enamored with the site all these years.
"Since I was a boy, I’ve loved Beaver Ranch," Hicks said. "Long before this course existed, I was out on these trails with my 4H club, clearing brush and picking up trash. It’s an incredible piece of land – truly one of a kind. Watching it grow over the years and now having the privilege to steward over it is an honor I don’t take lightly, and couldn’t be more grateful for."
Keep in mind that if you're not used to playing at high elevations, your discs will likely be more overstable than you expect given the reduced air resistance. Additionally, you'll want to have plenty of water and even sodium tablets on hand as they help you maintain a healthy electrolyte balance at elevation.
Three Real Five Star Reviews of Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course
Three five star reviews of Beaver Ranch Disc Golf Course from disc golfers on UDisc:
