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Outdoors
Smoky Mountain News
member of the team from Disc Golf Design Group that planned the course. That’s usually enough time for leaves to fall and decompose on newly cut paths and for vegetation to be more carefully trimmed to the course’s contours. “Then it will be perfect,” Menickelli said.
Ryan Pickens, one of the course’s designers, tees off while giving a tour of the property. Holly Kays photos
CONNECTED TO CULTURE
TIME TO FLY Disc golf course opens in Cherokee BY HOLLY KAYS OUTDOORS EDITOR andwiched between the flowing waters of Raven Fork and the final southern stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway, a new championship-caliber disc golf course in Cherokee beckons to locals and tourists alike. “Look around. This is paradise here,” Jeremy Hyatt, secretary of operations for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, told the small crowd gathered for a ribbon-cutting cel-
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ebration Tuesday, May 10. “You have this beautiful river, you have these wonderful woods. This is what it means to me to be Cherokee.” The 31-acre Fire Mountain Disc Golf Sanctuary sits between Cherokee Central School and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a lofty canopy shading it from summer heat and a mountain creek offering respite for swimmers, anglers and waders. A gravel walking path stretches the length of the property, and a network of trails offer woodland paths between baskets. Disc golf courses typically need about two years to mature, said Justin Menickelli, a
Stay informed For information and updates about Fire Mountain Disc Golf Sanctuary, as well as Fire Mountain Trails for hikers and bikers, visit facebook.com/fmtrails.
being an EBCI member is the author of Even as We Breathe, a debut novel that won the 66th annual Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award. She worked with several Cherokee speakers to ensure the translations and pronunciations on the signs were correct. “Our goal was to connect all of the holes with a story that told the broader story of our area,” she said. “So it is kind of an introduction to visitors who aren’t familiar with it, but also a nice overview for even locals like myself
The swath of land beside Raven Fork is a tranquil setting suitable for a broad spectrum of ages and ability levels. But make no mistake — the course is labeled “championship-caliber” for a reason. “When I say championship-level, it kind of is the same thing ‘as hard as hell,’” said Hyatt. “This is a very difficult course, but it is one of a kind and it is truly a gem.” The first hole, advertised as a par 3, extends 348 feet, and while that particular hole is a straightaway, such is not the case as the Wolfetown Rep. Bo Crowe course continues. Many throws a disc following the holes contain tricky ribbon-cutting May 10. turns over long distances, with the longest clocking in at 681 feet Natural beauty abounds on Hole 7, a par 4. “I think it’ll end up on the 31-acre property. being one of the hardest courses in the Southeast, for sure,” said Ryan Pickens, another of the course’s designers. Tribal leaders hope to see the course become an attraction for disc golfers from across the country, and even an economic development asset as professional disc golfing competitions draw overnight visitors. While there, they’ll also get a lesson in Cherokee history, thanks to the signs posted at each tee pad. Every hole is named for who enjoy hearing how the stories are actually an animal, historical figure or legendary enticonnected, and a longer version of Cherokee ty of the Great Smokies region or Cherokee traditional value systems.” culture. Those names are accompanied by a For example, the sign for the first hole, description of the namesake’s role in named “Raven,” tells how according to the Cherokee folklore, as well as Cherokee-lanCherokee origin story, the raven was the first guage renderings of the name in both sylto seek fire — but the heat scorched his feathlabary and Latin characters. ers before he could succeed. The descriptions were written by Annette “Additionally, the Cherokee’s Saunooke Clapsaddle, who in addition to
