Service: Site Planning
Location: Sugarloaf Outdoor Center
City: Carrabassett Valley, ME
Status: In progress

Design Overview

The Big Idea for the design of Sugarloaf Outdoor Center Disc Golf was to connect significant on-site features and mountain viewsheds, while at the same time, respecting the infrastructure of the multiple outdoor activities that bring visitors from all over the United States to enjoy the untouched wilderness of Western Maine.

The Sugarloaf Outdoor Center is situated along scenic Route 27 in Carrabassett Valley, ME. Home to Carrabassett Valley Academy and Sugarloaf Mountain, this portion of Western Maine is an outdoor haven in all seasons of the year. Predominately a winter town, Carrabassett Valley sees its numbers decline substantially as the snow melts away in the spring. As the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center sits on 1000+ acres of untouched wilderness, the Board of Directors looks to offer a new, environmentally-friendly recreational activity for residents in the area.

Governed by the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center’s Board of Directors and Carrabassett Valley Disc Golf Association, the ultimate goal is to create the premiere tournament style disc golf course in the western mountains of Maine. With thousands of acres to work with, we are approaching this design as a phased plan, as the density of activities and trail systems are high around the Outdoor Center, while the further reaches of the property capture mountain vistas and provide prospect and refuge for users through significant topography.

A cohesive design for an 18-hole championship course is the short terms goal, while eventually many of the holes in the initial design that are closer to the Outdoor Center may be restructured to provide a 9-hole educationally-based disc golf loop to help promote the sport and educate the public about the environment and the surrounding outdoor activities. There are several significant on-site features that we look to connect to in the long term, all extremely reachable through multiple 18-hole courses. With constant clearing in the Eastern portion of the site, and working with all the existing trail system’s associated uses, a phased design is best for this site, as the success of an 18-hole recreational course will soon lend itself to multiple championship caliber designs.

The initial design for Sugarloaf Outdoor Center will take advantage of several on-site features like Moose Bog, Pretty Bog, The Sleeping Indian, the Warming Hut and several viewsheds of Sugarloaf Mountain. The Warming Hut will provide a resting area after the front nine, and not only provide a chance for players to purchase disc golf equipment and refreshments, but for the Outdoor Center to create a continued source of revenue in the summer months. Utilizing skid steer construction and Nordic ski trails for some of the “field” holes, snowshoe and mountain bike trails provide the infrastructure from hole to hole where wooded holes are taken off the pathways to utilize the significant topography of the site while connecting significant on-site features that are explained through environmental education.