There is something quietly electric about standing at a tee pad surrounded by old-growth pines, a disc in your hand, and nothing but birdsong and the occasional whoop from a fellow player echoing through the trees. That is exactly what greets you at the Eagle’s Nest Disc Golf Course inside Draughon-Miller Park, tucked away in a residential pocket on the Arkansas side of Texarkana — and once you’ve played a round here, you’ll understand why locals guard it like a favorite fishing hole.
Draughon-Miller Park itself has been a neighborhood fixture for decades, offering the kind of green, unhurried space that big cities spend millions trying to recreate. It sits off Arkansas Boulevard, easily accessible from either side of State Line, and the moment you pull into the lot you feel the city exhale around you. The park features open meadows, mature hardwoods, picnic shelters, and a creek that winds quietly through the lower end of the property — but the disc golf course is the crown jewel, and it draws players from across the four-state area on any given weekend.
The course winds through heavily wooded terrain with elevation changes that will surprise you if you are expecting flat East Texas topography. Several holes require you to arc a disc around a dogleg of slash pines, thread a gap between two oaks that have been growing since before either Texas or Arkansas particularly cared about your backhand release, or simply bomb it long down a cathedral-like fairway where the canopy closes overhead and the ground is carpeted in pine needles. It plays differently in the morning light than it does at golden hour, and that alone is reason enough to come back twice.
Beginners are absolutely welcome here — the course is playable with a single mid-range disc and a willingness to learn — but experienced players will find enough technical challenge to keep their scorecard honest. Baskets are well-maintained, tee pads are clear, and the overall layout reflects genuine course design thought rather than just scattered hardware in the woods.
What makes Eagle’s Nest feel special beyond the design is the community around it. On weekend mornings you will find regulars warming up, trading tips without a hint of gatekeeping, and occasionally staging informal doubles rounds that anyone can join. Texarkana has that quality in general — a warmth that does not feel performed — and it shows up especially well in outdoor spaces like this one.
Bring water, wear comfortable shoes with some grip, and give yourself at least two hours to do the course justice. Pack a picnic for afterward and claim one of the shelters near the meadow. There is no admission fee, no reservation required, and no reason to rush. This is Texarkana doing what it does best: offering something genuinely good without making a fuss about it.
Whether you are a disc golf devotee logging yet another course on your life list or someone who has never thrown a disc outside of a backyard, Eagle’s Nest at Draughon-Miller Park is the kind of place that turns a Tuesday afternoon into a memory. Come for one round. Stay for two. You will not regret either.
