The best agri-adventures and farmstead experiences offer creative and often challenging pathways through 10-foot corn stalks, pumpkin fields ready to harvest and a menu of screen free things to do outside with kids.
Scarecrows make perfect harvest time companions for humans of all sizes but do they keep the birds away?
In addition to first person rural life experiences like hayrides, scarecrows, pony rides, farmyard animal encounters and corn pile play boxes many locations have added extra ways to enjoy farm time with kids. The most popular activities include goat walks, pig races, pig painting, apple cannons, pumpkin bowling, and nifty barrel-train rides.
The screen free menu of choices keeps expanding. The most ambitious additions include ziplining over corn fields, orbing down hills, cranberry bog experiences, giant viewing towers, and secret earth-tunnels. Plus, many locations have created night time maze adventures adding an extra dimension to family to the agri-adventures.
The corn maze at Minnetonka Orchards is only part of the agri-adventure which also includes apple picking, wagon rides, barnyard animal encounters, and an awesome haystack.
Our aMAZeing Fun folder features least nine dozen locations to find terrific agri-adventures, corn mazes and fall festivals from coast to coast including great spots in Canada.
One of the world’s largest corn mazes is at Richardson Adventure Farm in Spring Grove, Illinois. Their agri-adventures pedal trikes, a 50-foot high viewing tower, zip lining, and a zorbing adventure inside an 11-foot orb.
The corn maze at Dell’Osso Family Farm near Lathrop, California is large enough to be viewed by NASA from orbit. Along with the maze challenge they run a pumpkin tram, have pumpkin blasters, zip lining, and aerial ropes course, and a plank plunge.
An agri-adventure at Marni Farm near Ipswich, MA includes 10 miles of pathways and hundreds of questions to be answered plus a larger-than-life spider web challenge, apple cannons, and thousands of pumpkins.
The awesome pumpkin field at Dewberry Farm near Houston offers so many tempting choices.
The Texas Maze at Dewberry Farm near Houston includes an awesome pumpkin field, interactive corn maze with dozens of “cornundrums” plus honey bees at work, corn cannons, singing chickens, rubber ducky races, calf roping, and ziplining.
French Prairie Gardens Fall Harvest Festival in St. Paul, OR has a “Pigtucky” Derby and an opportunity for visitors to watch the secret lives of chickens.
The season looks very promising.
Nancy Nelson-Duac
Curator of the Good Stuff for the Family Travel Files
Family Travel Files: The Blog 