Where to Find Crop Mazes and Pumpkins This Fall

Along with dazzling Jack-o-lantern displays and hayrides, crop mazes are an October tradition. Your family won’t have to travel far to get lost in one, as they are found from New England to Florida to California. Artfully carved Jack-o-lanterns, lavish lighted displays and hayrides at pick-your-own pumpkin farms give you plenty of options for harvest fun.

One of the oldest corn mazes in New England is at Sherman Farm in Center Conway, New Hampshire. More than just a maze, this one is filled with games, clues and riddles to keep kids busy. The maze has three different phases for different abilities. Pick pumpkins, take a hayride, and watch kids play in the corn box (like a sandbox with corn) and farm-themed play area.

On Cape Cod, kids love posing with the fanciful pumpkin “people” at Chatham’s Pumpkin People in the Park, Oct 14–31.  Chatham is often listed as one of America’s best towns for Halloween for this display of figures created by local residents, businesses and organizations. Pick pumpkins and go for a hayride at Tony Andrews Farm in nearby Falmouth.

More than 5,000 carved and lighted pumpkins line a ¼-mile trail during Roger Williams Zoo Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular in Providence, Rhode Island. Performers add entertainment to the spectacular lighting and special effects, creating a Halloween fantasy land throughout October.

Artistry is also on display at The Great Pumpkin Carve in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, where  more than 60 local amateur and professional artists carve and sculpt giant pumpkins. Watch them carve, then admire the results glowing in candlelight. Paint your own pumpkin, go for a hayride and listen to music. Take a hayride to the corn maze at Arasapha Farms Harvest Hayride in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, or at Mr. Pepper’s Pumpkin Patch in Laurel, Delaware.

In Louisville Kentucky, Jack O’Lantern Spectacular lines a winding path through the woods of Iroquois Park, with more than 5,000 carved and lighted pumpkins displayed in themed settings and accompanied by music. A similar extravaganza fills Hudson Gardens in Littleton (near Denver, Colorado) with Magic of the Jack O’ Lanterns. Themed displays of hand-carved pumpkins include dinosaurs, dragons and even a pirate ship, and the displays dance to music in a synchronized light show.

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden lights up Oct.11–13 and 18–31 with Jack O’Lantern Glow, with more than 5,000 hand-carved and illuminated pumpkins and fall displays lining a half-mile trail through the zoo. Special effects and dramatic lighting add to the experience.

Corn and other crop mazes aren’t limited to northern states. Near St. Augustine, Florida, Sykes Family Farms’ annual Crop Maze and You Pick SunFlower fields are open through Oct. 27. Along with the 9-acre corn maze are hayrides, duck races and farm animals to meet.

The largest corn maze of all (they have a place in the Guinness Book of World Records to prove it) is at Cool Patch Pumpkins in Dixon, California. This maze covers 45 acres. If you don’t spend the whole day finding your way out, pick a pumpkin, go for a hayride and watch the kids defend the hay castle.