Geisler Family Farm Corn Maze, Ankeny, Iowa, USA

Travel doesn't always have to take us far from home. Here's a bit of fun just minutes from Des Moines, Iowa:

This was written for my other blog Iowa Geek:

Last night was the Harvest Moon (the first full moon after the first day of fall). It is called the harvest moon because farmers were able to harvest crops long into the night by the light of the moon. This was, of course, before tractors with headlights.

Yesterday was a gorgeous fall day that became a perfect fall evening. I had reserved a fire pit area at Geisler Family Farm Corn Maze and invited a group of friends to join us for roasting hotdogs, toasting marshmallows and fun in the corn.

This is quite possibly the best corn maze I have been to. I love the layout- pictured below. You are given a picture of the maze with the locations of 10 numbered posts. If you find all the posts and stamp your card you get a prize.

But before that fun the kids wore themselves out on all the fun stuff the Geisler family set up. There is a huge tire swing (think rear tractor tire huge), a swingset with a "lookout tower" and slide, beanbag toss games and roping a (PVC) steer. The rope was also great for some impromptu tug-of-war.

Of course cooking over fire was a great hit. Here is my nephew Carter learning the fine art of marshmallow toasting.
The fire pit areas are set up with benches and a table to lay out your feast. There is an electrical outlet (with two plugs) if you want to bring something in a crock pot. (I brought Taco Soup. It was a hit. I'll share the recipe soon.)

After cleaning up and when the moon was high in the sky it was time to take the girls and navigate the maze. Here's Brenna at a crossroads.

I wish you could see how spectacular the moon was. It was huge and so bright. Unfortunately I didn't think to use the "fireworks" setting on my camera... I bet it would have worked.

And here we are deep in the maze. We had a great time. Caelan even stayed awake the entire time. She was bouncing around in the backpack as we went trudging along the paths singing "Old McDonald".


If you are anywhere near central Iowa some weekend during the next month I really recommend a visit to Geisler Family Farm. In addition to the fun stuff I mentioned they also have a soybean maze that the kids can navigate on their own, hayrack rides (handicapped accessible) and pumpkin picking! It's great family fun. I promise.

This just proves that you can have great fun in your own backyard. Here are some links to corn mazes around the US. This list is current as of 9/26/2007


Corn Mazes America
About.com: Puzzles
Cornfieldmaze.com
Corn Maze Directory

Alternately you can do a more specific search using your search engine of choice. Unless, of course, you decide to come to the midwest. I do promise a great time at our local maze.