The Exeter Corn Maze in Southwestern Missouri must not be any kind of secret in kid circles in Eureka Springs. When I visited this past Friday with my daughter, Bri, and grandson, Jude, 5, we saw two of his friends from school there with their families. Friday was a day off for Eureka Springs schools, so that made it a perfect afternoon to visit.
I had never been to Exeter, about a 50-minute drive from Eureka Springs. This is a destination made far easier by GPS as there are a lot of twists and turns on farm roads after you get off the main highway. Judging from the hundreds of cars in the pasture parking lot when we arrived, no one had trouble finding it.
We arrived at around 2 p.m. There were long lines at the ticket counter, but the wait time wasn’t that long –especially if you scan and pay before you get to the ticket counter.
It was hard to decide where to go first. Jude made a dash for the bounce mats, two large inflatable rounded trampoline-like mats with sand in the middle. This was one of the more popular attractions. Kids running, jumping, laughing, rolling around and not a single one glued to a phone or computer screen. Lovely to see.
It was part farm festival and part carnival, with a merry-go-round, kiddie rides, go karts, a zip line and a big inflatable slide with riders coming down on innertubes. The agritourism offerings included a petting zoo and corn pits. These are big pits filled with corn kernels, a big hit with the kids – particularly burying someone up to their head like kids do on the beach.
I loved seeing kids do the same things I used to do growing up on a farm – playing hide-and-seek among hay bales in the barn and using a rope swing to jump off the bales. Growing up, we used to play on tractors and other farm equipment, so it was fun to see a tractor converted for a playground with a tube to slide down.
There was also a haunted barn, zombie paintball, and a number of other attractions.
When we headed to enter the corn maze, I asked some folks who were leaving if it was possible to get lost. They said, “Of course!” We did indeed get lost, but that is part of the fun of it, right? It was a very large maze, the corn is too tall to look over, and I imagine even more fun when it is turned into a haunted corn maze in the evening. Country Living has named it one of the ten best corn mazes in America.
About 7,000 steps into the afternoon (my daughter’s iPhone kept track), we were tuckered out. That was the perfect time to get on trailers being pulled behind a tractor for a ride through fields of pumpkins, sunflowers and zinnias. In addition to pick-your-own pumpkins and sunflowers, there was also a you-pick apple orchard with some of the best tasting apples ever.
This kind of agritourism offering is not just the good, outdoor fun, it also helps teach kids where their food comes from. While we did sample hot funnel cakes covered in powdered sugar (well, it is a carnival after all!), Jude ate an entire apple he picked himself on the ride home. He was so tuckered out from all the fun that he slept in until 8 a.m. Saturday! That almost never happens.
For more information about hours and admission prices, see the website exetercornmaze.com/. The attraction is open until Nov. 5.