Aw, get lost!
Opportunity abounds to do just that, in fun corn mazes and pumpkin patches across Western Wake. Here’s a town-by-town breakdown of the fun you'll find:
CARY
Green Acres Farm
1132 Morrisville Carpenter Road
(919) 481-2435
This year’s 10-acre corn maze at Green Acres Farm honors our troops and hometown heroes. Active fire, police, rescue and military personnel get free admittance with ID, and admission for their family members is $6.
The maze is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., through Oct. 31, with a night maze open Fridays and Saturdays.
Regular admission is $10 per person, with children 3 and younger admitted free; $8 for seniors 60 and older; and $8 for scouts in uniform.
If you bring a canned good for Dorcas Ministries’ food pantry, you’ll receive $1 off your admission.
Admission price includes hay ride, bounce houses, pipe slides, corn hole and horseshoe games, and climbing on tractors, bulldozers and a “spider web.”
Other opportunities include feeding the goats, face painting, pony and mechanical bull rides, a vintage train, and a NASCAR simulator.
2521 Louis Stephens Drive
(919) 886-9519
This working farm offers a pick-your-own pumpkin patch and cornfield maze, and hayrides through the farm and forest.
Feed barnyard animals, climb Haystack Mountain, and play in the hay maze and corn crib, filled with dried corn!
Bring a lunch and take advantage of the shaded picnic area, and shop for locally-made crafts and fall décor, herbal soaps, and canned jams, jellies and pickles.
Phillips Farms
6701 Good Hope Church Road
(919) 467-3004
Enjoy family time during the day at the Phillips Farms Fun House, where for one admission price you can also ride the cow train, trek through the corn maze, take a hayride, compete in rubber duck races and zip around the pedal cart race track.
Enjoy concessions ranging from fresh kettle corn and hot apple cider to grilled burgers and hot dogs.
Admission is $10 for adults and teens 13-plus; $6 for children ages 3-12; and free for children 2 and younger. Farm hours are Fridays 3 to 6:30 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Sundays 1 to 6 p.m.
At night things take on an eerie twist, in the Haunted Farm adventure. Admission price of $20 includes the four-part horror of Field of Lost Souls, Rebellion Trail, Gore House and Big Top Terror. Not recommended for children under 12.
Haunted Farm is open Fridays and Saturdays from 8 to 10:30 p.m., through October.
APEX
DJ's Berry Patch & Farm Fresh Produce
1223 Salem Church Road
(919) 600-4020
Pick your own pumpkins here, straight from the patch, with no admission fee. Fall hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Sunday noon to 6:30 p.m., but check the Facebook page for updates.
FUQUAY-VARINA
6016 US 401 North
(910) 249-2258
Attractions include a 10-acre corn maze with the theme of Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, a petting zoo and pick-your-own pumpkin patch, plus tractor-pulled hayrides.
General admission is $18 per person for a Farm Pass, or $15 for military and police personnel; children 3 and younger are admitted free with a paying adult.
The Farm Pass includes the maze and hayride, a free pumpkin, barrel train, straw bale playground, jump pad, picnic area, and a visit with farm animals.
Hours here are Friday 1 to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday 1 to 6 p.m. The farm is open through Nov. 8.
For a scarier twist, try out the maze in the dark at Flashlight Nights, every Friday and Saturday night by appointment.
Porter Farms & Nursery
3525 NC 42, Willow Spring
(919) 567-0504
Just a few miles outside of Fuquay-Varina is Porter Farms & Nursery, offering a large pumpkin and ornamental gourd selection including varieties like Magic Lantern, Cinderella, Gold Rush and Sugar Pie.
Porter’s also features hand-scooped, homemade ice cream in 16 flavors; fall faves are pumpkin and caramel apple crunch.
There’s a sandbox and play train for the kids, and big wooden swings for the young and young at heart.
301 Wagstaff Road. Fuquay-Varina
Saturday, Oct. 17
Family Fright is from 5 to 6 p.m., and Full Fright runs from 7 to 9, at Fuquay-Varina’s Haunted Trail, held at Carroll Howard Johnson Environmental Education Park.
The trail is free, but scary!
(Don’t) get lost!
