As the weekends cool off a little, the corn maze and associated fairground-style attractions at Chatfield Farms will be a great way to knock out a weekend morning (or even a weekday -- see the end of this post for dates) with the kids. Here's what it looked like when we went (and here are more Colorado for Kids items).
The first part of the maze is parking and then finding the maze.
Here's the address: 8500 W. Deer Creek Canyon Road, Littleton. It's very easy to get to from C-470. Hop off at CO-121, go south and you'll see signs directing you to turn right shortly.
There are rules. All children stopped and dutifully read them.
Ooh, gourds.
We should put some gourds out at home.
OK, here we go.
The main corn maze is huge.
It's advertised as being eight acres.
"Wind your way through the corn and help Farmer Green find his lost animals. Life-size animal cutouts are hidden throughout the maze for fun photo opportunities. The maze can be viewed from two 15-foot tall illuminated bridges."
There's a big, lifted crow's nest in case anybody gets lost.
We definitely heard the guy in the tower using a megaphone to tell two parents -- who were still in the maze -- that their kids were at the entrance.
There's also a mini maze for littler kids.
This was the one for us. There's no way to get lost. We were there with another family, and they were pushing their stroller with no problems. It was a pretty sturdy stroller, but I think we probably could have done it even with our umbrella stroller.
The mini maze probably took just over 5 minutes.
We could have gone faster -- or slower, by intentionally walking into the "dead ends," which are really only about 10 feet long and obvious to an adult as soon as you look at them.
We are maze champions! Let's eat junk food!
When we were there, there was a pizza food truck, sno-cones, kettle corn, jerky, and a specialty mac-n-cheese truck.
You can also save your money and bring your own food. My Internal Dad Calculator estimates we saved one million dollars by doing that.
There are a lot of ways for kids to have fun and burn off energy in direct sunlight.
The "jumping pillow" is basically a big bounce house sans house. Take off your shoes, sign a waiver (naturally) and jump around. The kids went crazy for it, and parents were hilariously swapping tips -- for example, the dark green stripe gets really hot in the sun.
There's a barrel train ride.
It takes a few minutes and, depending on how big your kid is, can be a quick break for a parent. Some seats are big enough for a parent to ride with a kid, and if yours is under the age of 3, they must be accompanied by an adult.
There are pony rides.
We did not do a pony ride.
And if your kid misbehaves, staffers put them in a transparent sphere and set it out to sea.
Kidding! Obviously, kids love this thing that looks horrifying to a parent on a sweltering 87-degree day. But hey, maybe it'll be different in October. Maybe you'll go, and I'll just be floating around in one of these things, blogging away with a wifi hotspot in my shirt pocket.
Finally, here's what you need:
- Tickets
- Sunscreen
- Water
- Snacks, unless you want to buy food there
Tickets are $8-13, depending on your age and whether you're a Denver Botanic Gardens member. Kids 2 and under are free. You can buy tickets online or in person.
Times and dates vary, but the maze is open Fridays and weekends through Oct. 30, plus some bonus weekdays the week of Oct. 12-16. Here's the full calendar. There are also after-dark hours, so you can do the maze by the light of a glow stick, just like in old times! The website helpfully notes that the maze is not haunted, but they don't say how they know. Either way, if you know any ghosts, it seems like a pretty great place to haunt.
