As fall settles over Orange County, families all around are looking forward to enjoying the beauty the season has to offer. While the leaves on the palm trees might not change, there is a different plant that never fails to bring joy: corn! Specifically, corn mazes!
Whether you’re looking for a challenge, a fright, or a relaxing family day out, Orange County has a corn maze for you! Whether they’re a little bit of a drive or right in your backyard, these family-owned, family-friendly farms with corn mazes are sure to please.
Carlsbad Strawberry Company – Carlsbad
1050 Cannon Road, Carlsbad, CA 92008
760-603-9608
Carlsbad Strawberry Company is located right off the freeway (and just minutes from Legoland). But you don’t have to pay amusement park prices to have fun. The corn maze here is open everyday – during the fall season, there is also a haunted corn maze. You can lose yourself here in their one and a half miles of corn maze trails, taking about 30 minutes to navigate through.
When you find your way out, explore the farm to find plenty of other activities including farm animals to make friends with, tractor rides, photo ops, flower fields, rides and games, and vendors. Of course you’ll want to pick your own pumpkin while you’re here too. Visit in the off season for their delicious strawberries.
Frosty’s Forest – Chino
14861 Ramona Avenue, Chino, CA 91710
971-303-3486
If you’re looking for fun, look no further than Frosty’s Forest! Located in Chino, they have not just one, but two different corn mazes! One is a 4-acre corn maze perfect for the whole family! With so much space, you could easily spend an hour roaming around all the corners and dead ends trying to find your way out.
The real highlight of Frosty’s Forest, however, is their Haunted Corn Maze. This corn maze is not for children; their website states that the scenes in the maze are created for an audience of people 18 or older, and that props may contain gore and violent scenes. For those who love haunted houses, this could be a great, unique alternative that is sure to scare the living daylights out of you!
Outside of the corn mazes, Frosty’s Forest has plenty of other attractions for everyone to enjoy! From classic carnival rides like their Ferris Wheel and carousel, to one-of-a-kind experiences like their Corn Cob Beach and Sunflower Labyrinth, you could spend a whole day enjoying all that Frosty’s Forest has to offer! They also sell pumpkins in the fall for all your decorating or cooking needs, and have a Christmas Tree farm for the winter!
Cal Poly Pomona Pumpkin Fest – Pomona
4102 S. University Drive, Pomona, CA 91768
909-869-6722
The Cal Poly Pomona Pumpkin Fest has been running for 30 years, and it’s no surprise to see it still going strong after all these years! Organized by the students of the Don B. Huntley College of Agriculture, the founding college of Cal Poly Pomona, this annual event draws crowds from all over to celebrate the fall season!
The students grow corn over the course of the summer to have two stunning corn mazes ready to confuse and confound you come October. With the corn “walls” growing to over twelve feet high, these challenges are not for the faint of heart, but even if you get lost a few times, you’ll love the stunning photo backdrops the corn provides! It also makes a great bonding activity for the whole family, or a group of friends, as they work together to figure their way out.
In addition to the corn mazes, the Pumpkin Fest hosts a ton of other activities all October long! They have a pumpkin patch full of medium-to-large pumpkins for purchase, with gorgeous photo stops spread throughout the patch so you can remember your lovely day out forever! They also have a sunflower maze, in case you didn’t get your fill from the corn mazes, and offer hay wagon rides around the perimeter of the festival, pulled by restored antique tractors!
Given that this festival is organized by a college, you can also count on learning plenty of new things when you visit! The hay wagon rides are led by student tour guides who will explain all the things going on at the farm, all while you get to sit back and enjoy the sights. They also put together Ag Discovery Lane, full of displays and exhibits showing off different farming activities like cow milking, sheep shearing, and beekeeping, along with booths from various affiliated organizations.
For younger kids, the festival also hosts a petting farm with some of the cutest and friendliest animals around! Featuring goats, sheep, and calves, among other adorable creatures, you’ll be able to watch your child’s face light up with joy as they get to cuddle up to their new friends. There is also a Children’s Garden where they can learn about the importance of plants and agriculture in lessons about composting, home gardening, and pollination, and also see fun presentations including one showcasing the Creepy World of Bugs and Reptiles, perfect for younglings who can’t get enough of those creepy crawlies.
Big Horse Corn Maze – Temecula
33320 Temecula Parkway, Temecula, CA 92592
951-389-4621
Boasting the largest corn maze in Southern California, the Big Horse Corn Maze is located just outside of Orange County in Temecula. While it might be a slight bit of a drive, it is well worth it to be surrounded by corn in a maze stretching over eleven acres!
Knowing that people may be looking for different levels of difficulty when it comes to corn mazes, they allow visitors to select what kind of a challenge they want. You can go through the maze without any extra help, or you can pick up a Passport to help guide you through all the twists and turns! If you’re looking for even more of a challenge, the Passport also features suggestions on how to ramp up the difficulty for you and your group.
In addition to the giant maze, Big Horse Feed and Mercantile also hosts a pumpkin patch where you can grab any gourds you need for your Halloween or Thanksgiving needs! They also donate a portion of all proceeds to various military/veteran non-profit organizations, so you know that money spent here is not only getting you a wonderful experience, but also helping to support great causes!
Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Farm – Redlands
32335 Live Oak Canyon Road, Redlands, CA 92373
909-795-8733
Located in Redlands, just outside of San Bernardino, Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Farm may be one of the most exciting places to visit in this list! Boasting over forty different attractions, you and your family could easily spend a whole day enjoying all the sights and activities waiting for you here!
Their corn maze is located right by their blooming sunflower fields, meaning you’ll be positively surrounded by plantlife as you wander your way up to and through the maze. You can expect to spend close to an hour navigating through the maze as you run into plenty of dead ends and forks in the corn, but that will only make your satisfaction even greater once you find your way out!
In addition to the beauty of the corn and sunflower fields, Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Farm has no shortage of great photo opportunities to help make lasting memories of your day out! They claim to have both the World’s Largest Rocking Horse and the World’s Largest Rocking Chairs, so you can have a rocking good time here! They also have a teepee and flower gardens to provide stunning backdrops, and both a hay pyramid and a hay castle for your kids to climb all over (and inevitably end up all over their clothes).
They have a wide selection of carnival-type rides, from a pumpkin-themed Ferris Wheel and spinning ride to a classic Carousel, but also a number of very unique attractions! Getting into the fall spirit, they have both a corn blaster and a pumpkin blaster, in case you’ve ever wanted to know which veggie would fly farther. For thrill seekers, check out their new mini zip lines and low ropes course! They also have a Cow Coaster and a Dino-Go-Round for kids who love animal-themed rides!
Kids who love animals will also find a lot to love here! As soon as you walk through the entrance you’ll be greeted by the farm’s Pony Field, where you can see the young horses being raised here. Right beside the Pony Field you’ll find a petting zoo full of all your favorite barnyard animals, and you can watch the farm’s famous chicken show by the stage! They also offer pony rides, every child’s favorite, where they can pretend to be back in time for just a while as they get to enjoy one of the most magical experiences a farm can offer!
Of course, we couldn’t talk about all Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Farm has to offer without mentioning their titular Pumpkin Farm! They boast the largest pumpkin patch in all of Southern California, and you are welcome to head into the field to pick your own pumpkin! If you’d rather not go into the pumpkin fields themselves, they also have a huge tent stocked full with every size of pumpkin you might be looking for right within their attractions area!
Forneris Farms – Mission Hills
15200 Rinaldi Street, Mission Hills, CA 91345
818-361-0714
While it may be a little bit outside of Orange County, Forneris Farms is well worth the trip! Located just north of L.A., Forneris Farms is a SoCal institution, having been passed down within the Forneris family for over a century.
All that time has given them plenty of time to perfect the art of their corn maze, which they literally turn into art! The maze is designed and cleared to create an image when viewed from above, like their maze from 2021 which formed a U.S. flag! Past designs have included tractors, dinosaurs, pumpkins, and more! They say it will take you about an hour to find your way out, but you can spend even longer if you pick up one of their scorecards and go looking for the twelve CORNundrums, which are riddles hidden throughout the maze. If you find them all, you can hand in your completed scorecard to be entered to win a prize!
In addition to their incredible corn maze, they also have a pumpkin patch for all your fall decorating needs! They pick the pumpkins out of the field for you, so all you need to do is browse around to find the perfect fit for you! They also have a farm market selling all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables, from strawberries and peaches to tomatoes and cucumbers. If you’re looking to bring any of those home, make sure you have cash on hand, as Forneris Farms is currently a cash-only location.
Underwood Family Farms – Moorpark
Moorpark Farm Center
3370 Sunset Valley Road, Moorpark, CA
If you’re looking to get lost in a maze of maize, Underwood Family Farms has got a great one waiting for you as part of their Fall Harvest Festival! However, it’s important to make sure you head to their Moorpark location for the festival; their location in Somis, while beautiful, does not have all the same attractions. You’ll also want to make sure you book your ticket in advance if you plan on going on the weekend, as tickets must be booked online for Saturdays and Sundays. From Monday-Friday, tickets are available at the farm.
Every day of the week you’ll find plenty of fun things to get up to here! The corn maze spans several acres, so you will spend plenty of time trying to find your way around it. Once you get out, you’ll be greeted by attractions like their giant tractor and pumpkin displays, as well as their giant spiders if you’re feeling spooky. You can also go for a ride on a tractor-drawn wagon to see the farm from a whole new perspective!
If pumpkin picking is on your to-do list, you can also enter their Pick-Your-Own fields! In addition to pumpkins, you’ll find all kinds of veggies there, ranging from carrots and cauliflower to peas and peppers! If you’d prefer to stay out of the fields, but are still looking to bring a pumpkin home, you can stop by their pumpkin house before you leave for an even easier pumpkin picking experience!
If you’re looking for a chance to sit down and be entertained, Underwood Family Farms has you covered there too! Farmer Craig’s Chicken Show runs every day, but the weekend is when they really pull out all the stops.
On Saturdays and Sundays you will find animal shows and pig races happening throughout the day, and they also have roaming buskers throughout the farm area to entertain you wherever you go! They also have live performers and bands on their mainstage, and let me tell you that you do not want to miss them! Each weekend also has its own theme, ranging from Antique Tractor Weekend to Wild West Weekend! Please check their website to see what’s going on when you plan to attend.
In Conclusion
There are so many great corn mazes all around Orange County to visit and create new fun memories with your whole family! Whether you’re going for the thrill of the challenge, or want a day to take in all the other attractions these places have to offer, everyone is sure to find something to enjoy!
Did you know California is home to the world’s largest Corn Maze? Cool Patch Pumpkins in Dixon, CA holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest corn maze at 60 acres! Every year the maze is completely unique as well.
If you visit any of these mazes, let us know by tagging us on Instagram at our handle @enjoyorangecounty or use the hashtag #EnjoyOC to be featured on our page!
