I’m not sure how I got to ripe middle age without ever going through a corn maze, but here we are.
I have roots in Iowa as well, which makes it even more perplexing. This time of year, a lot of the big farms host them, and, I have to say, after seeing some of their intricate designs in aerial view, my mind is still wrapping itself around how they actually do this. (Or, I should say it was, until I watched a video on it. But I’m not going to spoil it for you by trying to explain it here.)
While there are plenty of well-known corn maze options in West Michigan, I decided to have my first go at a place that was unfamiliar to me until a couple of months ago. Deep Roots Produce out in Alto has a pretty cool backstory, and they also have an array of farm animals in their petting zoo, so that sealed the deal for me.
I brought a friend with me and we headed straight to the cornfield after purchasing our tickets. They have an easy kids’ section, an advanced section, and an intermediate section. Somewhat confident, we took the intermediate path. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was almost immediately confusing. Labyrinthian, you might say.
Hmmm.
I always make a point of orienting myself before hikes by noting my location: which direction I’m heading and where the sun is. So, if I get lost (looking at you Crahen Valley…), I can turn myself around and backtrack. This proved helpful in this instance, after we had woven ourselves in deeply, and really had no clue where we were, except I could tell we were walking south and the sun had started to dip to the west.
We wondered between ourselves what someone would do if they did get seriously lost, but reminded ourselves that this was corn after all and in an emergency we could probably bolt toward the sounds of the road nearby. But we didn’t have to. We found our way to the exit and had some good conversation along the way. I left the field with a new respect for those who are actually following the map and navigating these things and not just aimlessly meandering until they get lucky enough to pop out the other side. (I also later realized that there’s a live GPS tracker that you can scan on your phone. Oh.)
When we got to the air-conditioned market barn, parched, we were excited to see cider slushies on the menu. I grabbed a donut too. Is this not a requirement?! We also cut some u-pick flowers, but those will be faded by the time you’re reading this. The farm animals were all out, and chickens ran away from us while the donkeys and alpacas moved in closer, hoping for a snack. The goats just yawned.
We went at the start of the fall season in September, which runs through the end of October. They are open in the daytime and on Friday and Saturday evenings for either glow nights, which include music, glow sticks, and strobes at the checkpoints, or flashlight nights. Check the Events tab on the website—deeprootsproduce.farm—to see which of these happens when. Saturdays in late September through October they have horse-drawn hayrides, weather permitting. Also check the calendar for goat yoga, a trunk or treat, and story times for the littles.
They close in November and reopen briefly in December for Christmas tree sales and access to the petting zoo. Then it’s just a short winter’s nap and they’re back in early June. They have tons of goods and seasonal produce in the market barn in the summer, plus a huge sunflower field later in the season, so, if you go this fall, keep them on your radar for 2025, too!
