Ocoee Valley Farms is home to a huge corn maze called the River Maze. Finding your way through this corn maze is no easy task, making it a Chattanooga fall bucket list item.
Looking for fun activities for the family this fall season near Chattanooga? Look no further than the Ocoee Valley Farms River Maze. There’s fall themed fun for kids of all ages and adults will enjoy it too! Continue reading to learn what to expect from this fun place that may become your new annual, fall tradition.
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What: Giant Corn Maze, Smaller Mazes, Fun Farm Activities for all ages, Huge Pumpkin Patch
When: Mid-September through Late October (check their website for exact dates and times)
Where: Ocoee Valley Farms River Maze near Cleveland, TN
Cost: Check the price on their ticket page
What is the Ocoee Valley Farms River Maze?
The Ocoee Valley Farms River Maze is part of an operating row crop farm. This means they plant and harvest soybeans, corn, and wheat to sell, as well as straw and hay. They also grow truck market crops such as pumpkins, watermelons, and sweet corn. You can also pick pumpkins here in their pumpkin patch. And they have various flowers, including sunflowers. They offer flower picking and you can take photos with the flowers too.
Ocoee Valley Farms has been passed down through the generations of the Fetzer family for decades upon decades. The farm is located right by the Ocoee River on U.S. Highway 64, which is a beautiful scenic drive near Chattanooga, just outside of Cleveland, TN. The farm is an 50 minute drive from downtown Chattanooga.
The farm is best known for their annual corn maze and each year features a new theme. Since 2005, Ocoee Valley Farms has been serving up this artful attraction. Check out their website to see this year’s design.
When to Visit Ocoee Valley Farms River Maze
Open on weekends only, the farm typically lasts for a season from mid-September till late-October. Check their website to plan your visit during their open dates. The activities range from the 8-acre corn maze to a smaller soybean maze. There’s plenty of other farm activities for kids of every age too. There’s baby farm animals and pony rides as well as a hay bale maze for the little ones. And there’s more challenging tasks for the older kids to enjoy as well. Ocoee Valley Farms is also well-known for their huge pumpkin patch. They have over 80 varieties of pumpkins to choose from. Learn more about the pumpkin patch specifically on their website.
Tickets can be purchased when you arrive or pre-ordered online. There’s a couple options. You can get just farm entry or you can get farm entry plus the corn maze. Check pricing and purchase your tickets on the website.
The Corn Maze
One of the best things to do for fall in Chattanooga would have to be a corn maze. You’re encouraged to take the hay ride over to the maze and back. The walk to the maze is not too bad for a physically active adult. But, keep in mind, this maze is 8-acres and you’ll be spending the entire time you’re in it…walking.
To help you through the corn maze, there’s a variety of options for hints on where to turn. The maze has checkpoints. At each checkpoint, you can use your preferred method of clues to figure out which direction to turn from there.
There’s a mystery option where you’re given clues at every checkpoint in the maze to help you solve the puzzle. This is a scavenger hunt styled mystery and the theme changes every year. The year I visited, the mystery was “who really shot JFK.” At the end of the maze, if you collected the clues at every checkpoint, you should be able to guess the answer. And you’re eligible to win a prize for this as well. I personally did not pick this route so I don’t know too well first-hand how it works, but I definitely want to go again and try this route next time.
The other option is using a passport for which there are endless possibilities. Pick up a passport at the start of the maze to help guide you at each checkpoint. Each passport has trivia questions based on the topic you choose. We picked up the more generic one which I think would be perfect for young children. Most clues gave us a series of actions to do before telling us where to go. So it was much less trivia and more of a “follow these directions” for an answer.
And if you don’t like the trivia options available on site, make your own! I just discovered this option online and think it would make for a fun twist. Make your own trivia questions and then print them out to take with you to the farm or just use the screenshots on your smart phone. I think this would be great if you have a group of people and choose one person to write up the questions while the others have to utilize it and answer the questions.
Tips for a Great Visit at Ocoee Valley Farms
Here are the things I learned that I wish I had known before visiting this Chattanooga fall attraction.
Tips for the farm
- When you enter the farm, drive straight back to where you’ll see a sign that points to parking. From there an attendant will direct you into a parking space, or find an empty space if no one is there to direct.
- At the very front of the farm right by the roadway entrance is the ticket booth. We didn’t realize this and walked all over looking for it initially.
- The cost for just the corn maze includes the other activities as well. You can’t just purchase a wristband for the corn maze only as it’s an all-encompassing pass.
- There are seasonal flowers that you can pay additionally to visit and pick as well.
- You will most likely have no cell signal on the farm.
- There are restrooms at the front of the farm as well as a concession stand.
Tips for the corn maze
- The corn maze is straight back on the main road into the farm. There’s a sign pointing to it next to the parking sign.
- The hay ride back from the corn maze doesn’t go directly back. It’s on a loop that will take you further away from the front of the farm. They will take you all the way to the back where the sunflowers are before circling back to the front. If you don’t want this longer hay ride back to the front of the farm, I highly suggest just walking back as it will be much faster.
- Take a photo of the overall corn maze map to help you if needed. (I did and I’m glad because I used it!)
- It could take you anywhere from 1 to 2 hours to get through the 8-acre maze so be prepared.
- There are multiple loops in the maze, so don’t be surprised if you end up at the same crossroad checkpoints over and over again. Somehow we missed checkpoints 1 through 3, but we ran into checkpoint 4 and 5 twice!
- Take water with you into the maze. When I went, it was a sunny day and even though it wasn’t hot out, there’s not much shade in the maze and you’ll start feeling the heat of the sun pretty quickly. Since we didn’t take water with us, about 15 minutes in we realized this oversight and ended up resorting to using the map to get us out as soon as possible so we could get some water. Overall, it took us roughly 45 minutes to do the whole maze…with the map!
- There’s an “emergency exit” in the maze, just ask where before you enter. The actual exit from the maze is right next to the entrances (yes, there’s two entrance options).
In Closing
To sum up this Chattanooga fall corn maze attraction, I will say I loved it and can’t wait to go back. As I said earlier, I’d like to do the maze again (maybe next year) and try to complete the mystery option instead for a shot at a prize at the end.
I highly recommend taking a day and adding Ocoee Valley Farms River Maze to your Chattanooga fall bucket list. There’s so much to do for all ages so it’s perfect for the whole family. Be sure to watch the video experience of my visit on YouTube.
Let me know in the comments below if you’ve visited this place before or if you’ve ever done a corn maze before. I’d love to know! Until next time, enjoy exploring Chatt!
More Chattanooga Fall Fun:
- Best Chattanooga Apple Orchards
- Fall Leaves on Mowbray Mountain
- Chattanooga Parks to Visit for Fall Leaves
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