Four acres of corn, cut into a different design every year, on a working farm 35 minutes from Des Moines. Every path looks promising until it doesn't, and finding your way out feels like a genuine victory. It's included with admission, so there's no separate ticket and no reason to skip it.
Buy TicketsEvery fall the maze gets cut fresh in a new design, which is most of the reason people come back. This year's theme is the American farmer: an American flag and vintage tractor designs carved into four acres of corn. In 2023 the maze was cut in the shape of Reba McEntire's face as part of a nationwide partnership, which tells you the designs aren't small.
The designs come from The MAiZE, the company that built the modern themed corn maze, and Center Grove has been one of their farms for years. If you've seen an aerial photo of a corn maze that looked like something, there's a fair chance the same people designed it.
How the Corn Maze Works
The maze is included with admission. Take the hayride out or walk over from the main farm, and go in. There's no time limit and no guide, though most groups take somewhere between twenty minutes and an hour depending on how many wrong turns they commit to.
The corn is tall enough that you can't see over it, which is the whole point. Bring the kids, bring a phone with a charge, and agree on a meeting spot before you go in. It's a real maze, not a loop with a couple of turns.
Wear closed-toe shoes. The paths are dirt and get soft after rain. The maze stays open in wet weather, though a few other attractions close for safety.
Most people looking for an Iowa corn maze are also looking for a pumpkin patch, and the two rarely sit on the same farm. Ours do. The hayride runs between the maze, the pumpkin field, and the orchard, so it's genuinely one trip rather than three stops.
Come in September and you're picking apples on the way. Come in October and it's pumpkins. Either way the maze is the same four acres and the bakery is on the way out. The orchard is 20 acres and more than 34 varieties, and a September visit usually means apples on the way in and the maze on the way out.
See the pumpkin patch
The maze is one stop out of forty-plus. There's a corn pool, jumping pillows, giant slides, a train that runs the property, and a farmyard full of animals. Most groups do the maze first and then lose the afternoon to everything else.
Four acres. Most groups take between twenty minutes and an hour.
Yes. The maze, the pumpkin patch, the hayride, and all 40-plus attractions are included. Only You-Pick produce and a few bookable experiences cost extra.
Center Grove Orchard is at 32835 610th Avenue in Cambridge, Iowa, five miles east of I-35 at Exit 102. About 35 minutes from Des Moines, 20 from Ames, 25 from Ankeny.
Yes. We're 35 minutes north of downtown Des Moines off I-35. The maze is included with farm admission, so you're not paying separately to get in.
Yes. It's cut fresh in a new design each fall. If you came last year, this year's is different.
Closed-toe shoes, a charged phone, and a plan for where to meet if you split up.
The corn maze is open daily through the fall season in Cambridge, Iowa, five miles east of I-35 at Exit 102.
Center Grove Orchard
32835 610th Avenue
Cambridge, IA 50046
515-383-4354
Fall season runs August 29 through November 8. Farm hours are 9 AM to 7 PM. Check our calendar for current hours before you drive out.
