Today we trekked the short distance over to Terrebonne to visit the Central Oregon Pumpkin Company. According to longer-term Central Oregon residents, this pumpkin patch started out as a pretty homespun, low-tech fall fun locale, but in recent years has expanded to include a tractor-drawn "Zoo Train," food and concessions, live music, and one kick ass corn maze.
Now, this patch would be worth the drive even if there were just a pile of moldering pumpkins stacked on a ratty tarp. It sits less than a half mile from Smith Rock - one of our very favorite Central Oregon destinations. From anywhere on the approximately 10 square acre site, you can see the rusts, greens and yellows of Smith Rock towering on the horizon.
Once on site, a live band kicking out Eagles tunes and other pop-country offerings puts you in the mood for fun. We lined up to purchase our corn maze tickets and tokens for other activities. The corn maze tickets did not come cheaply - $7.50 for anyone over 11, $5.50 for those 6-11. If you happen to be under five - you're free! Tokens to take part in any of the other attractions ran $2.50 each. The whole area has a medieval theme - horse mounted and armored knights (of both sexes) wandered the grounds, providing plenty of good photo opportunities!
The corn maze was created by a national company called The Maize. We entered through a false castle facade and sat down for a funny, three minute video with medieval characters counting down the rules of the maze. We consulted our map - a cartoon sketch of the different routes through two different mazes in the same cornfield. If you were to fly overhead, you'd see that the many pathways create a complex castle scene, and it took us a few minutes to decipher which lines represented the paths and which represented the corn stalks.
They'll tell you that it takes about 15 minutes to solve the first maze and 30 minutes to solve the second, but with a steady eye on the map, you can blitz through in about half that time. The kiddo enjoyed meeting a fully decked out, silver bearded knight at one midpoint, and a beautiful princess sharing candy at another.
Due to the lines, we opted not to ride the train or shoot the high-powered pumpkin cannon, but we could see that participants were having a great time. EE tried his hand at the junior archery booth, fed a few pigmy goats and explored the pirate ship hay fort. He's becoming such a monkey, jumping and climbing obstacles higher and higher.
It took us just a few minutes to select three pumpkins to take home for carving. We were concerned that after the expense of the maze and fun, we'd have to put one of the oversized orange monsters back, but we had just enough cash on hand to pay for the pumpkins - and a $3 day permit over at Smith Rock.
Putting the pumpkins securely in the back of the car, we headed over to Smith Rock for a short hike. This time we started at the northeastern end of the park to explore a horse trail we hadn't yet traversed. In each of our visits to the rock, we've arrived at a different time - and the light always reveals a different aspect, a different character. The greens seemed more intense today, and the shadows longer, more dramatic. Not wearing good hiking shoes, we slip-slid our way down the Homestead Trail into the canyon below. Geese floated in the calm waters of the Crooked River and climbers high above called to each other. Wonderful. Our route took us along the river to the centerpoint of the park, up "The Chute" and back around to our car. Just a quick jaunt, under two miles.
While there is a hike or two around the canyon rim that would be considered kid-friendly, if you're going to get down into the canyon to explore the trail network below, your kid will need to be pretty steady on their pins. Any way you cut it, you'll have to get them down and up a short but steep scramble - down the Chute or down the Homestead Trail. Less intrepid little explorers may balk - especially on the way up! Do keep an eye out for rattlesnakes. There are signs posted, and on one trip we heard a rattler in the scrub.
The Central Oregon Pumpkin Company: http://www.pumpkinco.org/
Smith Rock State Park: http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_51.php
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