Visit: Sunflower Patch and Maze {Augusta, NJ}

Knowing my penchant for fun photo opportunities and kid-friendly places to visit, several weeks ago, a co-worker mentioned a sunflower patch that she noticed on her way home from work.  I scribbled a note on a scrap of paper and it sat on my desk.

For weeks.

This weekend, needing a distraction, we set off on an adventure, bringing Danielle and Taylor along for the ride (The Ex’s daughter and Mystic’s daughter respectively).

The field is about 20 miles from our house, and very easy to find. Started four years ago, it is the largest one of its kind on the East Coast, the first one in New Jersey, and boasts over a million blooms! We pulled into the gravel lot and excitedly piled out of the car. I was expecting just a sunflower patch, but it turns out that the 1 mile wide field was actually a maze too.

Truth be told, I’m not a fan of mazes. And come Fall season, I avoid corn mazes at all costs. I’ve never done one, mostly because I’m afraid of getting lost in the middle.

With the kids.

Never to be seen or heard from again.

As we debated about doing the maze, the woman in charge gave me a map and all sorts of instructions. I told her she wasn’t making me feel any better.

Then she explained that unlike a corn maze, the height of this maze is such that you can see over the top of everything, and she promised I wouldn’t get lost. The kids were all game, so who was I to say no?

The goal was to trek through the maze to reach this flag (shown below) on the other end of the field. About a half mile each way, one mile round trip. (You can go further, to the left side of the flag, where there are even more sunflowers, but I thought the flag was a good {read: safe} goal)

The above shot is Nick documenting the flag on Instagram (his view here).

We stopped many times along the way to admire perfect sunflowers, and for picture taking. Natch. We were also given a laminated chart, showing the different bees and bugs and such that we would find along the way, and Madeline had a lot of fun identifying the different winged insects.

Beyond the sunflower patch and maze, you can also pick sunflowers for a dollar a stem. But, the ones you’re allowed to pick are NOT the ones included along the maze. Um, yeah, we weren’t aware of that at the time (the for-picking sunflowers are in a different section), but the woman promised she wouldn’t send the cops after us.

Yeah, thanks for that.

Now unfortunately, you can’t go visit the sunflower field any more this season, because this Sunday was the last day, but do put it on your bucket list for next season, because I think it’s definitely a fun, unique way to spend an afternoon. And I would also suggest going earlier in September for the best array of open sunflowers (it’s open mid-August to mid-September).

Down the street, there is also a horse farm that the kids love to visit (via pulling over on the side of the road); that’s where the pictures from Sunday’s Weekend Photos in Review post were from. And The Chatterbox Drive-In restaurant is also in the area as well, and where we stopped for a late lunch before heading home.

A perfect little Sunday outing.

Sunflower Maze
533 Rt. 565
Augusta, NJ
973-219-6356

Hungry for more sunflower goodness?
Meg from Whatever has tons of great Kansas sunflower photos here and here.

Tomorrow? Peach and Plum Cobbler!
Thursday? Book review!

PS  Want to read more about this sunflower patch? The New York Times discovered it recently and did a great write-up on it, including its benefits and how it’s helping farmers, right here.

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