MazeScoutYour guide to outdoor fun
Corn mazes, pumpkin patches, orchards, hayrides, and fall festivals in Waikato.
Taupiri Sunflower Farm is a two-hectare pick-your-own sunflower field on Gordonton Road near Taupiri, about an hour south of Auckland. Visitors pay entry plus a per-stem charge and are provided secateurs to cut their own flowers. The farm was established as a memorial planting and operates seasonally in summer.
Kaipaki Farmyard is a hands-on petting farm on Kaipaki Road near Ōhaupō where visitors can hand-feed cows, alpacas, goats and sheep, handle small pets and reptiles, and let kids explore a tractor play zone and hen house. It also hosts birthday parties in an on-site barn.
Kaipaki Sunflowers is a pick-your-own sunflower field on Kaipaki Road near Ōhaupō, run by local residents Tammy-Lee Grant and Jeff Keesom. Visitors walk tree-lined rows of sunflowers, buy cut stems, and enjoy coffee and ice cream on site. A dollar from every flower sold is donated to the Gumboot Friday mental health charity.
Broadlands School's Maize Maze is a one-day family fundraiser held in a maize paddock next to the school near Reporoa, between Taupō and Rotorua. Parents cut paths through the tall crop, and the day includes a bouncy castle, face painting, food stalls and live music alongside the maze itself.
Bucking Boar Cornfield Maze is a family-run maize maze on a Te Kowhai farm near Hamilton, cutting a new design into roughly five hectares of corn each summer. Alongside the maze, the site has three waterslides and an on-site cafe. It has operated seasonally since 2013 and takes school group bookings.
Tahi Toa Farm's Sunflower Fields sit on the Tairua-Whitianga Road in Whenuakite on the Coromandel Peninsula. Visitors stroll rows of sunflowers, pick their own stems to take home, and picnic in the surrounding countryside during the farm's short summer bloom window.