A-mazing! Chile field transforms to Mesilla Valley Maze
FAIRACRES, New Mexico -- It's fall, y'all! What better way to take in all the excitement the season brings than by heading to a corn maze?
I checked out one of the Borderland's finest - the Mesilla Valley Maze in Fairacres, just outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico. It's much more than just a corn maze. The 30-acre property boasts games for all ages, including rubber duck racing, gem mining, giant slides, flower fields, and of course, the infamous you-pick pumpkin fields.
Transforming a chile field into this fall paradise was the brainchild of Anna Lyles, whose husband is a commercial farmer.
"My husband scratched his head and said, 'what is it you want to do?' He's got a degree in AG, and I was a theater major," Lyles explains. He's fully supportive and sees very clearly the magic that his wife has created. The very first maze debuted in 1999, with a design in the corn in honor of the city of Las Cruces' 150th anniversary. Lyles says things snowballed from there.
"We went from 300 school kids visiting us and walking the corn maze to now we're hosting upwards of 22,000 school kids," Lyles says.
Visitors pay an entrance fee at the front gate, spend as many hours as they'd like, and everyone leaves with a pumpkin. With so many games and dozens of employees, Lyles refers to her job as being similar to an orchestra conductor...keeping everything moving smoothly. She laughingly compared it to herding cats but said she wouldn't have it any other way. She and her staff love hosting and seeing the smiles on kids' faces as they run by. As one visitor told us, "'It's good old-fashioned, clean fun here."
The Mesilla Valley Maze is open through the 30th of October. For ticket information and to learn more about its upcoming pumpkin festival, click here.
