Cool Patch Pumpkins — Local services in Dixon

So this pumpkin patch is open. As of the 22nd of September 2019 (just typing for the 2019 season. It is subject to change in the coming seasons of course).

Everything is mostly oriented to the right of the entrance instead of the left side like last year. Makes sense because it changes things up for customers and it helps the land. Edit: Only thing on the right side is the Corn Maze but you'll see the big orange entrance as you walk through.

Prices are pretty much the same as last year:

Corn Bath: $3 per person Corn Maze: $15 per person Hay Pyramid is free Hay Ride is $4 per person (I think up $1 from last year.) Trike Course: (dunno as of typing this)

Since it's early in the season the place is understaffed. When I went there today it was just the cashier and the farmers. But because I went on a school day, and being the hottest day for the week of the 25th September 2019, it wasn't going to be a day where everything needed to be manned due to a small amount of visitors.

It's both a con and a pro depending on how to look at it. Because there was no one at the corn Bath for instance, it can be exploited by customers and the staff. And I say by staff in that the admissions for things are for one time use. Once you leave the Corn bath or the trike areas, it's surmised to pay again to get back in. (Once there is staff to oversee who is coming and going.) It's only a mild nitpick. This is only my second year so I can't exactly have a "local's perspective".

Last Edit (I hope): I do wish they had a wrist band or stamp system in place for the Corn Bath and Trike area (as of typing this the trikes are there but I don't think the course was set up). I do understand that's how they stay in business every year so it's only opinion. If they could look to see how popular certain activities were and made a wristband package for maybe $20 (let's say, corn maze, trike and corn bath or different combinations) then it might be more worthwhile. Moreover, this pumpkin patch doesn't have that many activities and it's not my business, rather a suggestion for next year?

Either way, I hope everything is good to go by this weekend. I looked it up on Google for weather (27-29th) and it's supposed to be in the mid 70s in Dixon. (Friday 27th will be the highest at 77 degrees.) It'll be pretty good weather for an opening weekend and since this is one of the few good pumpkin patches open this early.

Pickings for pumpkins are pretty good. I usually get the baby ones but there were some whoppers out there when we went on...

The maze was extremely large. The bathrooms were appropriate (being on a farm). However security was terrible in policing vandals. (2018 Season is Over as of 10/14/2018 unless maze issues are fixed)

TLDR; Bring hardhats and wait until the corn maze is fresh before vandals ruin it. Also, vandals are nocturnal.

In the maze, there's a whole lot of twists and turns. We're given a map with coordinates. However the coordinate markers were either taken or misplaced by VANDALS that night. To make matters worse, there were a ton of drunk folks who were helplessly lost and only made problems worse for the visitors. People would resort to making their own shortcuts. Because people were making their shortcuts, they ruined the maze so half of the maze is optional. The mazes are constructed in a way where every square meter is utilized with walkways or walls. When this shortcut was created due to electron tunneling and now that the wall was destroyed, the maze was significantly easier (45 minutes) than intended (2 hours).

Worst of all, people were throwing ears of corn up into the air and smacked me directly on my head (which is why I'm writing this review in the first place). At first I thought an ear of corn fell from 8-10ft up and I sympathized with Issac Newton. After the incident, I continued the maze and found a group of 8 people where I saw corn being projected into the air. I told them to stop because I was a victim to their demise. A subgroup in the initial group told me to "Walk along MF'er before we F you up". Being threatened, I wanted the last laugh and expedited my way through the maze to alert authorities. Upon finishing the maze, I directly went to the personnel at the end to explain there were highly aggressive people throwing corn still in the maze. The person told me that there's signs stating that I'm entering at my own risk and there's nothing that they can do - in fact, she stated she got hit the weekend prior.

YES THERE'S SOMETHING YOU CAN DO! You can have an actual security team or law enforcement watching these large events (approx 200+ were there at 6pm). The maze event alone costs $15, you can afford the extra employees. You can set up signs that indicate violations impose fines for vandalism and aggression. You can set up nets to prevent sky high corn ears being lobbed. You can ban the drunks and stoners from entering (one can smell alcohol and weed from several meters away from most people). This is your reputation on the line. Is this a family friendly event, or a...

The corn maze was AMAZINGLY huge! I would never get in there without a map. Even with the map in hand, it still took us almost two hours to get out of it through the shortest route, with a few breaks at every bridge. There were four bridges total in four different colors that connected different parts of the maze. It's really fun if you love orienteering, or imagining which part of the graphic on the map you were walking on, but it's not for everybody if all that they do is just following someone through piles and piles of corns until they start singing "corn fields forever"! The good thing about this place though is that there are other cool features for different age groups. The corn bath in particular was surprisingly fun for us. It was built for kids, but many adults like us found it very relaxing to dip in or to lay down on it. Very relaxing like laying down on a gigantic bean bag, especially after the exhausting hike through the corn maze. They also had pumpkins on the vine, not on display like in many patches, if you go there early in the season. We were happy to pick one fresh off the farm for only five dollars. One more plus about this place is the food. The tri-tip sandwiches were surprisingly good. Don't expect restaurant quality sandwiches, but we appreciate the soft and smoky flavored tri-tip in a remote farm. Portable parties were the only thumb down for us but that's the same at every pumpkin patch. If anything, I'd say this place was not as "pretty" for photography as several other patches. We were quite impressed by all the fun features in Three Nuns and some patches around Halfmoon Bay last year. Overall, I'm glad that we were able to make it here...