Throughout this summer, CTV News Ottawa is exploring eastern Ontario and western Quebec, showing off hidden gems in the region to give you ideas for day trips that can be done on a single tank of gas. It’s the kind of place where getting lost is part of the fun. Ouimet Farms Adventure is located just off Main Street West in Vankleek Hill, about 100 kilometers east of Ottawa. The family-run farm has been around for over 100 years. Since 2013 it has welcomed visitors for the summer and fall, transforming into an agricultural playground featuring a giant seven-acre corn maze. “We notice kids don’t want to leave,” says Andre Ouimet, the owner of Ouimet Farms. “At 4 o’clock we hear the crying session from every kid. We’re sad to see that, but in reality, we think, ‘Yes! We did it right!’” Julia Fortin helps with the day-to-day operations at the farm and says families travel to the destination from across the region. “We have many families who come from Montreal and Ottawa and meet here in the middle…we are also an hour away from Cornwall,” Fortin said. “We try to make families feel as welcome as they are. People arrive as strangers and leave as family.” What started with a simple corn maze, has grown into an agro-tourism attraction. “We used to (plant the corn) manually, we used to do it with a tractor and a tiller, measure and count rows. Now we’re doing a little bit more technology,” Ouimet explains. Now, the intricately designed corn maze is mapped out along four kilometres of trail with the help of a GPS computer program. “It takes about 30 hours from the beginning drawing, then put it in the computer, and then I transfer it to the tractor with the GPS. Planting the corn takes about eight hours,” Ouimet says. Each year the corn maze has a theme. This year’s is Alexander Graham Bell and the Canadian invention and evolution of the telephone. Vistors enter the maze and put together puzzle pieces along the journey, to reveal an aerial image of the maze. “It takes about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes to complete the full challenge,” says Fortin. “There are 12 hidden mailboxes where they find a puzzle piece. Once you find a puzzle piece, you put it on your map, and then you complete a picture of your map.” While the maze is the main attraction, the farm changes with the seasons. There are sunflowers on display in the summer, and a pumpkin patch in the fall. There are other attractions on the farm including a pedal-kart track, gemstone mining, a museum, a tractor-pull and a huge jumping pillow that’s hard not to walk past while exploring the farm. The Ouimet family has been farming in Vankleek Hill for generations. One of the most striking reminders is a painted mural inspired by Ouimet’s father on full display. “The silo was painted in 2017. It was a project called Pop Silo,” says Ouimet. “I gave (the artists, Emmanuel Jarus and Zek One) an idea…My dad used to work in his garden and always lean on his hoe. It’s big, it’s very nice, I love it.” Tickets are only available onsite and no reservations are needed. Tickets cost $20 per person, or $75 for a family of four. Children under three years of age get in free. The Ouimet Farm Adventure is open weekends until Oct. 31. The farm is also open on Labour Day and Thanksgiving Monday.
