Bowden SunMaze Opens Early August 2026 — What to Know Before You Take the Kids

One hundred thousand sunflowers, all taller than your kid, all facing the same direction. Then a path cut through the middle of them.

The Bowden SunMaze opens in August for its 20th season, and it's still one of the best day trips you can do from Edmonton with kids who need somewhere to run. Here's everything you need to plan the drive to this magical adventure with the kids (and what to see while you’re there)

When does Bowden Sun Maze Open?

Bowden Sun Maze is expected to open early August 2026. The farm hasn't locked in a firm date — sunflowers bloom when they bloom — but they got into the fields two weeks earlier than last year, so they're expecting first blooms early to mid-August and a longer season than usual.

Skip booking the day off in advance and follow their Instagram or Facebook, watch for the bloom update, then go.

  • Weekday Hours: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

  • Weekend Hours: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

  • Later in August feature extended sunset hours, Fridays and Saturdays only

Admission

  • Adults: $17

  • Seniors: $10

  • Kids 5–17: $8

  • 4 and under: free

Tickets are sold at the farm. No pre-purchase, no timed entry, no app. A family of four with two school-age kids runs $50. Plan to spend between two to three hours.

What's at the Sunflower Maze there for kids

The sunflower maze. The main event, and taller than most adults by mid-August. Little kids lose sight of you fast in there, so set a rule before you walk in — hold hands, or stay within voice range.

A corn maze. Smaller than the sunflower one, and a good warm-up if your youngest is nervous about getting lost.

A living maze. Willow, lilac and cotoneaster — newer, and a nice change of texture from the two crop mazes.

U-pick gardens. Four acres of flowers and vegetables, and honestly the part that hooks most kids. Flowers are sold by the stem, veggies by the pound. The farm supplies clippers, forks and bags. They grow carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, peas and beans, plus sunflowers, zinnias, snapdragons and ornamental grasses.

Digging up your own potatoes is the most underrated hit here with kids. The farm grows more than 40 varieties for seed and puts 15 or more in the U-pick gardens. Kids who won't touch a potato at dinner will absolutely dig one out of the dirt - and they’re going to tell everyone they know about how they did it. You can pick up everything else you need at the farm store - with products from this, and other local farms.

How long will you spend at the maze?

The farm says families who do both the mazes and the U-pick typically spend two to three hours, and some stretch it to four or five. If that seems like too long of a time - get there at opening and hit up the maze first. Then, hit the u-pick and find fun family activities on the farm.

Maze is busiest after lunch - and the gardens are busiest late afternoon. You can buy flowers by the stem at the U Pick.

Visiting Tips for Bowden Sunflower Maze

  • It's certified organic — the whole farm, including the mazes, which the family points out is a bit absurd given the sunflowers are left standing for the birds. They do it because they farm everything else that way. As far as they know, it's the world's only certified organic sunflower maze. Good trivia for the drive.

  • It's a great family photo spot, and the farm actively welcomes photographers running mini sessions in the fields.

  • Four generations of one family have farmed this land since 1921. If your kids are old enough to care, the About page on their site has the whole history, including the guy who bought the land in the 1800s convinced there were minerals in a hill that turned out to be glacial sediment.

  • Full details and bloom updates at sunmaze.ca