Cedar Rock offers October thrills, fun

A local Girl Scout troop enters its scarecrow for competition at Cedar Rock Saturday. Entries will be judged Saturday. From left are Greg Gressal, Mikayla Gressal, Kim Smith (of Cedar Rock), Olivia Massey, Megan Ayres, Lori Ayres and Angelica Wortham. (Submitted photo) [Click to enlarge]

How much would you pay to get lost in the country and have the bejeebers scared out of you?

At Cedar Rock on Warner Bridge Road, for only $5 a person (and the fifth one is free with a coupon from the web site), you can go on a hayride, get lost in the corn maze, pet some barnyard animals and just have a haunting good time.

The Fall Festival at Cedar Rock opens Saturday and will stay open throughout October.

New twist

"We did something new this year," said Steve Smith, who owns and operates the farm and its attractions with his wife Kim and their family. "We advertised for people to make their own scarecrow."

One of the trademarks of the Cedar Rock hay ride is the amazing number of amazing scarecrows. Some are funny, some are scary, and some will even dance a jig if they think no one is looking. Making them takes up a great deal of time for the Cedar Rock crew, but with the contest, they had some help.

"We had 14 or 15 entries," said Smith. "We thought it would be fun to get the community involved."

The contestants could make an exhibit of one to four scarecrows, between 4 and 8 feet tall. They were all turned in last weekend and this Saturday morning, on Cedar Rock's opening day, they will be judged with a panel of guest judges, including Bedford County Mayor Eugene Ray, County Clerk Kathy Prater and Property Assessor Rhonda Clanton. The winners will be announced at 3 p.m., and the top three places get $500, $300 and $200 cash awards.

The entries will remain on exhibit on the hayride until November -- but that doesn't mean the farm won't be supplying its own unique models.

"We've got several new scarecrows that are killer," Smith laughed. "Just killer."

Rock mining

The scarecrow contest isn't the only new thing going on.

This year, we'll have rock mining," said his wife, Kim. "A child gets a scoop of rocks and in it are famous Bedford County rocks and dirt.

"But," she added, "we've got two to three gemstones in the scoop, like catseye or fool's gold. It's just like they're mining for gold."

The rock mining, at $2 per child, and the concessions are the only things that cost extra, and free pumpkins will be given to everyone in groups of 20 or more that register before they come.

Third season

This is Cedar Rock's third year to do the pumpkin patch and corn maze. In the two previous years, more than 10,000 visitors have been estimated. Open to the public on weekends, the farm opens its doors on weekdays to schools and other groups who reserve a spot during the busy month. The children come and get to feed baby animals, play in piles of shining, golden corn kernels, run screaming through the corn maze, eat lunch, play on the playground and the zip-line, hear stories, and leave exhausted, holding their very own pumpkins in their laps.

The farm will also open nights by reservation, giving the older, hard-to-frighten crowd a chance to get lost in the maze when it's dark outside and the scarecrows are just a little but scarier.

Cedar Rock fall festival

Saturdays: 9 a.m.- 6 p.m.

Sundays: Noon-6 p.m.

Weekdays and nights by reservation

1326 Warner Bridge Road

cedarrockfallfest.com