Skip to content

Central Alberta’s Kraay Family Farm celebrates 25 years of sharing agriculture adventures

The Lacombe-area farm’s season began this week

Kraay Family Farm has has served as a space of family fun in Central Alberta for a quarter century.

Marking its 25th anniversary this year, the Lacombe farm’s annual corn maze reflects that milestone, with the design containing the message “Celebrating KR25Y Years.”

“It seems kind of crazy we’re celebrating 25 years already,” Rachel Kraay says.

The corn maze features a new design every year.

“We usually start thinking about our design in the new year. The family decides what kind of image or theme would look good,” Kraay says.

“Once we do that, we work with the designer that designs mazes who we’ve worked with for 25 years. They make sure it’s not too easy or too hard, and everything connects properly.”

READ MORE: Take an Alberta roadtrip in the footsteps of ‘The Last of Us’

Prior to being the agricultural entertainment site Kraay Family Farm is today, it was a hog operation.

“Hog prices were not great at that point, so my husband Reuben’s parents, Ed and Linda Kraay, were looking to diversify their farm. Reuben had seen a corn maze when he was out and about travelling, and he suggested it to his parents. They’re spontaneous people and decided to give it a try,” Kraay says.

“They started the corn maze, as Lacombe Corn Maze, with a couple friends of theirs — they did that for five years before we bought their friends out and joined them. Eventually we decided to get totally out of animals and go all in on the agri-tainment.”

The family tries to add a new attraction every year.

“The 15-acre corn maze used to be the main attraction. We had a fire pit or two and a big slide. You were able to buy a pop or two as well. But now, I think people spend far more time on the farm area itself. There are just so many different things to do and we always look forward to building those things,” Kraay says.

RED MORE: How one man’s passion for things that go helped bring a world-class museum to Wetaskiwin

The farm’s season officially began on Monday.

“There are a lot of kids who have been counting down the days to come out to the farm. A lot of them come the first day,” Kraay says.

If you go:

  • Take Exit 422B on QE2 - 4.8 kilometres (3 miles) west of Lacombe, Alta.. Go 1.6km (1 mile) west of the Hwy 2 overpass on Hwy 12, then 0.8km (1/2 mile) south on Range Road 27-3. Watch for the signs!
  • To plan your visit to Kraay Family Farm, visit kraayfamilyfarm.com and stay up to date with the latest news on Facebook and Instagram.

READ MORE: Lacombe Museum hosts another season of historic walking tours

Plan your adventures throughout the West Coast at westcoasttraveller.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @thewestcoasttraveller. And for the top West Coast Travel stories of the week delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our weekly Armchair Traveller newsletter!



Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
Read more