Five-Acre Corn Maze Opens as Fall Season Kicks Off

Bonita Springs, FL · October 12, 2026

Fog is hugging the riverbanks low this morning, but it should burn off quickly to leave a clear runway for the week ahead.

The Lead

Autumn officially took over the fields off Morton Avenue this weekend as Farmer Mike’s U-Pick launched its 12th Annual Fall Festival. The opening rush brought families from across Lee and Collier counties to navigate the five-acre corn maze, carved this year around a "Journey to the Center of the Earth" theme, alongside freshly opened sunflower patches and pumpkin fields.

For Bonita Springs, the annual festival marks the traditional pivot from the quiet summer lull to active agritourism. The Morton Avenue farm remains one of the area’s few operating family agricultural parcels, drawing thousands inland from the beaches each weekend and funneling seasonal foot traffic into surrounding businesses.

Festival hours run Fridays through Sundays through October 31, with Sunday evening flashlight sessions giving maze wanderers an after-dark challenge before the haunted night trails open later this month.

Local Pulse

Downtown Alliance Prepares Immersive Halloween Walk Community Downtown businesses along Old 41 are stringing festive lights and preparing animated video displays ahead of next week's stroll.
Council Adopts Rollback Rate for New Budget City Hall Property owners see tax rate relief while the approved municipal budget maintains funding for neighborhood drainage and infrastructure projects.
New Gourmet Sandwich Spot Debuts Downtown Business A chef-driven counter service eatery is now serving house-cured meats and artisanal banh mi on Old 41 Road.

Today's Outlook

High 84°F · Low 71°F — Fog
- Give yourself extra stopping distance on the morning roads before mild warmth takes over.

What's On Around Town

Today

Adriana McDonald Sugar Shack Downtown (26940 Old 41 Rd), 6:00–9:00 PM Patio acoustic session with chilled local drinks.
Sheena Reagan Live Off the Hook Comedy Club (2500 Vanderbilt Beach Rd), North Naples, 7:00–9:00 PM · Paid Florida's comic of the year headlining a local standup showcase.

Tomorrow

Build Your Own Eco-Brick East County Regional Library (881 Gunnery Rd), Lehigh Acres, 4:00 PM · Free
Emma Briggs Coleman Sugar Shack Downtown (26940 Old 41 Rd), 6:00–9:00 PM

Wednesday

Farmers Market at the Lemon Tree Lot Lemon Tree Lot, 8:00 AM–1:00 PM · Free
Matty Jollie Sugar Shack Downtown (26940 Old 41 Rd), 6:00–9:00 PM
Wednesday Night Twisted Trivia Hopsized Brewing Company (9201 Cockleshell Ct), 7:00 PM · Free

Spotlight & Story

Braxton Comer's Pineapple Venture
- In the late 1880s, future Alabama governor Braxton Bragg Comer bought 6,000 acres along Surveyor’s Creek, importing 50 families to cultivate pineapples and bananas. The catastrophic back-to-back freezes of 1894 wiped out the crops entirely, abruptly sending Comer home.

Bonita Springs Daily Digest — compiled from local sources as of 6 AM. For breaking updates, follow your local newsrooms.

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