A recently discovered alternative to the indoors, going "outside," offers adventurous explorers exposure to things such as wind, sunshine, and the naturally occurring mazes found in corn fields. Leave the indoors with today's Groupon: for $5, you get one admission (a $9 value for adults, and $7 for kids) and a personal pumpkin (a $2.50 value) to the Mesilla Valley Maze in Las Cruces, about an hour from El Paso. The farm is open weekends through October 31.

Located at Lyles Family Farm, the Mesilla Valley Maze is one of New Mexico's oldest corn mazes, providing family-friendly fall recreation since 1999. Using a GPS-guided farm tractor, the Mesilla Valley Maze is transformed from a basic pencil sketch into a nine-acre patterned trail, offering a fun and confusing design that changes yearly. The farm allows visitors to the maze to use handheld GPS devices, and two different fun and challenging games help kids and their families navigate the creative confines of the labyrinth without conjuring the ghostly spirit of Leonhard Euler trapped deep within.

Guests who visit the farm during the pumpkin festival (October 9 and 10) can enjoy face and pumpkin painting, slides, and hayrides to the pumpkin patch while participating in pie-eating and seed-spitting contests, and enjoying various special guest entertainers. Visit October 30 and 31 for the annual Pecan Festival, which features live music and horse-drawn carriage rides, as well as a pecan-ice-cream-eating contest and a pecan spoon obstacle course. This deal also sends visitors home with their own personal pumpkins, making it no longer necessary to drift into dreamland each night with magic squash blossoms stowed inside a tear-stained pillowcase.

Reviews

Mesilla Valley Maze was recently featured on KRQE for its unique Pluto planet/non-planet discovery design. The maze has more than 120 fans on Facebook, and three Yelpers give it five stars:

• Really Great!! The folks that do this every year deserve a lot of credit for creating something that has become a bit of a LC tradition. – Nick R., Yelp
• This corn maze is one of my favorites I've been to. Besides the actual maze, there is a pretty big play area for the kids. There are hay rides available, a pumpkin patch, snacks and all sorts of family fun. If you live close to here, this is a definite must! – Yvett R., Yelp