Family Fun at the Sunflower Field Eau Claire WI

Sunflowers bring an immense amount of happiness for lots of people including us! They are so amazing like big yellow plates, rising high into the air on slender sticks. It is especially wonderful seeing the sunflowers contrasting with a sprawling blue Wisconsin summer sky, with just a few puffy white cotton clouds tucked in to round out the scene. A sunflower field is wonderful for taking family photos. The Eau Claire sunflower field is not as big as it once was, but it’s still plenty big enough to have a full afternoon of fun and a great reason to travel to the Chippewa Valley!

Where Can You Find the Sunflowers ?

The sunflower field is located at Jaquish Farms located at W5725 State Road 85 Eau Claire, WI 54701 just a few miles from the Eau Claire County / Dunn County line. Drive south out of Eau Claire on Hwy 37, take the right to follow Hwy 85 towards Durand. If you get to the Eau Claire County / Dunn County line you’ve gone too far. Turn around and head back about a quarter mile and you’ll see Jaquish Farms on the right side of the road. You can also look for the giant sunflower painted on stacked hay bales which marks the entrance to Jaquish Farms.

The blooming sunflower field at Jaquish Farms is hidden from view from Highway 85. The sunflower field on the farm lives on as a portion of the fields of sunflowers that used to line both sides of Highway 85 just south of Eau Claire. The sunflowers still provide just as much joy and hope as they ever did.

What is the Travel Time to Jaquish Farms?

From Eau Claire it’s only about a 15 minute drive or less to get to Jaquish Farms, so it’s close by and not a big travel commitment to get there.

How Long Does it Take the Sunflowers to Grow?

Sunflowers grow surprisingly fast. The plants can reach their full height within 70 to 100 days after planting which is about 3 months or less.

When Will the Sunflowers be in Full Bloom?

The sunflowers are normally in full bloom in Western Wisconsin by about the end of August. Jaquish Farms is hosting their sunflower maze and a separate cut your own sunflowers bouquet field on the weekends of August 24 and 25 and 31 and September 1 this year 2024. The hours will be 11am to 6pm each of those days. If you’re driving out to the maze, please note their operation is weather dependent so hope for good weather for those weekends they are scheduled to be open.

Is There an Admission Fee to See the Sunflowers?

The admission is $7 per person or $25 per carload which gets you access to the sunflower maze and the sunflower field. The Jaquish family donates all profits raised from their sunflower field to Joshua’s Camp which is a local non-profit based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin that helps families who have a child age 17 or younger who is currently being treated for cancer or has been out of cancer treatment for less than 3 years.

One of the main goals of Joshua’s Camp is to provide events and activities where families dealing with childhood cancer can just relax and have fun for a short while, take a break from the stress of cancer, and be a family together.

Sunflower Maze with Antique Tractors

Within the sunflower field there is a sunflower maze which has quite a number of antique tractors parked within the maze. The tractors are like surprises you find as you make your way through the maze. There are many different brands of antique tractors here and you can have photos taken by them.

Children’s Activities at the Sunflower Maze

There have been crayons and coloring sheets at picnic tables at the sunflower maze in past years. This can be a fun time to sit down for a bit and just enjoy coloring with your kids.

What Kind of Shoes Should You Wear to Walk Around the Sunflower Field?

You may want to wear close-toed shoes to walk around the sunflower field because there could be sharp and poking remnants from the previous seasons sticking up out of the ground in some areas.

Also your feet will be pretty dirty after the visit if you choose to wear sandals and walk around in the field. Wearing close-toed shoes will help keep your feet cleaner.

Bumblebees in the Sunflower Field

A sunflower field can be a great place to watch big bumblebees fly from flower to flower collecting nectar and in turn pollinating the plants. When you stand still and quiet, you can also hear the sound of the bumblebees humming all around which can be a fascinating experience.

However, being surrounded by that many bees can bring anxiety for some, especially those with a bee sting allergy. Generally, these slow moving bumblebees do not seem concerned about human presence and it can be a lot of fun to observe them doing their work. If you do have a bee sting allergy it would be wise to have your medications with you just in case.

Food at the Sunflower Maze

In past years there has been at least one food truck on site to purchase food at the sunflower maze. There has also been an ice cream food truck there in past years.

The Story of the Highway 85 Sunflowers

If you’ve lived in or visited Eau Claire, WI for as far back as Year 2014 you may remember the vast fields of sunflowers that were planted along both sides of Highway 85 just south of town for many, many years that stretched on for what seemed like about 10 miles. [Honestly, it was probably about a 1 mile stretch of Highway 85 but because we’d never seen so many sunflowers in one place it seemed like it had to be 10 miles.]

Because the flowers were on both sides of the road, this stretch of Highway 85 was like a tunnel through one single field of bright yellow during each of these late summer months. It was bright yellow in every direction. Every single year we got to drive this stretch of Highway 85 during those years brought feelings of happiness and whimsical joy to us. It was an amazing amount of fun for us and it didn’t cost us anything.

At first, we didn’t know the story of why the sunflowers were there. We just thought they were pretty and we looked forward to them every year. We thought the farmer who planted them was just in the business of growing sunflowers and selling the seeds.

After doing some research years ago, we learned that planting these seemingly unlimited fields of sunflowers meant far more to this farmer than just putting a crop in the ground. If you search for Babbette’s Seeds of Hope you will likely still come across the story of this farmer who lost his wife to Multiple Myeloma, a type of bone cancer.

To honor his wife, this farmer planted as many sunflowers as he could for years and years. Don Jaquish lost his beautiful wife Babbette to cancer. And to show his love for her, he planted sunflowers and he called it Babbette’s Seeds of Hope.

Babbette’s Seeds of Hope – Will Live Far Into the Future

Babbette’s Seeds of Hope evolved and became more than just fields of sunflowers. Babbette’s Seed of Hope Fund is managed by the Eau Claire Community Foundation and the fund has been set up in a way that it will continue to support grants far into the future for cancer research and the needs of patients going through cancer treatments.

Is Jaquish Farms Sunflower Maze Worth Visiting?

Absolutely! Don Jaquish has made something beautiful and everlasting from one the most difficult things a person could ever endure, the loss of his wife. Over the last 10 years, the sunflower maze has become more and more a place of fun and happiness and a welcoming space. Come out to visit Jaquish Farms and show your support for them and also support the fight against cancer. We’re hoping for sunny weather on those weekends so we can enjoy a day at the farm wandering the maze of sunflowers and supporting Joshua’s Camp at the same time. See you there!