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Savor Fall Seasonal Fun at These 5 Cool Corn Mazes

Test your navigation skills in these entertaining cornfield labyrinths

a corn maze featuring a woman and dinosaurs
Can you guess the corn maze theme at Richardson Adventure Farm? Hint, the movie debuted 30 years ago.
Richardson Farm
By

Ken Budd,

 
AARP
Published October 06, 2023

Humans have farmed corn for nearly 10,000 years, but corn mazes are a recent development. British maze designer Adrian Fisher is typically credited with pioneering the idea in 1993, and unlike many ‘90s trends (remember Pogs?), corn mazes have endured. Roughly 500-750 of the labyrinths are scattered throughout the United States, according to The MAiZE, a Utah-based design company. Many mazes are stunning from above, with crops cut to resemble images such as superheroes or dinosaurs. For a spookier vibe, some farms offer nighttime excursions. Here are five mazes worth wandering this fall.

Cool Patch Pumpkins

Dixon, California

The size of the labyrinth varies annually, but whether it’s 40 acres or 63 — which set a since-surpassed Guinness World Record in 2014 — the Cool Patch maze is one of America’s biggest. How big? The farm asks that visitors NOT call 911 if they get lost (Don’t panic: Guests receive a map and the maze includes well-marked exits.). Plan for roughly two hours to navigate the maze. There’s also a mini-maze made of hay bales for kids, and, for an extra $5, you can take a corn bath (picture a giant pool of corn). Make time to pick pumpkins. Cool Patch started as a family-owned pumpkin farm and also grows squashes and gourds. Open daily 9 a.m.-8 p.m. through Oct. 31. $22 (taxes and fees not included); free for children 5 and under.

Other a-maze-ing options:

  • Cornbelly’s in Lehi, Utah, has two mazes, including one with an Addams Family theme.
  • In Kuna, Idaho, the Lowe Family Farmstead has a 13-acre, America-shaped “Land That I Love” maze.
denver downs corn maze features a portrait of reba mcentire
Denver Downs Farm’s 12-acre corn maze honors Reba McEntire.
Eric Rodgers

Denver Downs Farm

Anderson, South Carolina

If you’re the competitive type, you’ll love the 12-acre corn maze at family-owned Denver Downs. A QR code game lets you track your completion time. Top scores are posted online, and the fastest finishers enter a drawing for prizes. This year’s maze is a tribute to country star Reba McEntire and includes 12 checkpoints that share info about the singer and her music. Once you exit the labyrinth, you can enjoy more than 35 activities, including zip-lining, a mega slide and pig races. Open Thursday 1-5 p.m., Friday 4-10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-6 p.m. through Nov. 12. $15 (online and gate) on Thursday; $24.95 for Friday to Sunday; $29.95 at the gate.

Other a-maze-ing options:

  • How popular is Reba McEntire? The MAiZE company designed Reba labyrinths for more than 40 farms, from Colorado to Virginia to her home state of Oklahoma.
  • At the Graff 7A Ranch in Hondo, Texas, the corn maze design is a tribute to – what else? – Texas.
left a doll inspired corn maze right people watching pig races
Happy Day Farm’s labyrinth resembles Barbie and Ken. Pig races are part of the New Jersey farm’s fall festival.
Happy Day Farm

Happy Day Farm

Manalapan, New Jersey

Barbie is the highest-grossing movie of 2023 and Happy Day Farm’s 10-acre maze resembles Barbie and Ken (the farm calls it a “Dolls” maze, undoubtedly for legal reasons). Inside you can play Maize-O-Poly — you find squares in the maze that match squares on your game board — and survey your surroundings on a lookout bridge. A shorter path takes 15-25 minutes, and a longer one requires 45 minutes to an hour. Not a Barbie fan? A second maze has a Minions theme. Additional activities include pumpkin bowling, a corn tunnel and rubber duck races. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. through Oct. 29. $21 (cash) on weekdays; $27 (online purchase) Friday-Sunday for the festival.

Other a-maze-ing options:

a corn maze depicting famous scenes from the movie jurassic park
The 'Jurassic Park'-themed maze features a Tyrannosaurus rex chasing a Jeep at Richardson Adventure Farm.
Richardson Farm

Richardson Adventure Farm

Spring Grove, Illinois

Climb Richardson’s 50-foot-high observation tower and you’ll see the maze’s Jurassic Park theme, featuring a Tyrannosaurus rex chasing a Jeep. What appears to be one maze is actually four mazes linked together. Each smaller maze takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes to complete; the full maze takes about two hours. You’ll receive a map when you enter and see numerous checkpoints. “We have never lost anyone yet,” notes fifth-generation farm owner George Richardson. Feeling lazy? A mini-maze only takes about seven minutes to complete. Once you’re done, order an apple cider donut. They’re hot, coated with cinnamon and made fresh throughout the day. Open Thursday 3-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 12-9 p.m. through Oct. 29. $20-$24 on Thursday and Friday; $24-$30 on the weekend.

Other a-maze-ing options:

  • Complete the corn maze challenge (a game where you jot down letters you see on signs in the labyrinth) at the Sever’s Fall Festival in Shakopee, Minnesota. Submit your results and you’ll have a chance to win $500.
  • Shoot a “cornzooka” corn cannon and stroll a Pinocchio-themed labyrinth at Maze Craze in New Springfield, Ohio.
a corn maze in the shape of a man driving a tractor with pumpkins and a sign saying forty years
Treworgy Family Orchards in Maine honors its 40th anniversary.
Treworgy Family Orchards

Treworgy Family Orchards

Levant, Maine

In 2022 and 2023, USA Today readers voted Treworgy’s as America’s best maze, thanks in part to its ingenious designs, from a Winnie the Pooh maze in 2022 to a Paul Bunyan labyrinth in 2017. To celebrate the farm’s 40th anniversary, the 2023 maze resembles a tractor, complete with driver and crops. The four-acre maze features 60,000 corn plants up to 10 feet in height and takes about 45 minutes to complete. While wandering, you can decipher farm-related riddles at stations throughout the maze. Bring your competed puzzle to the café and you’ll receive a kiddie-size soft-serve ice cream cone. Open Tuesday-Friday 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.-7 p.m. until Oct. 31. $10 weekdays; $13 weekends ($16 for Night Maze until Oct. 28).

Other a-maze-ing options:

  • The Big Maze at the Great Vermont Maze in Danville, Vermont, takes two or more hours to hike and it’s on a hill. But don’t worry: There’s also an easier, 45-minute alternative.
  • Need incentive to finish the Davis Mega Maze in Sterling, Massachusetts? The farm festival serves a variety of craft beers.

Ken Budd has written for National Geographic Traveler, Travel+Leisure, The Washington Post Magazine and many more. He is the author of a memoir, The Voluntourist.

 

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