Fun Fall Things To Do: Corn Maze
Author: Nymala Ingasy
Are you looking for a fun fall thing to do with your entire family? Why not head out to the countryside and find a corn maze.
A corn maze or maize maze is a maze cut out of a corn field. The first corn maze was in Annville, Pennsylvania. Corn mazes have become popular tourist attractions in North America, and are a way for farms to generate tourist income. Many are based on artistic designs such as characters from movies. Corn mazes appear in many different designs. Some mazes are even created to tell stories or to portray a particular theme. Most have a path which goes all around the whole pattern, either to end in the middle or to come back out again, with various false trails diverging from the main path.
In the United Kingdom, they are known as maize mazes ("corn" in British English is generally taken to refer to wheat), and are especially popular with farms in the east of England. These mazes are normally combined with other farm attractions of interest to families and day trippers. Some of these attractions include hay rides, a petting zoo, play areas for children, and picnic areas. Each year a few of the mazes are featured in national newspapers and TV. In the U.S., corn mazes typically are cut down circa the first week of November; in the UK typically in September after children return to school.
The largest corn maze in the world is located in Dixon, California, and is 45 acres (180,000 m2) in area as of 2010. The Guinness Book of World Records gave this designation in September 2007, when it was 40 acres (160,000 m2). Although this corn maze may hold distinction as the world's largest corn maze, Adventure Acres corn maze in Bellbrook, Ohio, just outside of Dayton, Ohio consists of 62 acres (250,000 m2) of corn maze with 8.5 miles (13.7 km) of trails.
There are corn mazes of all shapes, sizes, and types around the US. Go to www.mazeplay.com and you can do a search for corn mazes and pumpkin patches near you. Please stay tuned to this space next month for my review and pictures of the Fox Squirrel corn maze in Plant City, Florida! Happy fall!!
