Patsybell.com: Corn Maze

Good Clean Teen Fun
Not the same old Halloeen Haunted Houses.

Maze Craze
Corny Family Fun

Mom said don't play with your food.
She never said anything about playing in your food.

Families are stalking an adventure in the country, roaming through acres of corn stalks and teens are shucking the usual haunted houses for nighttime maze excursions. Missourians have plenty of choices when it comes to the latest fall day trip and country expedition.

Corn mazes are boosting Missouri agritourism as thousands of children and families flock to the farm. They are excited about getting lost. Some groups even wait until dark, bringing flashlights as they begin their mystery tour through acres of corn. Corn mazes are fun for all ages, clean, educational and unique. Whether people come with kids, grandparents, spouse, date or as a school group, they most often burst out of mazes cheering and grinning ear to ear.

A newly coined word, agritourism, is a farm-based business that provides the public with a rural entertainment or educational experience. Seeking the county life for a day, city dwellers embrace the agritourism experience. Farmers welcome agritourism because the business diversifies their income.

Agritourism can be a corn maze, a u-pick farm, a fee-based fishing pond, a Christmas tree farm, guest ranch, a rural bed- and-breakfast, an orchard or a winery which offers rural experiences to visitors. Many corn maze businesses are combined with pumpkin patches, hay rides or petting zoos for a broader day-in-the-country experience.

Farmers cut the elaborate pathways into cornfields in the fall, deigning acres of elaborate mazes. It is easy to get lost since the corn is taller than most guests. Most corn mazes are cut to make the field look like some type of picture or design. The fun is in discovering you way in and out of the huge labyrinth.

The plans for your mystery tour in a corn field were set when the seed was planted last spring. The corn rows are double planted in the spring to make a tighter, closer path that you can’t see through as easily. Thanks to computers and high-tech, satellite-based global positioning systems (GPS), it is now possible to accurately cut elaborate mazes into crop fields. Farmers realize that tourism often yields a better return per acre than corn. The maze starts out as a big square field when planted. The elaborate four or five foot wide pathways are carved into the field at summers end.

Campbell's Maze Daze and Pumpkin Patch in Clever, MO, is open from mid-September through October, evenings and weekends every day except Mondays. 2005 is the 5th year that the Campbells have operated a 5 acre themed daytime maze and a 6 acre nighttime maze. “We always create a game for our daytime maze,” said owner Lana Campbell. “This year's maze theme is called Barnyard Tic Tac Toe. Throughout the maze we post signs with illustrated animal characters. Maze goers will have to find the right animal signs to make tic tac toe.”

The 2005 Liberty Corn Maze in Liberty, MO, features a twenty three acre maze tribute to “Kansas Speedway and NASCAR Racing”. Last year 15, 000 visitors wound their way through the “Salute to the Kansas City Chiefs” maze. Owners Errie and Bernie Raasch expect thirty thousand attendees this fall. Also new this year is a mini maze designed in soybeans for the toddler crowd.

Generally, corn mazes are open mid-September through October 31. Extended evening hours and tours are open for night time Halloween maze goers. Hours very depending on the weather, the range of products and activities provided. It is best to check the web site or call before your country adventure. Many of the locations also have smaller sorghum or hay bale mazes for toddlers.

Beggs Family Farm and Corn Maze
Directions from STL: Take I-55 south to exit 80, east on Highway 77, south on Highway H, west at Junction U.Corn maze admission: $8
Box office closes: 8:00 P.M.
Maze closes: 9:00 P.M.

Tip: Even the clearest star-filled nights seem darker in the country. Bring a flashlight on haunted Halloween tours at night time.

Get Lost Here:
A sampling of Missouri Corn Mazes:

Shryocks
http://www.callawayfarms.com/cornmaze.html
Phone Number: 573-592-0191
Maze Location: 2927 County Road 253
Columbia, MO 65203
Directions: Shryocks' Big Red Barn is located 12 miles east of Columbia off I-70.

KC Tipton Corn Maze
Phone Number: 573-353-2603 660-473-4957
Addresss: 30387 Hwy 5 South
Tipton, Missouri 65081
Directions: One mile south of Tipton on Hwy 5

Liberty Corn Maze
www.libertycornmaze.com
Phone: 816-781-9196
Directions: From Liberty take Hwy 291 SOUTH to new Hwy 210 East, go 1/2 mile EAST on new 210, turn SOUTH (right) on the first gravel road, go 1 mile and the Liberty Corn Maze will be on your right.

Campbell’s Fresh Market
Address: 177 Carob Road
Clever, MO 65631
Phone: 417-743-2208
E-Mail: cfm411@aol.com
Website: www.campbellsmazedaze.com
Directions: From Highways 160 & 14 in Nixa, turn right on Highway 14, and go 5 miles. Then turn left on Highway N, and go 4 miles to Carob Road.

Blackwell Family Produce
Address: Route 1, Box 6625
Salem, MO 65560
Phone: 573-674-2780
E-mail: bfp@fidnet.com
Website: www.fidnet.com/~bfp
Directions: From Rolla, take Highway 63 South about 25 miles to Highway CC. Turn east (left) on CC, and go 7 miles to Blackwell Family Produce sign.

Totten’s Pumpkin Farm
Address: 30094 Route A
Lentner, MO 63450
Phone: 573-588-2000
E-mail: ktotten@rocketmail.com
Directions: On Highway 36 in North Missouri. Go 6 miles west of Shelbina to Lentner. Then turn south at Lentner onto Route A and go 6 miles to our farm.

Lakeview Farms
Address: 8265 Mexico Road
St. Peters, MO 63376
Phone: 636-978-8830
E-mail: lakeviewfarms@att.net
Website: www.lakeviewfarms63376.com
Directions: From I-70, take Highway K exit (O’Fallon). Go south (left) 0.7 mile to Mexico Road, and turn east (left). Or, take I-64/US 40 west to Highway K, and turn north (right) onto Highway K. Continue north 5 miles, and turn right onto Mexico Road. Once you are on Mexico Road, the farm is 0.7 mile ahead on the south (right) side of the road.

Thies Farm & Greenhouses, Inc.
Address: 4215 North Hanley Road
St. Louis, MO 63121
Phone: 314-428-9878
E-mail: Dave@ThiesFarm.com
Website: www.ThiesFarm.com
Directions: North County location: take I-70 to North Hanley Road (east of Lambert Airport), and go south 1 block to the farm. West County location: take I-70 to Earth City Expressway to Creve Coeur Mill Road, and then go west 2 miles to the farm

Pumpkins & Pines
Address: 2186 Dry Fork Road
Warrenton, MO 63383
Phone: 636-456-8513
Directions: Located 15 miles north of Washington or 9 miles south of Warrenton on Highway 47. Go west on Highway N one mile to Dry Fork Road. Follow the signs.

Pumpkins Galore
Address: 915 South Stringtown
Wright City, MO 63390
Phone: 636-745-3927
Directions: Take I-70 to exit 203 (Foristell). Then, take south service road west 2 miles to South Stringtown Road, and proceed 3 miles until you reach the farm, which will be on the right.

Puzzle This

Mazes are found more than 4000 years ago in Greek and Roman art and architecture. Centuries later, mazes appeared as inlays in the floors of French cathedrals. Ancient mazes may have been part of rituals and processions; not the trendy games of today.

Formal gardens throughout Europe included puzzle hedges. Elaborate garden mazes were created at castles and palaces to amuse royalty. In England, one of the most famous mazes was planted by the royal gardeners of William III (1650-1702) at Hampton Court Palace

http://www.hrp.org.uk/webcode/hampton_home.asp. Hedge mazes flourished in Britain up to the eighteenth century.

In the nineteenth century mazes were popular entertainment in parks and public places. Since the 1970's, navigating through mazes has become a popular form of “edutainment” or “agritourism”.