By Anna Skinner
This fall, Hamilton County residents can roam 10 acres of land full of fall spirit.
Marilyn Crazy Corn Maze, 14475 Marilyn Rd., Noblesville, opened Sept. 10.
Kevin Renfro, Arcadia, owns 33 acres of land by Klipsch Music Center in Noblesville. His son, Mitch, currently lives there. In addition to Kevin’s cornfield, he originally used the property to allow music fans to camp for concerts like The Grateful Dead.
“If you’re in the Hamilton County area, there’s no other corn maze that’s really close,” he said. “We are minutes away from those communities and something that sets us apart is that it’s easy to get to and a really challenging corn maze.”
Kevin plans to keep the corn maze open Friday to Sunday through the fall.
To create the maze, the Renfro family changed the planting of the corn, putting it in the ground later in the season to be sure the color and feel was just right.
“It’ll get cooler out, and people associate fall time with pumpkins and corn, and I think that’s why corn mazes are typically open later in the year as the corn starts to brown,” Kevin said.
The family also planted the corn in rows with a cross row so it makes for a very dense field of corn that is impossible to see through. This aids in the corn maze aspect.
Kevin said the maze will take about 45 minutes to an hour to complete, but there is also a simpler maze available for younger participants.
Games, competitions with prizes and concession trailers that include items such as corn dogs, funnel cakes, elephant ears and tenderloins will be available.
“It’ll be fun,” Kevin said. “It’s a challenging corn maze, and we’re really going to promote it for families.”
To create the maze, the family hired a designer who created the layout and then used a GPS to work his way through the corn. The technology used is most often used by farmers, and is accurate to within 18 inches.
Kevin said the project was mainly a family affair, with his wife and kids working alongside him to make the corn maze possible.
“My favorite part about the corn maze is its uniqueness and its unusual entertainment value,” wife Joanne said. “Solving a corn maze, getting lost in a corn maze, feeling nature surround you in a corn maze is something that many people never experience because of suburban neighborhoods. Our corn maze will literally be minutes away for many Noblesville citizens and what an opportunity for them to experience fall weather by exploring a corn maze.”
Fun facts
- The first corn maze was in the U.S. and created in the early 1990s
- There are close to 1,000 corn mazes in the nation
- The average size for a corn maze is four to 20 acres
- Many mazes are designed by professional companies
- The largest corn maze is 45 acres
Source: cornmazesamerica.com
Location: 14475 Marilyn Rd., Noblesville. Off of 146th Street, just west of Hamilton Town Center.
Hours: 3 to 6 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays (through Oct. 31)
Cost: $10 (Ages 4 and younger are free.)
Phone: 501-1902
Website: www.indycornmaze.com
