Corn stalks loom, country music fills the air and customers of the Cobb Ranch cornfield maze wander through miles of trails and numerous dead ends.
Each year, Cobb Ranch hosts a six-acre corn maze modeled to the design of various sponsors. The maze features 10 ft. corn stalks cut into two and a half miles of trails resembling this year’s sponsor, 93.7 Kiss Country’s logo.
“We’ve been doing the cornfield maze for 10 years now,” Darren Schmall, co-owner of Cobb Ranch, said. “We have a different sponsor every year, and this year it is 93.7 Kiss Country.”
Schmall believes the corn maze provides unique recreation for the younger generation. He credits the maze as fun and family-friendly entertainment for the Halloween season.
“Teenagers often have nothing to do,” Schmall said, “so we’ve created a place where they can hang out with their friends and have fun getting lost.”
For the past three years, Hannah Palmer, ’11, has visited the corn maze.
“This is my third year going,” Palmer said. “I keep going because it’s fun to get lost and hang out with friends. I think everyone should go at least once, because it’s a special experience and they should see if they like it.”
Freshman Kory Thompson, junior varsity cheerleader, went to the cornfield maze this year for the first time and enjoyed the experience.
“I had fun because I got to hang out with my friends,” Thompson said. “I liked how we were all just walking and talking, and got lost because of it.”
Although many enjoy the maze, some prefer to participate in other activities.
“I didn’t really like it because it smelled weird and we kept getting lost,” Justin Wilson, ’11, junior varsity football player, said. “I’ve also been to corn mazes many times before. I think places like Hobb’s Grove are better.”
Some remember the corn maze from previous years.
“Parts of it were fun and others weren’t,” Emily Krieghoff, ’09, said. “We were too old for some parts and I don’t think you should have to pay $10 just to walk through a cornfield.”
Cobb Ranch also hosts organized groups and field trips.
“I went with my 5th and 6th grade youth group called ‘Studio 56′ of Northwest Church,” Janice Montejano, substitute teacher and girls’ soccer coach, said. “It was great because we got to hang around and laugh, and it wasn’t too crowded even with our large group.”
The cornfield activities opened Sept. 29 and will remain so until Oct. 31. It is open from 6-9 P.M. on Monday through Friday, 10 A.M.-9 P.M. on Saturday and 1-9 P.M. on Sunday, with all closing times subject to change.
Admission for adults (ages 12 and up) costs $10 and $8 for kids (ages 5 to 11). Cobb Ranch also provides a general admission fee of $4 for the Pizza Farm, pumpkin patch and other attractions. Discount coupons of $2 off each adult maze admission ticket are available online. Stands offer concessions and souvenirs.
For more information concerning Cobb Ranch call (559) 439-0606. For additional Halloween entertainment ideas, visit the Oct. 22, article, Halloween transcends trick-or-treat, costumes.
