If you had plans to visit the world’s largest corn maze for Halloween this year, think again.
The Cool Patch Pumpkin’s corn maze, current holder of the Guinness World Record for the largest corn maze, was damaged from last week’s storm and closed for the rest of the season.
The damage is too extensive to completely fix the entire field for this season, said owner Matt Cooley. Normally ten feet tall, most of the corn stalks now stand at about three feet. However, Cooley still has hope for revitalizing at least some of the maze.
“The plan is to clean off some trails to get to the islands that are set up,” he said. “Hopefully that is done this week, the latest being this weekend.”
Johnny Johnson, a junior economics major, had been planning on visiting the corn maze until he heard the news.
“I was looking forward to the maze forever,” Johnson said. “I found it amazing that this area was actually recognized on a global scale for something.”
Located in Dixon by Milk Farm Road, Cool Patch Pumpkins is both a 43-acre corn maze and a 40-acre pumpkin patch. Cooley and his co-inventor and brother Mark Cooley decided to add the corn maze to the pumpkin patch to give people something else to do, he said.
The pumpkin patch, which opened this past weekend, has acres of pumpkins in all sizes. In addition, they hold an annual scarecrow competition, and offer food, drinks and a “kid zone.”
Cristina Resendiz, a sophomore political science and communication double major, will continue her tradition of visiting the pumpkin patch.
“Going to pumpkin patches each year makes my Halloween,” Resendiz said. “This year I will definitely have to check out the one in Dixon.”
Even though the corn maze was damaged by the storm, Cooley still encourages students and families to visit the pumpkin patch.
“Students and families should still come over to hang out and try it,” Cooley said.
NICK MARKWITH can be reached at features@theaggie.org.
