Finding the way out is just the first challenge at Gearhard Farms’ annual corn maze in Murrysville.
There are animal cutouts for children to find, and trivia questions for adults about the town and the bicentennial farm family whose members have created, cut and run the corn maze for the past 22 years.
“It starts with the size of the field,” said Herb Gearhard, whose farm fields off of Saltsburg and Mamont roads has served as the site for the maze. “Then my daughter-in-law, Cassie, gets a piece of graph paper with those dimensions.”
Cassie and Gearhard’s son, Mike, have taken the lead in designing the maze, which always has a specific design.
That’s the final challenge for maze runners who also fancy themselves amateur cartographers: trying to determine the maze’s design.
In past years, the maze has been a map of the solar system, a barn marking the farm’s 250th anniversary, a Celtic mandala and the coat of arms on the Pennsylvania flag.
This year, the replacement of a gas transmission line running north-south through Gearhard’s property has forced the relocation of the maze a bit farther east. It’s only the fourth time in more than two decades that the maze has been in a different spot.
“The maze is typically four acres,” Gearhard said. “This year it’s only two acres, and it’s situated in the middle of a bigger cornfield.”
The Gearhards cut this year’s maze early, when the corn was still only knee-high (in July, naturally).
“It was young enough that it dried up and we didn’t have to haul it out,” Gearhard said.
Heavy rains over the summer have produced cornstalks nearly 9 feet tall, giving the maze more of a claustrophobic feeling than previous years. And the new location’s slightly sloped terrain will give participants a little more exercise.
Mike Gearhard, 32, cuts the paths connecting the design, and works hard to ensure that it’s tough enough to solve.
“The last thing I want to hear the Cub Scouts running out the exit, talking about how easy it was,” he said with a laugh.
The maze will be open through Oct. 31, Fridays from 5-9 p.m., Saturdays from noon to 9 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 7 p.m.
The cost is $7 per person, $5 for hayrides, and $5 for horse-drawn wagon rides.
For more, including group ticket packages, see GearhardFarms.com.
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick at 724-850-2862, pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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Heavy rain means taller walls for Murrysville farm's corn maze - TribLIVE
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