Ohio/Corn mazes

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Corn mazes dot the rural landscape around Ohio every fall. The mazes and their paths can be mapped, perhaps to enable routing through them[1] but more likely to impress viewers of OSM-based maps. No one else bothers to capture such a quirky level of local detail.

How to map

Tag the field as landuse=farmland, tourism=attraction, attraction=maze, and crop=corn, plus name=* and website=* if applicable. Note that, although most corn mazes reappear in the same spot year after year, some change locations each year due to crop rotation.

Mapping the individual paths within the corn maze is more difficult, primarily because the design typically changes each year and current aerial imagery is difficult to come by. (On the other hand, outdated aerial imagery of corn mazes makes it easy to date imagery for the surrounding region.) Consider contacting the owner of the farm on social media or by other means, asking for permission to use the imagery as the basis for an updated map. (The farmer may be happy to find out that their farm is on a map in the first place.) Then tag each path as highway=footway (or highway=path) and surface=grass.

Dating aerial imagery

Corn mazes provide a reliable way of dating the surrounding area's aerial imagery down to the season, since the maze design changes every year and is most clearly visible in the Fall. Here are imagery dates based on corn mazes throughout Southwest Ohio and the Miami Valley as of February 2018:

County Township Corn maze Bing DigitalGlobe Premium DigitalGlobe Standard Esri Mapbox Satellite USGS Esri Clarity
Butler Liberty Niederman[1][2][3] 2016-3Fall 2016 2014-3Fall 2014 2014-3Fall 2014 2011-4Winter 2011 2016-3Fall 2016 2009-3Fall 2009
Butler Madison Land of Illusion[4] 2012Post-2012 2012Post-2012 2012Post-2012 2011-3Fall 2011 2012Post-2012 2012Post-2012
Butler Madison McMonigle[5] 2017-3Fall 2017 2017-3Fall 2017 20182018 2016-3Fall 2016 2016-3Fall 2016 or '17 ? 2012-3Fall 2012
Butler Reilly Wendel[6] ? ? ? 2011-3Fall 2011 or ’12 2014-3Fall 2014 ?
Clermont Miami, Stonelick Shaw[7] 2016-3Fall 2016 2013-3Winter 2013 2014-3Fall 2014 2011-4Winter 2011 or ’12 2016-3Fall 2016 2013-3Fall 2013
Montgomery Jefferson Tom's[8] 2015-3Fall 2015 2012-3Fall 2012 2012-3Fall 2012 2011-4Winter 2011 or ’12 2014-4Winter 2014? 2013-3Fall 2013
Preble Jefferson Today's Harvest[9] 2016-4Winter 2016 ? 2011-3Fall 2011 2015-3Fall 2015 2013-3Fall 2011/2013 2013-3Fall 2013
Shelby Clinton Lost Land[10] ? 2014-3Fall 2014 or ’16 2014-3Fall 2014 or ’16 2010-3Fall 2010 2010-3Fall 2010 2013-3Fall 2013
Warren Turtlecreek Irons[11] 2013-3Fall 2013 2013-3Fall 2013 2013-3Fall 2013 2011-3Fall 2011 2013-3Fall 2013 2013-3Fall 2013
  1. At least one Ohio corn maze has its own iOS application.