When: Sunday, September 26, 2021
Where: Shryock Corn Maze just east of Columbia, Missouri
Cost: $11/person

The best adventures are sometimes right in your own backyard. One of our favorite Mid-Missouri “things to do” is the annual corn maze created by the Shryock family. This time, our maze navigation crew included two friends who were visiting from Kansas City.

After paying the admission fee, we were given a card showing a map of the maze. The goal is to find the 8-10 signs within the maze and correctly answer the question at each sign (without using any smartphones!). The questions are usually tied somehow to the maze theme and/or to corn. Cards with all of the correct entries are then entered into a raffle. Most people spend 1-2 hours in the maze and give up on finding all of the signs, but you may see die-hard mazers methodically going down each row and marking off the path on their card. We wandered somewhat aimlessly, telling each other corn jokes. Our work ethic showed; we answered just five questions during our visit.

The farm includes a big red barn with kids’ activities: piles of grain to climb, a two-story slide, rope swings, a fake milking cow, etc. Outside, kids can shoot hoops, take a ride on a mower-powered train, or perhaps jump with dozens of other kids on a large green inflated bubble. A large pumpkin patch is located right by the maze so that’s another fun thing to do.

Two brothers, Mike and Dustin, are largely responsible for the maze. We ran into Dustin, who shared some great stories about the maze.

Each year, the family gets together to brainstorm ideas for the design, which have celebrated events like the National Parks Centennial (2016), the Moon Landing 50th Anniversary (2018), and the American Military (2013). The family’s love of Missouri sports teams is on full display as well, with mazes featuring the Mizzou sports teams (basketball – 2017; football/basketball – 2009; football – 2014, SEC move – 2012, Tiger logo 2002), the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory (2020), the St. Louis Cardinals World Series win (2007), and the Royals/Cardinals I-70 rivalry (2015). The latter was even featured in a Sports Illustrated issue! Licensing intellectual property rights to logos is always a bit daunting, but Dustin assured me that most of local teams were overall very easy to work with. The only exception involved the St. Louis Blues. After the team’s Stanley cup win, the brothers were disappointed to learn than the team had already exclusively licensed rights to a maze in Illinois. Maybe next time…

Several of the maze designs also celebrate the Shryock family. In 2011, the maze celebrated grandma Verna Shryock’s 90th Birthday. Thus, when grandma turned 100 this year, the family unanimously agreed that the maze should wish happy birthday to her. Personally, I think Grandma Shryock should be in the maze design from here on out for as long as she is living.

Dustin credits his brother Mike as the founder of the maze. It all started when after Mike mowed a few mazes in their back yard as kids. When Mike graduated from college, he ordered a “how to” VHS tape from an outfit in Iowa and talked his dad into letting him create the first maze in 2002. Nowadays, the brothers use their GPS farm equipment to map out the boundaries and design with flags. Once the corn is about two feet tall, they simply mow it down. That takes about 1-2 days depending on the weather. When they first started, the family had to pay an aerial photography around $600 each year to document their creations. Today, the drone used to photograph the maze is also used to check on irrigation pivots so they don’t have to walk the fields. Dustin likes to rib Mike about still making his designs in Microsoft Paint so some things haven’t changed.

If you are looking to have an authentic family-friendly Missouri experience, consider the Shryock corn maze. We thought it was simply a-maze-ing!

Check out all of the past maze designs on the Shryock website.

Directions to the Shryock Corn Maze:

The Shryock corn maze is located on I-70 near Columbia Missouri. Take Exit 137 if coming from the west, or take Exit 144 if coming from the east. Either way, visitors will need to drive on one of the paved side roads parallel to the interstate for a few miles. The short driveway/road to the farm is dirt, but is flat and well maintained. Part of one field serves as a large flat parking lot with a dedicated exit and entrance so RVs should not have to turn around. At the time of our visit, the parking lot/field still had a lot of grass so the parking area was not muddy, but if you do drive your rig and it has been raining, make sure and call ahead to check out parking conditions.