Ohio/Corn mazes

Corn mazes dot the rural landscape around Ohio every fall. The mazes and their paths can be mapped, perhaps to enable routing through them 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 (On the other hand, outdated aerial imagery of corn mazes makes it easy to date imagery for the surrounding region.)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