Tours in Middlesboro

In 2011, WBIR-TV reported that local racecar driver Trevor Bayne dropped by Oakes Farm to see his face carved into the corn. The farm had adopted Bayne as that year's maze theme, plotting its pathways to shape the corn into his portrait and an image of his racecar when viewed from above. On the ground, however, the maze was a tangle of curves and dead ends that often took guests up to 90 minutes to traverse on foot, or 10 minutes on the warpath.

This year, the corn maze has chosen to celebrate Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The farm updates its agricultural labyrinth annually to reflect a new motif but never fails to entertain explorers with its routes and their interactive games. Just as entertaining are the hayrides that ferry visitors to and from the pumpkin patch, the smell of autumnal sweets from the Cornfections stand, and the echoes of laughter from inside the Mine Shaft—a giant slide in the farm's Back 40 entertainment area. These attractions, alongside animal exhibits, pedal karts, and open zones for freeform play, draw families and reporters alike to the seasonal hotspot. In the days approaching Halloween, however, the farm endeavors to make patrons flee.