Corn maze honors John Glenn

MANTUA, Ohio — Derthick’s Corn Maze and Farm Experience will feature John Glenn and his decades of space flight as the theme of the 17-acre corn maze this year.

Located in Northern Portage County and in its sixth year of operation, the maze and farm experience are open weekends Sept. 21 through Oct. 28.

With over six miles of winding paths, visitors will walk along three space-themed scenes: John Glenn smiling as he looks over the world and its continents, Friendship 7, which carried him around the globe three times in less than five hours on February 20, 1962, and space shuttle Discovery passing the moon.

Checkpoints along the maze route help visitors navigate from start to finish.

Visitors can take a wagon ride to the five-acre pumpkin patch. There’s a bucking-cow train for kids, the Farm Experience barn where guests can learn about and pet the animals, a tire playground, corn sandboxes and pony rides.

There’s also a round-bale maze, corn hole, corn cannons, a soybean maze, a smaller corn maze and a nighttime maze which requires flashlights.

Derthick’s Corn Maze and Farm Experience is open Fridays 5-11 p.m., Saturdays 1-11 p.m. and Sundays 1-5 p.m., weather permitting. The last tickets are sold 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 5 p.m. Sundays.

Admission for those 4 years and older is $8 for the Corn Maze, $8 for the Farm Experience or $14 for a combo ticket. Children 3 and younger are admitted free. Bucking-cow train tickets are $2 each. A wagon ride to the pumpkin patch is $2, (free for ages 11 and younger).

Derthick’s Corn Maze and Farm Experience is on state Route 82 in Mantua, just east of state Route 44.