Every October, thousands of Steuben County families spend a Saturday afternoon wandering 11 acres of corn, cheering on a barrel train that never seems to stop, and lining up for apple cider slushies by the hundreds. What almost none of them know is that Ridenour Acres nearly didn’t happen at all.

Owner Jake Ridenour cut his very first maze into a cornfield in 2012 — and then a summer drought stunted the corn to just 40 inches tall. “We were embarrassed enough by it that we didn’t open,” Ridenour said. The family called it a wash, waited a year, and tried again. In 2013, Ridenour Acres officially welcomed its first guests: a few hundred friends, family, and curious neighbors over five weekends. This fall marks season 14, and what began as a way for one family to spend more time together on the weekends has grown into a Steuben County institution that now draws more than 11,000 visitors across just seven weekends every autumn — many of them from well outside the county, including Fort Wayne, Toledo, and Lansing.

An idea born on the job
The spark for Ridenour Acres came from Ridenour’s day job. Long before he was cutting mazes, he worked in agricultural GPS technology — the same precision-farming software, once known as Farm Works, that he still supports today in his career with AGCO. Fielding calls from farmers who used the technology to carve designs into their own fields, Ridenour kept hearing the same thing: how much the community loved coming out. “My family was hanging out on the weekends a lot,” he said. “We decided if we’re going to hang out on the weekends anyway, we might as well have this open.”

That same GPS technology still guides every maze at Ridenour Acres. Each summer, the design starts as a hand-drawn sketch that’s scanned and mapped to the field. Around the Fourth of July, once the corn reaches about a foot tall, Ridenour follows the GPS-guided lines on a mower — “like a video game,” he said — shaping the paths in stages as the season goes on. The corn is planted twice, in two directions, so guests can’t cut through the rows, and the ground is rolled flat in advance so wagons and wheelchairs can move through easily. It’s a level of care that turns 11 acres of cornfield into a genuinely accessible family attraction — something Ridenour said grandparents notice and appreciate.

More than a maze
What keeps families coming back, though, isn’t just the corn. Over 14 seasons, Ridenour Acres has grown into a full fall destination: a barrel train that Ridenour calls the farm’s most popular attraction (“it never stops,” he laughed), a zip line, air-powered corn cannons, a corn pit, a gem mine, a pumpkin patch, hayrides through the woods, and a steady lineup of food trucks. Live music plays on the farm’s stage every day the gates are open — a detail Ridenour, a self-described music guy, calls his favorite part of the whole operation.

Besides all the other family-friendly events, including Glow Nights and DJ nights, Corn Maze and Cocktails have also taken the stage as the farm’s adults-only concert nights. They have become a popular date-night option for couples across the region.  

Every year brings a new theme, dreamed up by family, friends, and a network of fellow agritourism farms Ridenour follows around the country. Past years have featured Bigfoot and a nod to farm cat Rick; this year, dinosaurs take over the maze, the games, and even a pair of new inflatable dinosaur costumes roaming the woods.

Powered to keep growing
Behind the scenes, growth like this takes infrastructure. Two years ago, Ridenour Acres worked through a major electrical upgrade — enough capacity to run the stage and the entire food truck lineup at the same time without relying on noisy generators. Steuben County REMC broadband keeps the farm connected, too, letting Ridenour Acres take credit cards at every register, even out in the middle of a cornfield. It’s the kind of quiet, reliable infrastructure most guests never think about, but without it, the modern version of Ridenour Acres simply wouldn’t run.

A family legacy, growing season by season
At its heart, Ridenour Acres is still what it was in 2012: family. The original 310-acre homestead traces back to Ridenour’s great-grandfather, and today the family represents five generations on the land, with a sixth already on the way. Ridenour’s partner, Rosie Martinez, helps develop the designs. His daughters, Autumn (11) and Katie (18), help shape the maze each year.
His right-hand man, Scott Stevens, has been part of the operation since the beginning, and Ridenour’s brother runs the family’s separate row-crop farm next door.

One of Ridenour’s proudest projects paired a maze design — a butterfly, drawn by a young cancer patient being treated at St. Jude — with a 5K that raised money for the Steuben County Cancer Association. It’s the kind of moment, Ridenour said, that reminds him why the farm matters. “You worry about money, you worry about how much you’re investing in it, but then some family will tell you this is the first time they’ve spent time together without screens in months. That’s worth all of it.”

Ridenour Acres also welcomes company parties, church groups, and community outings of all sizes throughout the fall — from a couple hundred guests to crowds topping a thousand.

For a family that set out simply to spend more weekends together, Ridenour Acres has become something much bigger: a Steuben County tradition, five generations deep and still growing.

Plan your visit: October and November

Open now through Nov. 1, Fridays through Sundays

Corn maze, barrel train, zip line, pumpkin patch, food trucks and more. Fridays 6-9 p.m., Saturdays 12-9 p.m., and Sundays 12-6 p.m.

Group and company outings are available by reservation for churches, businesses, and community groups. Contact ahead to reserve the hayride, barrel train, and doughnut machine. Reach the Ridenour family directly at ridenouracres@gmail.com.

Oct. 16  |  7-10 p.m.
The Glowdown with Summit City DJ

Oct. 17  |  7-9 p.m.
Ridenour Idol – Cornfield Karaoke Night

Oct. 18  |  12-6 p.m.
The Great Dino Passport Event

Oct. 23  |  7-9 p.m.
Family Movie Night – KPop Demon Hunters

Oct. 25  |  12-6 p.m.
The Great Dino Passport Event

Oct. 30  |  7-9 p.m.
Family Movie Night – Hotel Transylvania: Transformania

Oct. 31  |  7-9 p.m.
Tricks & Treats: Games, raffles, candy stations
Family Movie Night – Hocus Pocus 2

Nov. 1  |  12-6 p.m.
The Great Dino Passport Event