One of the World’s Largest Freehand Pieces of Art Is Growing in a New Hampshire Cornfield

Most large-scale corn maze designs are created with GPS technology, computer mapping, precision measurements, and modern tractors equipped with advanced guidance systems.

At Collins Farm Corn Maze in Bath, New Hampshire, the process is very different.

There is no GPS guiding the tractor. There are no stakes carefully measured across the field. There is no computerized system telling me exactly where to turn.

Instead, I climb onto a 1991 John Deere 1070 tractor with a hand-drawn sketch in one hand, steer with the other, and pull a five-foot rototiller through the field, carving the trails into the field as I go.

In many ways, I am not simply cutting a corn maze... I am drawing one of the world’s largest freehand pieces of art every year.

Drawing With a Tractor Instead of a Pencil

Creating a maze begins with a piece of paper. Before entering the field, I draw the design by hand. The sketch serves as my reference, but it is not a detailed GPS map or a perfectly scaled engineering plan. It is the image I need to recreate across 13 acres of growing corn.

Once I enter the field, the tractor becomes my pencil. The five-foot rototiller behind it becomes my eraser, brush, and cutting tool. Every turn of the steering wheel creates part of the final picture. From the tractor seat, I cannot see the complete design. I can only see the corn immediately around me, the trail behind the tractor, and the hand-drawn sketch I am trying to translate into the field.

The finished artwork can only truly be appreciated from high above.

That is what makes the process so unusual. An artist working on paper can step back and look at the entire drawing. A painter can move away from the canvas and check the proportions. When I am creating a corn maze, I am inside the artwork while I am drawing it. I have to imagine how each trail, curve, and shape will connect to everything else.

No GPS, Measuring Equipment, or High-Tech Tractor

Modern corn maze technology can be incredibly precise. Some maze operators use GPS-guided tractors, digital mapping software, satellite coordinates, and specialized equipment to recreate a design in the field. MY process relies almost entirely on instinct, experience, observation, and spatial awareness.

I do not use GPS to mark the design. I do not measure each part of the picture before cutting it. I do not use a computer-controlled tractor. I use a 1991 John Deere 1070, a five-foot rototiller, and a hand-drawn sketch. The tractor is dependable, but it was never designed to create giant pictures in cornfields. It does not know whether I am cutting the outline of an eagle, a face, a flag, a building, or a historical symbol. It simply goes where I steer it. That means every line in the finished design is the result of a decision made from the tractor seat.

Art Created Across Acres of Corn

A traditional drawing may fit on a sheet of paper. A mural may cover the side of a building. A Collins Farm corn maze design stretches across acres of farmland. That scale makes the maze one of the largest types of freehand artwork a person can create. The design is not printed, projected, traced, or programmed. It is drawn directly into a living crop using farm machinery.

Each five-foot-wide pass becomes a line in the larger picture. Long trails create outlines. Wider spaces help define major shapes. Curves and turns create recognizable details. Intersections allow the artwork to function as an actual maze rather than simply an image viewed from above.

The final design has to accomplish two things at once. IT must create an impressive aerial picture, and it must provide an entertaining experience for the guests walking through it. That combination of art and attraction is what makes corn maze design so challenging.

The Challenge of Turning a Sketch Into a Maze

Drawing a picture on paper is one thing. Turning it into a maze that can be physically cut with a tractor is something else entirely. The design must account for the width of the rototiller, the turning radius of the tractor, the shape of the field, the height of the corn, and the need for trails to connect. Small details that look good in a sketch may be impossible to create with farm equipment.

Sharp corners may need to become gradual curves. Narrow spaces may need to be enlarged. Separate design elements may need to touch so guests can move throughout the maze. Every design has to be adjusted for the realities of the tractor and field.

The John Deere 1070 has a much larger turning radius than a pencil. I cannot simply stop and change direction instantly. I have to plan each approach, make room for the tractor, and think ahead about where the rototiller will travel. A mistake cannot always be erased. Once a trail has been cut, the corn will not grow back in time for opening day.

Seeing the Picture Without Being Able to See It

One of the hardest parts of creating a freehand corn maze is maintaining a sense of direction. Inside an open cornfield, familiar landmarks can disappear. Rows begin to look alike. The tractor may be several hundred feet from the edge of the field, and the finished image is far too large to view from ground level.

I have to keep track of where I am in relation to the sketch, the borders of the field, and the trails I have already created. Sometimes I use distant trees, hills, buildings, or field edges as visual reference points. Much of the process comes down to knowing the land and trusting my internal sense of distance and proportion. I have to picture the finished image in my mind even though I cannot see it from the tractor. Only after the work is complete and the design is viewed from the air can I see how closely the field matches the sketch in my hand.

A Talent That Has Attracted Media Attention

The unusual process behind the Collins Farm corn maze has attracted attention from local television news networks, newspapers, and radio stations. People are often surprised to learn that the designs are created without GPS or sophisticated measuring systems. They expect a giant cornfield picture to require advanced technology.

Instead, the process is much closer to traditional freehand drawing—except the pencil is a tractor, the line is five feet wide, and the canvas is an entire field. The media attention has helped introduce more people to the artistry involved in creating a corn maze. Visitors see the finished attraction, but they may not realize how much visualization, planning, tractor work, and creative problem-solving goes into building it.

More Than a Picture From the Sky

Although the aerial artwork is an important part of the maze, the design also has to work from the ground. Guests need trails to explore, decisions to make, and opportunities to become completely turned around. A beautiful overhead picture would not be enough if the maze were boring to walk through.

That means I must think like both an artist and an attraction designer.

While cutting the image, I also have to consider:

• Where guests will enter and exit

• How the different sections will connect

• Where visitors may become confused

• How long the experience may take

• Which paths will create interesting choices

• Where checkpoints, puzzles, or activities may be placed

• How staff can reach different areas when needed

• Whether emergency exits and access routes are practical

Every trail contributes to both the artwork and the guest experience.

A Living Piece of Art

Unlike a painting or sculpture, a corn maze is temporary. The artwork begins as a field of young corn. It changes as the plants grow taller, thicker, and greener. The appearance changes again as summer turns into fall and the corn begins to dry.

For a few months, the design exists as a living piece of art that people can physically enter and explore.

Then the season ends. The corn is cut and fed to cattle, the field is cleared, and the artwork disappears. The next year begins with a blank field and a completely new idea. That temporary nature makes each design special. Guests have only one season to experience it. Once it is gone, that exact maze will never exist again.

Old Equipment, New Ideas

There is something fitting about using a 1991 John Deere tractor to create a modern entertainment attraction. The equipment is old-school, but the ideas continue to evolve. Each year brings a new theme, a new sketch, and a new challenge. I continue looking for ways to make the aerial artwork more impressive while also making the maze more enjoyable for guests.

The process represents what Collins Farm is all about: using traditional farming equipment, creativity, and determination to build something unexpected in a small New Hampshire town. It proves that innovation does not always require the newest machine or the most advanced technology. Sometimes it requires seeing an ordinary tractor as an artist’s tool and an ordinary cornfield as a canvas.

Experience the Artwork From the Inside

Most artwork is displayed behind glass, mounted on a wall, or viewed from a distance.

At Collins Farm, visitors walk directly into the picture. They travel through the lines of the drawing, stand inside its shapes, follow its curves, and try to find their way through the finished design. From the ground, it is an adventure. From the sky, it is art. And from the seat of a 1991 John Deere 1070, it begins with a hand-drawn sketch, one hand on the steering wheel, and a five-foot rototiller cutting the first line into the field.

To learn more about the annual corn maze, flashlight maze nights, haunted attractions, and special events at Collins Farm in Bath, New Hampshire, visit collinsfarmllc.com.