St Merryn maize maze and sunflower trail closes for the year

The gates have shut on another summer of maize, mud and getting cheerfully lost at St Merryn Maize Maze & Sunflower Trail, which has just wrapped up its second season.

Bales, mazes and one very well-guarded clue

For younger visitors, the first stop was rarely the maze itself. The bale maze became the early favourite, with children clambering over the stacks, jumping the gaps and racing round before disappearing off into the towering maize to get properly, happily lost.

The sunflower trail added a puzzle to solve along the way, and by the sound of it, not everyone cracked it quickly. Some visitors flew through, while others spent a fair while working out the hidden word, until a single clue, “it’s a country,” sent the penny dropping for plenty of people at once. And for anyone who spent half their visit hunting for two particular checkpoints, the answer is now official: Butch really was board number three, and Clay really was number ten.

Torchlight brought the crowds out after dark

Two torchlight evenings gave the season its standout nights, with visitors heading into the maze after dark for an atmosphere the organisers described as absolutely brilliant on both occasions. The Brew Box and Rhubarb Pizza’zz were on site throughout the season, and Madds and Rich played live music at the final torchlight evening, performing from a stage borrowed for the occasion, a cauliflower rig lent by Trerair Farm Shop.

A £25 thank you

Everyone who visited over the season was entered into a prize draw, and the winner, picked at random, was Phoebe Pengelly, who takes home a £25 Amazon gift voucher.

The maize is still standing, and there’s work yet to do

Closing the gates isn’t quite the end of the job. The organisers say they’re hoping to see plenty of familiar faces again when the maze and sunflower trail return in 2027, but for now the maize is still standing tall across the St Merryn fields, with harvest due in the next few weeks. Until then, it’s back to the day job.

📷Credit: St Merryn Maize Maze & Sunflower Trail