Editor’s note: This article was published in Grand Traverse Scene magazine’s Fall 2025 issue. Pick up a free copy at area hotels, visitor’s centers, chambers of commerce or at the Record-Eagle building on Front Street. Click here to read GT Scene in its entirety online.
Amazingly, the soul-stirring rock band of the 60s, 70s, 80s and all the decades that followed — the Grateful Dead — will be celebrated locally with, what else, but a maze.
Band frontman Jerry Garcia’s and his group’s iconic “Steal Your Face” logo has been carved into a countryside cornfield maze, creating a unique autumn, family-fun experience.
Grown and cut into 10 acres of farmland at Jacob’s Farms, which is located on M-72 west of Traverse City, the maze will be open through Halloween. The maze layout is of the Grateful Dead’s iconic “Steal Your Face (and Lightning Bolt),” with the region’s famous cherry crop incorporated within, said Beau Shacklette, who designed the maze.
“This year’s maze theme was Rock ‘n Roll,” said Shacklette. “The (Grateful Dead) idea came to mind because the band is celebrating its 60-year anniversary. After researching, there was no evidence that the ‘Steal Your Face’ design had ever been used in a corn maze design. We wanted to burst people’s interest in the maze and try to get outsiders to make the trip to Jacob’s Farm.”
Shacklette smiles when he talks of how he, too, grew up a “Deadhead” who listened to, and followed, the groundbreaking band that still has a mass and mystical appeal.
“I’ve been following the band since the early 80s,” he said. “I’m a Deadhead from the 80’s. I grew up in Colorado (and the) first shows I attended were at Red Rocks. While attending shows I always tried to work my way close enough to make eye contact with Jerry, shouting ‘Fire on the Mountain,’ my favorite song. The three-song suite of ‘Help on the Way,’ ‘Slipnot!’ and ‘Franklin’s Tower’ is always magical to me.”
Jacob’s Farm Grateful Dead Maze opened in late August, a cornfield curtain raising that was planned to have the local coverband Manitou Trucking play its fan-pleasing list of Deadhead songs. That band will return to the Jacob’s Farm Maze on Sept. 28 and Oct. 25 (1 to 4 p.m. each day).
“The process to create the maze started with the design and scaling it to the 10-acre plot on a computer,” said Shacklette. “We always have a kids’ maze within the big maze for the little tikes to conquer. The corn is planted on the field in late May and early June. A month later — the Fourth of July — the design is loaded into a GPS program that guides a driver in a tractor that cuts the path.”
Shacklette said T-shirts with the design of the maze on the back and a dancing bear on the front pocket will be sold at the farm.
“We (sold) the shirt prior to opening the maze to both locals and folks from all over the world,” he said. “A couple from Italy bought two, along with families from California, Texas and Florida. So far the interest has been outstanding.”
Hiram Witkop, whose family founded the farm in 1892, said later generations began carving out their seasonal corn mazes in 2008, “… and have featured a different theme each year, including dinosaurs, eagles, the Coast Guard, Alice in Wonderland, the circus” and more.
“Our family has owned this farmland since… Jacob Witkop purchased it,” he said. “I’m the fifth generation to live here. The farm has been passed down from Jacob Witkop to John Witkop, then to Hiram Witkop, and currently to Michael Witkop.”
As amazing as the corn maze is, there’s much more to Jacob’s Farm that meets the eye, and ear, and all the other senses, for that matter.
Let’s talk smell and taste? The farm features a menu that includes appetizers, salads, pizza, sandwiches, wraps and more.
There are plenty of picnic tables, a soothing fountain and a playground area.
“In addition to the corn maze, we also have a U-pick orchard,” said Witkop. “In 2001, we expanded to include a restaurant, bar, and wedding venue. We’re now focusing heavily on weddings and corporate events, with 24 weddings and around 15 corporate events, graduation parties, and other gatherings scheduled for this year.
“We host a variety of organizations and groups, including Fairlife Milk, Remax, 4 Front Credit Union, and Precision Plumbing and Heating. We can accommodate events ranging from 30 to 500 people, depending on the venue. We’re actively working to increase the number of events we host each year.”
Witkop’s children, 12-year-old Elias, 4-year-old Mable, 3-year-old Margot and 1-year-old Josephine, along with the farm’s two resident canines — Waldo and Folger — find the maze and all that surrounds it the perfect place to grow up.
“Oh yeah, they like everything about it, especially the playground,” Witkop said, laughing.
Jacob’s Farm is recognized by the State of Michigan’s Historical Commission as a Centennial Farm, a designation that “highlights the farm’s long-standing contribution to local agriculture and its enduring legacy within the community.” Today it is recognized as being a leader in “agritourism,” a growing industry that combines agriculture with tourism.
Jacob’s Farm is located at 7100 E. Traverse Hwy. For more information, go to events@jacobsfarmtc.com.