Local couple transforms homestead into Howling Hills for fall
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Tim and Chris Jackson of Allenport were “thrilled” when more than 100 people pulled into their driveway Sept. 25 for the first day of Howling Hills fall festivities. The corn maze, pumpkin patch and other fun continues every Saturday and Sunday from noon to dusk through Oct. 31.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
The duck races have been a huge hit at Howling Hills in Allenport. Tim Jackson and his sons built the races with water pumps and wood they already had on hand at the farm.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
An old Ford and homegrown pumpkins make an Instagram-worthy backdrop for family photos at Howling Hills. Guests are encouraged to share photos and tag the farm’s social media accounts after an afternoon of fall fun.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Tim and Chris Jackson planted four acres of pumpkins, which visitors can pick off the vine before venturing into the eight-acre corn maze. The couple labels pumpkins and drives them to the exit so guests don’t have to lug their gourds through the maze.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Tim Jackson said the eight-acre corn maze takes between 20 minutes and a couple hours to navigate. Tim, his wife, Chris, or a Howling Hills volunteer monitors the maze with a drone and those who can’t escape can simply call Tim, wave wildly at the sky and wait a few minutes for a rescue team to help them out.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Tim Jackson and his wife, Chris, planted eight acres of corn this summer in preparation of their first-annual Howling Hills corn maze.
ALLENPORT – It isn’t corny when Tim Jackson booms, “Everybody loves a farm.”
Because even if you don’t love a farm, when you meet Jackson, a towering laborer-by-day, farmer-by-night with a loud voice (he’s hard of hearing), his enthusiasm for Howling Hills is infectious.
“When you’re a kid, you see a tractor going down the road, you stare at it ’til it’s out of sight,” said Jackson, a Charleroi native. His wife, Chris, originally from Baldwin, teases him for volunteering to bale hay for neighbors when he was a kid.
Since he and Chris purchased more than 100 acres of land in Allenport 20 years ago, the couple has dreamed of entertaining the community with good fall, family fun.
Years ago, they used to put on a spooky fall activity for their three kids – Justin, Casey and Christine, now in their late 20s through mid-30s – and their friends. But the kids grew up and, understandably, said Tim, chose homecoming dances over haunted hayrides.
The couple carried on: Tim worked and Chris tended her garden. They built a new home, welcomed grandchildren into the world (they have four). And they continued dreaming of starting a corn maze.
“We’ve been talking about it for probably the last five years,” said Tim, who acknowledges he’s nearing retirement age.
“I wanted to wait ’til next year,” said Chris. “And he said, ‘We’re doing it.'”
The couple started planting corn in April and watched eight acres of maize sprout up over the summer. In June, when the corn sprouted taller than Tim’s 6 feet height, the couple reached out to The Corn Maze Guy, who brought his GPS and corn-mowing tractor to their farm.
With the help of their kids and the community, the Jacksons planted four acres of pumpkins and put together fall activities for families to enjoy. They created a Facebook page, the Howling Hills Corn Maze Adventures – a reference to the coyotes Tim and Chris heard howling when they first moved to the property and an homage to the haunted hayrides they hosted for their children and kids’ friends years ago – and advertised the weekend of Sept. 25 as their grand opening.
The response was overwhelming.
“There were 130 people on day one,” Chris marveled, and about 80 people turned out that Sunday – a Steelers Sunday.
“We were thrilled to death,” said Tim.
The couple welcomes visitors every weekend between noon and dusk. Guests are greeted by neighbor boys who “jump up” to help people park, said Tim.
The $10 admission includes a hayride to the pumpkin patch, where visitors can pick a gourd off the vine before venturing into the nearby corn maze.
The maze is an impressive eight-acre, eagle-shaped puzzle. Before entering, guests receive a map and Tim’s number. He monitors the maze with a drone and if guests get lost, he said, they can dial his cell, wave frantically at the sky and be rescued within minutes.
The maze takes anywhere between 20 minutes and several hours to navigate.
Other attractions include the surprisingly popular corn box, duck races, pumpkin ring toss and a paintball shooting range with glow-in-the-dark paint on funky targets, like a canoe the Jacksons found in the overgrowth when they first moved onto the property.
“There’s a canoe,” Tim laughed when I visited the farm, pointing. “We just utilized what we had on the farm for targets.”
There’s also a porch swing for sitting and a selfie station for family photos.
Chris offers her not-yet-famous funnel cakes and other fair foods for purchase. Next year, the Jacksons hope to have local vendors serving food truck fare on-site.
“We want to grow,” said Tim. “We don’t have anything like this around here. We want to involve the community.”
Tim’s favorite part of Howling Hills is watching kids have fun making memories.
“When people leave the farm, they’re thanking us for doing this. To me, that’s better than any price of admission, that people are happy,” Tim said.
Chris added, “There’s really nothing like it around. It’s not haunted; it’s a wholesome thing.”
The Jacksons welcome anyone who likes to have a good time to visit Howling Hills weekends through Oct. 31.
The couple is offering an after-dark maze adventure the last two weekends of October, where visitors navigate the maze with only the light of the stars and a flashlight as their guide.
“We love to entertain,” said Tim on a recent Friday afternoon, gesturing to his beautiful homestead. “This is our way.”
For more information, visit the Howling Hills web site at https://www.hhcornmaze.com/.