Growing a labyrinth is nothing new. For centuries, kings and gentlemen have cultivated vast networks of paths bounded by groomed hedges. These days, though, mazes are the works of men and women with dirt caked under their fingernails. American farmers, looking for a way to hedge against a fickle market, carve bewildering knots of paths through their cornfields and hope that people looking for a way to celebrate the harvest will come.
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If you build it will they come?
Before they got brave enough to construct their own field of dreams way out in a remote corner of the state, Don and Tammy Schneider just watched the Front Range corn-maze craze build.
Beginning in 2000 with the Fritzler family in La Salle, one farmer after another had jumped on the agri-tainment bandwagon. They had carved sweet and spooky mazes into their vast cornfields, hoping to capitalize on the fact that houses stuffed with curious children have sprouted where crops once grew.
This spring, when the corn on their farm near Ovid, in extreme northeastern Colorado, was about 4 inches tall, the Schneiders went to work. They pulled out the GPS system they typically use to keep their cornrows straight to plot a homey, 2.6-mile track in the shape of a moose and two pine trees. Never mind that their place near the South Platte River feels about a million miles from anywhere.
The nearest corn maze to theirs is 20 miles away, in Lodgepole, Neb. That one is “more of a little kids’ maze. Ours is over 30 acres,” says Tammy Schneider, hopeful that the promise of no annoying lines, a corn cannon and a few good restaurants in nearby Ovid will entice people to make a day of it at her farm. The family also is donating a portion of ticket sales to the Gateway Medical Foundation.
“Kevin Costner said in ‘Field of Dreams’, ‘If you build it they will come,”‘ she says. “I guess we will just have to wait and see.”
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OPEN NOW
Stop and smell the flowers
Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield, Littleton
The images of three columbine flowers carved into a 5-acre field.
Activities: Two 15-foot-high illuminated bridges overlook the maze.
Get there: From C-470 exit Wadsworth, go south to the stoplight at Deer Creek Canyon Road and turn right. Entrance to the park is 1/4-mile on the left.
When: 4-10 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays and noon-8 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 30. 4-10 p.m. Oct. 31.
Info: 303-973-3705, or visit botanicgardens.org for times and prices
The sky is falling
Denver Rescue Mission Harvest Farm Maze, Wellington
Race around in a maze that pays homage to the movie “Chicken Little.”
Activities: Petting zoo, pumpkin patch, hayrides, corn cannons, pumpkin slings.
Get there: From I-25 northbound, exit 278 in Wellington. Make a quick right, then turn north on NE Frontage Road to East County Road 66. Head west under the interstate and watch for the Harvest Farm entrance on the right.
When: Through Nov. 20.
Info: 970-568-9488 or visit denver rescuemission.org for hours and prices.
Old school cool
JoyRides Corn Maze/Hay Ride,
Colorado Springs
Traditional maze through a 2-acre field; turns scary at night in October.
Activities: Haunted house, haunted trail, hayrides.
Get there: 1 1/2 miles east of Academy Boulevard on Platte.
When: Through Oct. 31.
Info: 719-573-5500, or visit joyridesffc.com for hours and prices
It’s only rock ‘n’ roll
Fritzler Maize, La Salle
Colorado’s original maze operation takes the shape of music legends Ray Charles and Elvis Presley.
Activities: Hovercraft track, corn cannon, terrifying walk-through inflatable shaped like a giant.
Get there: On the east side of U.S. 85, 22 miles north of Brighton.
When: Through Oct. 31. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays except for Oct. 31.
Info: 970-737-2129 or fritzlermaze.com for hours and prices.
Crop circles
Miller Farms Corn Maze, Platteville
Crop-circle-style maze.
Activities: Haunted Hay Rides, 6-10 p.m. Oct. 10-31
Get there: About 5 miles east of I-25 on Colorado 66.
When: Through Nov. 24.
Info: 970-785-6133 or visit millerfarms.net for hours and prices.
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OPEN SOON
Short, sweet
Cottonwood Farm, Boulder
Straw bale and cornfield maze for littler kids.
Activities: Farm-equipment display, farm animals, pumpkin patch.
Get there: Near 75th Street and Arapahoe Road, 4 miles east of Boulder.
When: 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Sept. 25-Oct. 31.
Info: 720-890-4766
Farm trail
Burch Maze, Mead
About 6 miles of trails wind through barn, tractor and grain-silo shapes.
Activities: “Realm of the Corn Stalker” haunted maze gets going after dark.
Get there: Located 1 mile north of Colorado 66 on east side of I-25 Frontage Road, between Longmont Exit 243 and Mead Exit 245.
When: Sept. 23-Oct. 31. Hours, days vary.
Info: Call 303-772-1350, or visit burchmaze.com for hours and prices.
Free-form, for free
Rock Creek Farm, Broomfield
Free-form maze at the edge of a 100-acre you-pick pumpkin patch.
Activities: Hay maze for younger kids.
Get there: About 1 mile north of Broomfield on U.S. 287.
When: Oct. 1-31.
Info: 303-465-9565, or visit rockcreekfarm.com for hours.
Spooky sunflowers
May Farms, Byers
Farm logo-shaped maze through a 10-acre field bordered in sunflowers.
Activities: Hay wagon ride to the pumpkin patch, farm animals.
Get there: From eastbound I-70, Take Byers exit 316 and head south for three blocks to a stop sign, turn right on U.S. 36 and go about 1 mile to May Farms on the right.
When: Thursday through Oct. 31.
Info: 303-822-5800, or visit mayfarms.com for hours and prices.
Dinosaur tracks
Anderson Farms Corn Maze
& Pumpkin Patch, Erie
Nearly 7 miles of trails run through a dinosaur-shaped 30-acre maze.
Activities: Separate Terror in the Corn haunted maze for people older than 6.
Get there: Located 3/4 mile north of Colorado 52 on Weld County Road 3 1/4.
When: Sept. 23-Oct. 31. Hours vary.
Info: 303-702-1844, or visit anderson farms.com for hours and prices.
Labrynthine thinking
Crazed Corn Field Maze/
Haunted Field of Screams, Thornton
Maze in a 14-acre field for all ages converts to Haunted Field of Screams after sundown.
Activities: Pick your own pumpkins, corn kernel play box.
Get there: Northeast corner of 104th Avenue and McKay Road, about 1 mile east of Colorado Boulevard.
When: Sept. 24-Oct. 31, closed Mondays.
Info: 303-913-5947, or visit crazedcornfieldmaze.com for hours and prices.
Animal kingdom
Murray Maze & Haunted House,
Brighton
Winds through an intricate zebra-giraffe-lion design carved from a 15-acre field. Turns spooky after dark beginning Sept. 30.
Activities: Haunted barn, paintball games, hayrides.
Get there: About 5 minutes north of Mile High Flea Market, near the southeast corner of U.S. 85 and 112th Avenue.
When: Sept. 23-Oct. 31.
Info: 303-289-4264, or visit murraymaze.com for hours and prices.
Arrgh mateys
Pumpkins and More, Louisville
Nearly 5 miles of trails in the shape of a pirate and his ship.
Activities: Straw bale mazes, farm critters, jumping castle and enclosed trampoline, pick your own pumpkins.
Get there: Just outside of Louisville off Dillon Road and 104th Street.
Take U.S. 287 to Dillon Road, west on Dillon Road 1 mile. Turn north on 104th Street.
When: Oct. 1 – 31
Info: 303-913-9182
www.pumpkinsandmorefarms.com
Jack o’ lantern lights the way
Pope Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze
Race through the face of a jack o’ lantern in a 5-acre maze spooked at night the last two weekends in October.
Get there: From I-76 east, take Wiggins Exit 64 and go north 3 miles on County Road 3 to Road T.
When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m., weekends in October.
Info: 970-483-7839
