Being lost is an unpleasant feeling, unless being lost is the point. In a maze, wandering is encouraged. With a little luck and some brainpower, it’s how you end up at the center and how you find your way out.
Now it’s corn-maze season in Colorado, with dozens being cut into cornfields around the state.
Greg Gallavan, owner of Winter Park- based Amaze’n Mazes, has “lost” thousands of paying customers. He started building giant mazes nearly 20 years ago after visiting one in California.
“They had as many ticket windows as a ski resort,” Gallavan says.
Gallavan tapped into the maze madness by building 30 mazes in the United States, Canada and Spain. He has picked up a few tricks of the trade.
But when it comes to getting maze-solving tips out of him, keep this in mind: He’s the guy who spends his time concocting the mazes.
“We try to make the whole interior of the maze look exactly alike, so you really can’t tell where you are,’ he says. “I call them curlicues: We do things where it’s in, out, around, and it goes nowhere.’
Gallavan divulged one pointer: “People say you should follow your right hand or follow your left hand.”
Of course, he’s on to that one.
“We used to build bridges in our mazes. That threw it off.”
This fall, lose yourself in one of these labyrinths, made of corn or otherwise.
Fritzler Corn Maize
20861 U.S. 85, La Salle; 970-737-2129, . Admission for the “nonscary” maze and other activities: $12 for adults, $10 for kids ages 6 to 11 and $4 for kids age 5 and younger
From the air, this year’s maze is a gigantic portrait of owner Glen Fritzler’s parents. It reads, “Thanks Mom and Dad!” above their smiling faces.
Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Ranch
9057 Ute Highway, Longmont; 303-684-0087, . Free.
Corn and hay-bale mazes star at this organic farm, which hosts a pumpkin festival on Saturdays and Sundays throughout October. Other features: rides, pumpkin painting, apple cider, a petting zoo and more.
Harvest Farm
4240 E. County Road 66, Wellington; 970-568-9803, . Adults $15, kids and seniors $10.
The huge corn maze salutes the Colorado Rockies (even though the team fell short of making this month another Rocktober.) Also: Pumpkin-smashing, corn-launching, pig races and a wagon tour of the 200-acre farm. Ticket sales profits benefit the Denver Rescue Mission.
Fort Whereami
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, 51000 Two Rivers Plaza Road, Glenwood Springs; 970-945-4228, . Admission: $10 for adults, $9 for seniors 65 and over, $7 for children 3 to 12.
A permanent wooden structure that looks like a fort, this new Gallavan creation that opened this year is one of the maze-maker’s all-time favorites.
Diana’s Pumpkin Patch
1649 Poplar Ave., Cañon City; 719-821-9133, . Tickets: $7 for adults; children 5 and under free.
At 2 acres, Diana’s is a smaller maze, but admission includes a pumpkin of your choice from the fields (while supplies last). Evening tours get spooky with the Haunted Corn Maze on Oct. 24 and 25, and Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.
Mazing race: from lost to found
Worried about getting dazed in a maze? Try these tips from orienteering veteran Sherry Litasi:
•Study a bird’s-eye view of the maze before walking inside.
•In the maze, look for flaws or designs characterizing each byway — a bent corn stalk, a scratched log — to orient yourself.
•Stay calm; panic results in mistakes.
•Use a pattern to work your way through — exploring byways from right to left.
•Watch the ground, and avoid the least-used byways.
