JEFFERSON COUNTY — Last year, Rylee Cole, 9, got her first taste of a corn maze. This year she was ready to lead the way for her parents, Laura and Josh. Although maybe wearing flip-flops was a bad idea.
“It’s very muddy,” Cole said on Oct. 10, a day after heavy rains had muddied the ground in the corn maze. Her flip-flops were caked with mud as she emerged with her parents after nearly 45 minutes in the maze.
But the mud didn’t stop people from visiting the corn maze, which is in its 14th year at the Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield, 8500 W. Deer Creek Canyon Road in the Ken-Caryl/Littleton area near Chatfield State Park. This year, the 8-acre maze is shaped in the .
And don’t worry about getting lost — there are employees up top who can guide people out from among the the 12-foot-high cornstalks.
“It’s a good idea to take a map in there,” said Don Pomroy, who brought some out-of-town guests to the maze Oct. 10.
Also open is the nearby haunted maze with actors inside to frighten customers. People can also take hayrides or kids can jump on a giant trampoline bounce pillow.
Chatfield Botanic Gardens director Larry Vickerman said he expects around 40,000 people to go through the maze, which opened in the last half of September and closes Nov. 1.
“People come for different reasons,” Vickerman said. “It’s just the attraction of being lost in a field.”
The main maze is only open Friday through Sunday and lights up when it gets dark. The haunted maze is open nightly starting Friday through Nov. 1.
communications manager Erin Bird said the fall activities at the gardens — such as the maze and the pumpkin festival held Oct. 10-12 — are a good way to bring people from outside the area to the Chatfield location.
“The corn maze is a wonderful event for families and a way to highlight the Chatfield location,” Bird said. “It’s a good way to celebrate our large open space down there.”
Pony and train rides are available for an additional fee at the gardens, and the food trucks are out throughout the weekend.
Melody Skinner, who sells caramel apples outside the corn maze, said she’s enjoyed the time spent there and it seems everyone is having a good time there this fall.
“Everybody appears to be relaxed and enjoying themselves,” Skinner said. “It’s a lovely place to be.”
Joe Vaccarelli: 303-954-2396, jvaccarelli@denverpost.com or
Corn maze and haunted corn maze
When: 4-9 p.m. Fridays; noon-9 p.m. Saturdays; noon-6 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 1. Haunted corn maze starts nightly Friday through Nov. 1.
Where: Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield, 8500 W. Deer Creek Canyon Road
Cost: $12 for adults, $8 for children 3-12, free for children 2 and younger. Haunted maze is $22. Members, seniors, military and groups of 15 or more receive $2 off ticket price.
More information: botanicgardens.org/corn-maze/about
