Mazes date back thousands of years. They appear in Greek mythology and as fixtures in Roman artwork, floor designs for public buildings and as ornamented street paving. You can find them as inlays in the floors of cathedrals.
In later centuries, mazes were the inspirations for elaborate formal gardens in Europe created to amuse princes and kings. But it took good old American ingenuity to marry this centuries-old art form to a cornfield, creating huge labyrinths and sparking big time family fun—not to mention a whole new form of recreation: agritainment.
The American Maze Company created the Amazing Maize Maze® in 1993, and this is generally accepted as the beginning of the worldwide frenzy for corn mazes. Another company designing and producing corn mazes for commercial clients is The Maize . It bills itself as the world’s largest cornfield maze company with more than 1,200 mazes in the last dozen years in five different countries. For a comprehensive directory listing hundreds of mazes, check here.
A corn maze is basically a series of foot paths cut out of a cornfield. The paths create a large-scale design, usually only visible from above. From their beginnings in the 90s, corn mazes have grown increasingly elaborate. Today, most of them range from four to 20 acres in size, and many of them are created around a theme and may include puzzles, hidden clues and various checkpoints along the way. Navigating mazes at night with flashlights adds to the difficulty . . . and spookiness.
Mazes have become a harvest time fixture for many family-run farms, U-pick orchards and cider mills. They have also become a favorite destination for families, church youth groups, scouts, seniors and college sororities and fraternities. If you have a group looking for unique, wholesome fun, a corn maze is just the ticket.
Most mazes operate on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during September, October and November. But hours and season lengths vary so be sure to call ahead. That way, you can get the scoop on special events, admission charges and special group rates, too.
Corn mazes pepper the Midwest, but I don’t have room to detail them all. If you’re interested in visiting some in neighboring states, look at some of the sources I gave at the beginning of this post.
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