Cornfield mazes look a lot different from the air than they do from the ground. From a bird’s-eye view, they are intricate designs in a field of green. From the ground level, they are a challenge to your sense of direction.
It’s hard to explain the thrill of being surrounded by 6- to 8-foot-tall stalks of corn with only the blue sky above you visible. As a kid, my friends and I used to build forts and stage battles in our neighbor’s corn field. I guess it is a little bit of that same excitement of creating your own world of exploration and adventure that appeals to thousands of farm visitors every year.
“Fall is a great time to be outside doing something with the entire family,” explains Laurie Graff of Hondo. Her family has a 7-acre maze on the family ranch with a collegiate football theme. She took time out to talk about the maze while a group of senior citizens from San Antonio navigated the twists and turns of the paths. The only evidence of the group’s progress was an occasional rustling of the tall stocks and laughter.
“People are always looking for some family-oriented fun,” Graff says. “This is good, clean fun that everyone can do.” Besides the cornfield, the Graffs have hayrides, a barrel train, and pumpkins from the Texas Panhandle. They have a corn cannon that shoots an ear of corn with compressed air. If you hit a target, you win a prize.
Behind the playground is the Mind Maze, built of hay bales. At first it looks like a kiddie puzzle until you learn that the object is to find your way out without taking a left turn. It’s a little more challenging than the average first grader is used to. “Believe it or not,” Graff says, “you can get in and out by taking 22 right turns.”
This is the fourth year that the Graffs have opened their cornfield to visitors. The fifth-generation Texas ranching family was looking for ways to diversify when they came across the MAiZE company out of Utah. According to Graff, the company’s founder, Brett Herbst, visited the maze at the farm used in the movie I>Field of Dreams/I> and was excited by the possibilities that the large crowds could offer struggling farms.
“By joining with Herbst we didn’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Graff says. One of the trade secrets revealed to the franchisees is how to make the patterns that look so great from the air, but seem to wander aimlessly on the ground. “I usually just tell people that my husband is an alien,” Graff says with a laugh. What takes most people about an hour to walk takes Ken Graff and a ranch hand about a week to layout. “I will tell you that if you can count to ten then you could make a maze,” Graff says, “and that he doesn’t use GPS.”
The South Texas maze is a half-mile east of Hondo and about 26 miles west of San Antonio on U.S. 90. Opened in mid-September, the cornfield maze goes until the end of November. The gate opens Monday-Friday, 9am-2pm, for group visits by reservation; Friday night, 5-9pm; Saturday, 10am-9pm; and Sunday, noon-6pm. Children under 10 years of age can trick-or-treat in the maze on Oct. 22-24 and Oct. 29-31. A costume contest will be held on Oct. 23 and Oct. 24 at 2pm. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for children and seniors. For more info or weather conditions, call 830/741-3968 or go to the MAiZE Web site at www.cornfieldmaze.com.
Dewberry Farm offers a cornfield maze northeast of Houston and seven miles north of Brookshire on TX 362. The farm also has a pumpkin patch, a pick-your-own-flower field, and lots of farm animals. Visitors are welcome on weekends and during the week by appointment. For information, call 281/934-2312.
South of Tyler and outside of Bullard, the Moore family has a pumpkin patch, fresh vegetables, and a moonlit maze. For information, call 903/894-1030.
This article appears in October 8 • 2004.
