Plan an Adventurous Corn Maze Field Day at Chatfield Farms this Autumn Season

Photo: Hoto Scott Dressel-Martin/Courtesy Denver Botanic Gardens

Getting lost has become a fall rite of passage at corn mazes across the U.S.— an annual agritourism boon for family farm budgets that is anything but corny. From Studt’s maze in Grand Junction to Fritzler’s near Greeley, Colorado is home to over a dozen destination fields, planted with sturdy seed corn carved by GPS-led tillers into intricate patterns revealed from on high.

The pastime’s deep roots lead back to ancient Egyptian labyrinths, but it was a cross-country flight over waving green stalks that sparked the “if you build it, they will come” brainstorm behind the first Amazing Maize Maze in Pennsylvania in 1993. This year’s maze at Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms is the 23rd for the nonprofit Littleton plant refuge and working farm. Climb the 15-foot bridge for an overview of the 7-acre puzzle’s 2023 sea-creature theme. A separate mini-maze and barrel train ride entertains younger children of the corn.