How Is a Corn Maze Made? Plus, Where to Find Them in the Bay Area This October

Jim Groverman, the owner of the Petaluma Pumpkin Patch and Amazing Corn Maze, has been building corn mazes for more than 30 years. And he does it all by hand.

“I don’t map anything out,” he said. “I do it all in my head.”

While other creations vie for the “biggest corn maze in the world” title — including Dixon’s record-holding Cool Patch Pumpkins — Groverman’s four-acre corn maze holds a different charm. And it’s just one of many Bay Area corn mazes in full holiday swing this month, offering the public a chance to solve these life-sized puzzles.

Jump straight to:

• Expert tips for solving a corn maze
• Bay Area corn mazes to visit this spooky season

Some corn mazes, like Groverman’s, are hand-cut with just one way in and out. Others boast intricate patterns and hidden checkpoints — not to mention all the other activities on the farm during fall.

Read on to find out how the Bay Area’s corn mazes are made, with expert tips from their creators on how to get out of them. And if you’re eager for a challenge, we’ve got a roundup of Bay Area corn mazes where you can get lost in the stalks yourself.

How is a corn maze made?

How corn maze creators actually design and build their labyrinths can be very different from farm to farm.

For Groverman, the key to a solid corn maze — like any crop, is “good soil.”

Starting in March, he takes soil samples, adding fertilizers as needed, before working the soil and preparing it for planting. While the old saying says corn should be “knee high at the Fourth of July,” Groverman waits until the end of June to plant, so his stalks can still be that welcoming green color in time for his October maze.

Groverman plants 30,000 seeds per acre in total — 7 inches apart, in rows 2-and-a-half feet apart.

All summer long, he weeds the rows to keep the crows out of the young stalks, because “they’ll just go along and pull the corn right out of the ground” at that height.

Once the corn gets tall enough, Groverman grabs his shovel and gets to work sculpting his maze. With a team of two, just making the pathway takes four to five eight-hour days, “at least,” he said. “I try to have it all made and completed by the first of August.”

The final touch: Groverman then lets the remaining corn grow tall until October, when he opens his doors to the public.

Frank Andreotti, farm manager at Andreotti Family Farm in Half Moon Bay, takes a similar freehand approach — but with a little more power.

After all his corn has grown in, Andreotti constructs his 10-acre corn maze in just a few hours by plowing a 6-foot-wide path with a tractor.

“When I’m driving through, I just have in my mind the outlay of the entire field,” he said. “It’s like freehand painting.”

Denise Fantozzi, on the other hand, is one farm owner who took the GPS route — and it’s paid off. Each year at Fantozzi Farms, located in the Central Valley, she and her husband dream up a new design for the maze, which is actually three mazes in one. The pair works with a company called Maze Play to input the design into a GPS and then, when the stalks are about 3 feet tall, they cut the maze exactly to the design.

This year’s theme is how food goes from the farm to the grocery store to the table, Fantozzi said. The smallest of the mazes is designed to be short and easy for school groups to complete, featuring animal tracks that kids can identify as they navigate the maze. The second-largest maze invites older children to play “Farm Scene Investigation,” a Clue-like game in which they can search for hidden pictures in the maze to identify which animals stole Farmer Joe’s pies.

The largest of the mazes, for teens and adults, includes 12 hidden checkpoints and can take anywhere from 40 minutes to two hours to complete, Fantozzi said.

“It’s an intricate design every year,” she said.

What are some top tips for solving a corn maze?

Consider shelling out for the map

Groverman’s is a traditional maze, with one way in and one way out — and to complete it, you have to pass through each corner and climb two towers.

“You really have to cover the whole area,” he said.

Groverman’s maze takes around 45 minutes to complete, but if you’re worried about solving it, you can purchase a postcard featuring an aerial map to help you.

“There’s so many times I go in to rescue people at the end of the night,” he said.

Look for clues in your surroundings

Andreotti’s, on the other hand, is full of dead ends, but should only take up to 25 minutes, he said.

Before entering the maze, he recommends you get a lay of the land first: Take note of any landmarks, “and use the sun,” he advised.

Know how to get out if you really need to 

Fantozzi’s mazes also come with a map, but that doesn’t mean people don’t still get turned around, she said.

“If you get really lost and you just want to get out of the maze, you can walk between any two rows of corn and it’ll take you right to the side,” she said.

“There is an out if you really get completely lost,” she said.

Bay Area corn mazes (and pumpkin patches) to get you into the spooky season mood

Petaluma Pumpkin Patch and Amazing Corn Maze, Petaluma

Admission to Groverman’s corn maze is $9 during the day and $13 for the night maze. Kids under 5 years old enter for free.

Apart from their handmade corn maze, Groverman grows everything that is sold at the pumpkin patch, including pumpkins, gourds and squash. There’s even a giant corn box, filled with around 8,000 pounds of corn grain to play in like a sandbox.

You’ll also find food vendors, farm animals, a bounce house, a super slide and giant chair and — on the weekend — pony rides.

The entire pumpkin patch is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and Sundays and until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Andreotti Family Farm, Half Moon Bay

Also known for its U-pick sunflower field, Andreotti’s pumpkin patch, hay rides and corn maze location opened on Oct. 4 this year after heavy rains delayed the opening. Andreotti’s team grows all their own crops, including edible and decorative pumpkins.

Tickets to the corn maze can be purchased in advance and cost $12, plus a processing fee. Kids 3 and under enter for free. The hay ride is $7 plus a fee, and takes visitors on a tour of the property. The farm is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Webb Ranch, Portola Valley

This small quarter-acre corn maze is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and reservations are required on weekends.

Webb Ranch also offers a bounce house open daily, in addition to a kids’ farm obstacle course and haunted house. On the weekends, they are open for tractor hay rides, a petting zoo and a reptile zoo.

The Webb pumpkin patch store sells pumpkins and other produce like jams, honeys and corn stalks for purchase, plus other Halloween supplies.

Weekend entry to the patch, including all activities, is $35 for children under 12, $15 for teens and adults and $10 for adults accompanying a child. Kids under two enter for free and senior admission is $10. Weekday passes are discounted and don’t require a reservation.

Fantozzi Farms, Central Valley

This Patterson maze in Stanislaus County may be more of a trek from the Bay Area, but its three different mazes for all age levels are designed to entice a family-oriented crowd.

The maze is open in the evenings on weekdays until 7 p.m. and until 10 p.m. on Fridays, plus Saturdays 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Also available at the farm is a hayride through “Scarecrow Alley,” featuring a community contest to make the favorite scarecrow, pipe slides, live pig races and even a pig derby. There’s also a petting zoo, paintball shooting range and an evening haunted maze on Friday and Saturday nights.

Admission to the whole farm is $15 on weekends and $12 on weekdays.