Corn maze master tells all: 'It's meant to be a challenge'

Using GPS technology isn't accurate enough to build a corn maze and people getting lost in them is actually a good thing, a maze master tells CBC News.

Mark Muchka runs the Calgary Corn Maze & Fun Farm southeast of the city and he says it grows and grows each year.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: What's different this year?

A: We decided to go with the superhero theme. All of us have superheroes in our lives, whether it be a loved one, and everybody likes a good action film. The maze design itself is Superman because it is his 80th year. You can see Superman blasting through the cobs of corn there.

Q: What is it about corn mazes that keeps people coming back?

A: It is quite a head-scratching puzzle and this year's design is the toughest one we have done.

I have already had more phone calls of people stranded in the maze so far this year, and only a handful of people have actually found all the hidden stations in there.

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Q: How do you measure the success of a maze?

A: The smiles on their faces and the laughter you can hear, I think that is what makes it so fun.

It's totally dependent on the weather. Before the first frost hits, the corn is tall, green and thick. It's like being in a jungle. But once the fall weather sets in and we get frost, it actually shrinks down and turns fall yellow.

You can see between the rows of corn. Earlier in the season it is meant to take about an hour and 20 minutes to complete both phases.

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Q: So people actually get lost in the maze?

A: It's meant to be a challenge, no question. You are going to take wrong turns. There is over 4.5 kilometres of paths, it's the size of 10 football fields. When you are in there, everything looks exactly the same.

We send everybody in with a map and most people have to refer to it to find their way out.

We will find them and help them out. For those people who are dedicated to not cheating and doing it the right way, there have been people in there for over three hours.

You want people to get lost. You don't want it to be so easy that people are coming out in half an hour. It's big, it's tall and it's tough.

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Q: Please talk about the night maze component you have coming up.

A: Starting September 14, every Friday and Saturday, we do maze in the dark, our flashlight nights.

It's a totally different experience than visiting us during the day.

We are not in the city, it is dark out here. You add an element of difficulty trying to navigate it at night.

We want to be that spot where people can enjoy a day out of the city in a fun and safe environment, and I think that's the draw.

Q: What is the trick to mastering a corn maze?

A: The key is just to take a good group of people in with you, people with a good sense of direction.

If you have six people and they all want to go in different ways, it can be a bit of a nightmare.

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Q: How do you plan and build a corn maze?

A: We plot the image we want on a computer program. We plant the field north-to-south and east-to-west. Corn planters plant a seed every foot.

We overlay our image onto the field. We physically walk the field and plot it. We do that to the entire field and it's like a giant connect-the-dots.

We do it this waybecause it's so accurate. We have tried using GPS. When you are designing a maze it's got to be perfect. A GPS can be out a few feet, and when you have only got eight feet between paths it can really mess up your design.

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