One of the benefits of being in a big, northernly secluded city like Edmonton is that you don’t have to travel far to get lost, away from it all, have some fun…and possibly never find your way back.
The Edmonton Corn Maze is in Parkland County, technically, but someone living in Windermere, or even most of southwest Edmonton, would beat a Spruce Grove town-proper resident to the maze with time leftover to enjoy the prairie view of God’s country…or at least the farmland Jesse Kraay and his friend Dan Horneman have rented since first making the maze in 2001. “We were just two young guys who didn’t know really what we wanted to do. My parents started the one in Lacombe, and they were having success. So we thought we’d give it a try here.”
Once you’re in the maze, it doesn’t matter where you’re from — you’re gonna get lost (assuming you aren’t eight feet tall). And that’s the point. “We get a few people panicking. We get the occasional phone call of someone who’s had enough. But it’s usually the same few spots where people get stuck and wander around, and we always have people out there to help,” Kraay says.
If you make all the right turns — meaning all the correct turns — it would still take you about 15 minutes, but most people take a leisurely 45 minutes to an hour to explore each path and enjoy the farm fresh air.
The blueprint planning starts in the winter. “We send the general idea to a company in the States, and then they turn the concept into a maze and send us the blueprints.” In the spring, they work the field and plant the seeds. When the corn grows to six inches, they lay out the design using coloured flags and spray paint, before tilling the paths and letting the rest grow.
This year’s shape is the Edmonton Elks logo, and while the parallels to losing yourself and the team’s losing record are unfortunately apt, Kraay says people are just happy to enjoy an outdoor afternoon. “We were thinking of different things in the winter, and with the Elks’ rebrand, we thought it would be a good theme. So we called [Elks President] Victor Cui, and he was excited about it. Of course, everyone’s pretty optimistic [about the CFL season] in January,” Kraay laughs.
The farm is filled with other family-friendly activities, and a farmers’ market, so for customers looking to escape the city without going too far, it’s easily an all-day affair. But for Kraay and Horneman’s families, it’s a year-round labour of love. “This supports two families. And we put a lot of work into it. The setup and then the cleanup and all that is a full-time job, but I don’t know what else I’d be doing. It’s fun to come back every year and start over, and when you hear people laughing and having a good time, it’s all worth it.”
Edmonton Corn Maze
51529 Range Rd 262,
Spruce Grove, AB
EdmontonCornMaze.ca
