Itsy bitsy spider
A huge spider is hiding in a North Logan corn field.
The Green Canyon Farms Corn Maze is in the shape of a spider this year, waiting to snare people into its web made of corn. But beware of wrong turns, because following the wrong part of the spider’s web may cause customers to remain lost for the evening.
“The spider can be a challenge,” Ron Jensen, owner of the corn maze, said. “You have to go through the spider to get to the end.”
But besides paying attention to making the right turns, Jensen said to be aware of the haunts who are placed throughout the maze during weekends in October.
“We’ve had people run out of their shoes,” he said.
There are about 12 people who dress up and wear masks, Jensen said, to help bring the spirit of the event alive. These people strategically place themselves throughout the maze while customers wait to see what happens.
“We don’t want to give it away or tell what they actually do, but they do some interesting things,” Jensen said with a laugh.
There is also a chainsaw man who plants himself in the maze and waits for people to come into his area. Jensen said he has dressed up as the chainsaw man before and keeps a collection of good scares.
“I’m sitting out there (dressed as the chainsaw man), and of course you got the fumes of the chainsaw so people coming on the trail know it’s coming,” he said. “This guy was being a smart aleck and he was starting to say, ‘Ohhh the chainsaw man,’ making comments like that. So he starts to get out ahead of his group and he’s jumping, looking into the corn saying the same comment over and over. He happened to land and jump right in front me, looking straight at me, and I ripped the chainsaw right then. His eyes were just big.
“His feet didn’t even touch the ground and he was gone. The rest of the group were laughing so hard, but at the same time, they were scared so they were falling down over each other. The poor girls were getting trampled.”
Jensen said to remember the corn maze stays away from “evil scary” and focuses more on a “startling scare.” He said he has found cell phones on the ground due to people tripping or running quickly away from a haunt.
Nancy Jensen, who also works at the maze, said her family has worked hard to create the 13-acre maze and keep it going.
“There was just one corn maze (when we started), and it was on the other end of the valley,” she said. “We thought we’d do one that was more challenging.”
Nancy Jensen said the corn maze is made into a different shape each year, and the shape normally has something to do with the Halloween season. A computer program is used to design the picture and then the field is tape measured to get accuracy for the design. Ron Jensen said it takes weeks to “get it all down.” And Nancy Jensen said they start thinking of a new pattern as soon as the corn maze seasons ends.
Meighan Peck, sophomore in special education, said the Green Canyon Farms Corn Maze was her first corn maze experience and she went because she heard it was haunted.
“You can talk and it’s still dark like a movie,” Peck said with a laugh. “(My date) can’t tell if I blush or not.”
Chase Christensen, undeclared sophomore, said going to a corn maze is “way more fun and original” than just taking a date to the movies.
Ron Jensen said a movie doesn’t offer the opportunity to communicate or even “google at each other.” Nancy Jensen said the corn maze offers the chance to be active and agrees that it offers the experience of getting to know each other better, especially if her customers are on a date. She also said she has known of some people who come up from Ogden each year specifically for the Green Canyon Farms Corn Maze and the Pumpkin Walk, which are two events unique to Cache Valley.
Ron Jensen said the history of the corn maze may go back to medieval times when hedges were placed around castles. These hedges, when fully grown, helped slow down the enemy or an attack on the castle since the enemy didn’t know the best path to take to reach the castle, he said.
Ron and Nancy Jensen said they both agree to make sure customers are safe and smart with their corn maze etiquette, remembering to also be polite to others in the corn maze.
While waiting to go into the corn maze, two customers at a time can race through a much smaller maze made out of hay bales.
Another challenge the corn maze offers is giving the customer the opportunity to find fake money, or “corny cash,” which has been hidden on the trails. The fake cash, which has jokes written on it, is rolled up in a tube and tied onto cornstalks. On the back of each piece of fake cash paper is an offer for something free like a candy bar or a soda. Some can even be traded in for a free T-shirt.
Candy, soda and hot chocolate are offered at two places throughout the maze with one Pepsi trailer located at the beginning and the other located on the east side in the maze. Cash and local checks are accepted. Customers can also buy head lamps or small flashlights to help see their way through the maze.
Green Canyon Farms Corn Maze is located north of the Eccles Ice Center. The corn maze is open Monday through Saturday. Monday through Thursday hours are 5 to 11 p.m. The corn maze is open from 5 p.m. to midnight on Fridays and 2 p.m. to midnight on Saturdays. Tickets are $6 for adults and $5 for students with a student ID. Family rates are $25 and include two adults and four kids. Kids ages 3 through 11 cost $4.
-brittny.jo@aggiemail.usu.edu