Oh Shucks! Explorers Emerge From Corn Maze With Furrowed Brows

Rosa Vasquez and her two children reached a fork in the corn maze park and paused.

“This is hard,” said Vasquez, 33, of Reseda, who had brought a bottle of water. “We should have brought something to eat. We’re going to leave dying of hunger and from the heat.”

Luckily, like all participants at the Van Nuys park, the family carried a tall red flag to make it easier for park staff to find them. Then a voice over the intercom said, “If you feel you’ve been at the same place two or three times, you probably have and you’re lost. Shake your flag up and down so we can find you out there.”

The family shook their flag and got help. They weren’t the only ones confused by the 3.3-mile maze, whose pathways of cornstalks are shaped like the California bear emblem and a star. The designs are visible from the air over the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area.

Scott Schaffner was lost but upbeat. “I’m letting my wife lead, so we should really get lost now,” said Schaffner, 38, of Oak Park, who also brought his two children.

Kurt Robinson pulled out after reaching six of the maze’s 10 stations in an hour. But he said he was eager to return after the corn stalks grow higher, making the maze more difficult.

“Once it grows six or seven feet, we’ll never get out of there,” said Robinson, 45, of Van Nuys.

Stations, which are marked by large umbrellas, have water fountains, misters and tables and chairs. They also have mailboxes containing clues. A scout is perched on a 100-foot observation tower to look for people in trouble.

The maze also has its rules. No running or throwing objects. Participants also can’t smoke in the maze or take or eat the corn.

Weekly cash prizes will be awarded to the people to make it through the maze in the shortest time, said Greg Cole, president of Encino-based Seasonal Adventures Inc., which organized the corn maze. In about October, the winners will be invited to race for $2,000, he said.

Admission to the park, which is slightly northeast of Burbank Boulevard and Woodley Avenue, is $7 for children and $9 for adults. More than 1,500 children representing schools and other groups planted the 655 plots of corn in the field and the top three planters will be given prizes.