Corn mazes

(Credit: Renee Traynor)

The idea of getting lost in a maze of corn stalks may not seem the best way to spend an hour or two.  But, a corn maze can be just as much fun for the 20-something cynic as it is for the vertically-challenged toddler, especially after dark.

Plasko’s Farm
670 Daniels Farm Road, Trumbull
203-268-2716
Maze hours: Fri., 3 p.m.-5 p.m., Sat.-Sun., 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Cost: $7 ($1 of the admission price goes to “Swim across the Sound” cancer prevention and education programs)

Plasko’s Farm draws quite a crowd on the weekend. At first glance, you might think you stepped into a 5th-grade field trip, but don’t bail. Once you are in the corn maze, everyone spreads out and you’re on your own to find the exit.

This year the farm designed the maze to look like a spooky spider web. Upon entering the maze, you might become fiercely panicked when you can’t properly read the map and end up walking in a number of dead-end circles. It’s confusing enough to keep you wandering for a good 45 minutes, and freaky enough to have you thinking about alien invasion, a la “Signs.”

Once you finding your way back to civilization, make a stop in the farm’s store for apple cider donuts.    

Lyman Orchards
junctions of Rte. 147 & Rte. 157, Middlefield
860-349-1793
Maze hours: Wed.-Fri., 3 p.m.-6 p.m., Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Cost: $9

Lyman Orchard offers enough activities to fill up any autumn day. With apple picking, a pumpkin patch, large country store and a corn maze, you can spend the entire day doing things only allowable in October.

The four-acre Presidential-themed corn maze seems to be the most organized out of the bunch. You even get a choice of trivia questions that will help you make the right turn (or left) at each post.  Just don’t get too cocky with your correct answers, as when you get to post #5, either way you turn, you still might go in circles for another 20 minutes until finding the uncharted path. The good thing about this corn maze is there are two small bridges with guides ready to nudge you in the right direction.

If you want a drink after navigating the maze, and you probably will, take a small trip to the next town and throw a few back at Eli Cannon’s Tap Room .

Foster Family Farm
90 Foster St., South Windsor
860-648-9366
Maze hours: Fri.-Sat., 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Sun, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Cost: $10

Driving down the path to Foster Family Farm instantly puts you at ease, as if nothing could possibly go wrong at such a serene place. But there’s nothing in the rulebooks that says you can’t enjoy farm animals and pumpkin patches beyond the age of 10.

After the initial excitement of the live stock passes, your new mission will be to conquer the Dinosaur Adventure Corn Maze.  

For those who really enjoy getting lost among large corn stalks, try walking through the maze at night, armed only with a flashlight and map. And for an extra challenge, stop at one of the restaurants down the street before the maze, like Uno Chicago Grill or Applebee’s, to find out if one cocktail really does impair your judgment.