Jaunted

Tourist Attractions / → All Tags

A-maize-ing Utah: Ha Ha! Get It?

Corn mazes are all the rage these days. Agritourism, which used to just mean apple-picking, is expanding as farmers seek to supplement their incomes. In case the name isn't self-explanatory enough, a corn maze is a life-size maze cut out of corn fields, meant for humans to wander through. This is the sort of thing we'd be totally down for when drunk off the monotony of a road trip. But only then. Well, perhaps when drunk off some corn liquor, too.

Apparently, these things are having a hard time taking off west of the Mississippi. Despite the fact that Utah farmers could really use the money, their state's government hasn't been helpful in setting up the infrastructure needed to maintain such agritourism attractions. Enter Brett Herbst, the Nate Berkus of farm design.

Herbst, who owns a company called The MAiZe, is helping Utah fight for its right to corn mazes, though he recently admitted to the Salt Lake Tribune, "I don't know the first thing about lobbying." Until the trend fully catches on out West, you can catch one of Herbst's creations at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi.

Related Stories:
· Maze designer goes to bat for farmers [SL Tribune]