This Maize Maze Is Amazing; You Can Get Lost In It For Hours

Sun., Sept. 14, 1997

Teri Anderson Idaho Falls Post-Register

Once you walk into Brett Herbst’s cornfield, you’ll never think of corn in quite the same way again.

The Brigham Young University graduate put the finishing touches last week on a cornfield maze aimed to get people lost for hours.

It opened to the public Friday.

The maze, which is being called THE MAiZE and is located north of Idaho Falls off Lewisville Highway, is on a six-acre cornfield, cut like the state of Idaho with 30 dead ends and only one way in and one way out.

Preparations to the field, including planting and cutting the corn, mapping out the maze and irrigating the land, have been under way since May, said Dale Herbst, Brett’s father.

“The corn is about eight to nine feet tall now,” said Nancy Andrus, Brett’s sister, who will manage the field. “It takes about an hour to get through it.”

Family members and friends have helped Herbst set up the maze, doing everything from irrigating it to keeping an eye on it.

The maze isn’t Herbst’s first, Andrus said.

He opened one last year in American Fork, Utah, believed to be the first in the western United States that drew more than 18,000 visitors. Besides the Idaho Falls one, he’s been working on one near Boise and another in Lehi, Utah, this summer.

The Boise one opened in August.

“It’s a lot of fun and pretty challenging,” Andrus said.

Admission to THE MAiZE is $5 for adults, $3 for children and free for children 4 and under. Coupons for discounted admission are available at businesses around Idaho Falls. Call (208) 535-1370 for admission times.

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