By Marcie Miller
Herald Writer
SNOHOMISH COUNTY — From elephants and sailing ships to scarecrows and state maps, at least six farms in Snohomish County have turned part of their land over to the latest tourist draw — corn mazes.
"It’s another way to diversify," said Connie Foster, whose family started carving mazes in its cornfields four years ago. "We’re using the land to draw people from the city."
This is the first year the Fosters have tried to make a living without their dairy cows. They sold the herd in November and now are concentrating on expanding their commercial produce stand.
Foster feels the corn mazes and pumpkin patches are a way for people to reconnect with the land.
"There’s a generation now who don’t remember Grandpa’s farm," she said.
A maze in the shape of Washington State sits on a 12-acre site at The Farm, owned by Ben and Carol Krause. Walking the narrow trails through the 10- to 12-foot-tall corn feels more like being in a jungle than the Snohomish valley.
Ben Krause is happy to play tour guide, pointing out all the sights along the way. The maze it set up so people enter from Idaho and exit at Grays Harbor. Every major route and many rural roads are marked out in the corn. Stops along the way include the Grand Coulee Dam, Space Needle, Peace Arch at the Canadian border crossing in Blaine and the major peaks of the Cascades.
By following a road map, visitors can either travel all 4 1/2 miles or take a main highway and head for the coast.
Either way, every stop has a history lesson, and Krause said the maze is very popular with school groups. A retired teacher, he calls it "edutainment."
The map also has a scavenger hunt with questions about Washington history.
Dylan Shay, 12, of Edmonds, brings friends and family to the state map maze several times during the season. His goal is not the history lesson, but the personal challenge.
"We try to beat our old record," he said.
On Saturday, Dylan and friend Jake Efferty made it through the maze in less than 6 minutes.
Since selling their dairy cows in 1997, the Krauses have added a lot of family-oriented activities to their farm in an attempt to attract visitors. This is the fifth year they have done the maze.
The Farm also features a petting farm, a "calfe" serving fresh corn on the cob, a new putting green and u-pick flowers.
The Biringer Farms’ corn maze pays tribute to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and the baby elephant, Hansa.
Dianna Biringer said they will donate $1 of each admission to the zoo, and visitors will get zoo admission discount coupons.
At all the mazes, the big question is, how do they do it? How can they carve intricate designs out on the ground that can only be appreciated fully from the air?
"That’s what everyone wants to know," Brian Foster said.
There is no single answer, but the Foster’s create theirs by hiring an architect to draw the original pattern, which is then laid out in a grid in the cornfield when the corn is about a foot tall, then clearing the corn stalks from the paths with a Weed Eater.
Foster said the best part, besides watching people have fun, is seeing if the pattern turns out the way it’s supposed to. There’s no erasing allowed.
You can call Herald Writer Marcie Miller at 425-339-3292 or send e-mail to mmiller@heraldnet.com.
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