Simply a-maze-ing: largest corn maze in Atlantic Canada pays tribute to front-line workers
Growing just behind the Green Pig Country Market in Salisbury, N.B., is rows upon rows of field corn -- making up a maze ... out of maize.
More than 12 acres of it to be exact. Green Pig Market co-owner, Dawn Beckwith, says it's the largest corn maze in Atlantic Canada.
"Around the 1st of June we plant the corn, and then around usually the 1st of July depending on how things are growing, we cut the corn maze using a GPS system," says Beckwith.
Beckwith and her team have been crafting the corn mazes for more than a decade. Each year the fields are designed with a different theme. This year, Beckwith decided to show her support for those working the front lines of the pandemic.
"It was a tough year for everyone and first responders, we couldn't have done it without them through all this pandemic, so we thought we'd do something special for them just to show that we appreciate them and that they matter."
There are three different mazes to choose from, depending on your skill level. Beckwith says the two mini-mazes are more suitable for younger visitors and their families, taking roughly 15 minutes to complete.
For those looking for a bigger challenge, the large maze offers a more complex walk-through.
"For serious maze goers, there are 18 stations located all the way inside. We give you a map to go in to try and find them, and that takes about an hour and a half to two hours if you do it right," says Beckwith.
Meghan Walker took on the challenge of the larger maze with her four-month-old son, Simon, in tow.
"You go over the bridge thinking you're about to come out and then you take a different turn and you get lost but you're like 'I see the end where did it go?'" says Walker.
Beckwith also recommends bringing appropriate footwear if you plan to trek through the stalks; recent rain in Salisbury has left the rows rather muddy.
"It was like a human slip and slide in there," says Walker, who came to the maze wearing white shoes, but left in brown.
Later this month, people can also try navigating the maze in the dark during the Flashlight Walk, which takes place between 7 and 9 p.m.
Things get spooky between the stalks the last two weekends in October when visitors can take part in the haunted corn maze.
"There are zombie cages, we have about thirty-five haunters that come out and whoever's leftover in the maze after the season might still be in there too," says Beckwith.
If finding your way through a maze isn't your idea of fun, you can always try sharpening your shot on the pumpkin blaster; a high-powered cannon that lets the user shoot mini pumpkins at a target of their choice.
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