Corn mazes, like many of life's greatest challenges, require participants to remain levelheaded and navigate confusing hurdles and cannot be overcome by screaming at feet to "Get me out of here!" Lose yourself in fun with today's Groupon: for $7, you get two admissions to the Portland Timbers Maize at The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island (up to a $14 value). Admission is normally $5 for children ages 6–12 and $7 for seniors 60 and older. This offer is not valid for admission to the Haunted Maize.
In its 13th year of befuddling pathfinders, the annually changing maze at The Pumpkin Patch challenges explorers to navigate through a mile of twists, turns, and dead ends. This autumn, the agricultural labyrinth celebrates the Portland Timbers' inaugural Major League Soccer season, touting a 5-acre replica of the club's logo. The maze's design—meant to exhibit the city's dedication to sports and corn's enthusiasm for midfielders—treats trailblazers to an easy start before a more perplexing back end. Maze-goers can opt to weave their own way through the web of cloud-scraping stalks or utilize provided passports, which harbor helpful directions in the form of answers to Timbers-based trivia questions. Additionally, observation bridges volunteer panoramic views of Sauvie Island, allowing visitors to observe sun-splashed fields and corn's wondrous metamorphosis into popcorn from above.
The MAiZE at The Pumpkin Patch
Many traditional artists paint linen or sculpt stone. For an agri-artist such as Craig Easterly, though, a cornfield makes a perfectly good canvas. For more than a decade, Craig has been chiseling through the 12-foot stalks of his field to create what is from the ground a maze of rustling green tunnels and from above a stunning tableau of Portland themes and images.
For 2016, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the acclaimed TV special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Craig teamed up with Peanuts Worldwide to create a Peanuts-themed eight-acre corn maze. "Corn mazes are all about providing a fun and interactive experience for our visitors—even the adults feel like kids again! And that’s exactly what Peanuts does" he said in a 2016 press release. The largest maze since the original design was carved in 1999, the maze promises to test guests both physically and mentally with twists, turns, and dead ends.
Along with its mazes, Portland Maize also sprouts fall-centric family-friendly activities. Overall-clad patrons bounce along on free hayrides, get crowned king of the hay mountain, or mimic the beastly accents of farm animals in the big red barn.