Escape the city get lost in a corn maze!
On the way to my first-ever corn maze, I envisioned hours of family bonding time in the great outdoors, running through the fields like the Ingalls sisters in “Little House on the Prairie,” a fall breeze blowing through my hair.
So it was something of a shock to show up at Barton Orchards in upstate New York and feel a bit like we were back in the city — looking at eye-popping street art more associated with Bushwick than the rolling hills of Dutchess County.
But that’s what you get with the unusual collaboration between farm owner Pete Barton and the trendy Woodward Gallery on the Lower East Side.
New for this season, the gigantic five-acre maze has the theme ‘‘Ghost Girl’’ based on the Pac-Man-inspired graffiti by Queens artist Matt Siren.
Dotted among the 15-foot-high stalks of corn — about a third of which have been painstakingly cut into the shape of the Ghost Girl image — are works by Siren’s peers, including UFO, Moody, Cassius Fouler and Crasty.
“It’s drawing a younger crowd as well as kids, parents and the usual hard-line maze fanatics,” says Barton Orchards’ Mike Cardillo.
“Everyone wishes they could get in a plane and see it [the pattern] from above.”
That said, there is more than enough to entertain you on the ground. My kids (ages 5 and 3) and I don’t know a Banksy from a Stikman, but we still got a kick out of making crayon rubbings of the artists’ tags.
There are nine picture stations hidden within the maze, which you must locate in turn. A popular challenge is a word game based on answers to questions about street art and its history. There’s also a simple kids’ project where tots get to dip their fingertips in colored chalk.
Like us, administrator Diane Depasquale, 46, who was visiting Barton Orchards with eight family members and friends from The Bronx, wasn’t expecting anything quite so edgy from a corn maze.
“This is really different,” she says. “The older kids recognize a lot of the art, and we’ve been in here over an hour and a half solving the clues.
“Usually, mazes aren’t much more than a twisting path — but this one throws in a lot of interesting surprises.”
1.Barton Orchards
63 Apple Tree Lane, Poughquag, NY; 845-227-2306, bartonorchards.com
The maze: Covers five acres of cornfield (that’s half the size of Washington Square Park) with trails adding up to one mile if you walk them all. There are four wooden bridges, including one staffed by a megaphone-wielding helper for those who get lost and/or panic.
Barton Orchards also offers live music, hayrides, apple picking and a pumpkin patch, plus cute farm animals. A haunted house (with live psycho inhabitants to scare the living daylights out of you) and even a low-key “theme park,” with a singing pumpkin, bouncy castles, train rides and slides.
Don’t miss: The haunted maze and haunted house on Friday and Oct. 19, when scary performers take over the maze. Dusk to 10 p.m.; $10 wristband required.
Info: The farm is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for picking and every weekend (including Columbus Day) from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Nov. 3 when special Fall Festival attractions are available.
General admission, $3; $12.50 for the theme park, haunted house and corn maze; kids 2 and under, free.
2.Queens County Farm Museum
73-50 Little Neck Parkway, Floral Park, Queens; 718-347-3276, queensfarm.org
This city spot is so big and country-fied, you’ll think you’ve died and gone to Nebraska. The giant corn maze here is perhaps the most famous in the five boroughs, and is just difficult enough to make it feel like you might become one of the Children of the Corn until you find a way out. Plus, it has its own vineyard!
The maze: Three acres designed to look like a big-top circus, with themed clues and puzzles to solve hidden along the route.
Also check out: The farm museum’s pumpkin patch is just as popular as its corn maze; you can also hop on a hayride around the farm or taste some cider while doing a historic house tour. The maze stays open until 9 p.m. this Saturday for the extra-spooky Maze by Moonlight, where you get to navigate by candlelight.
“People love the fact that they can visit a farm and stay in the city,” says executive director Amy Boncardo.
Info: $9 for adults, $5 for kids 4 to 11, free for 3 and under.
3.F&W Schmitt's Family Farm
26 Pinelawn Road, Melville, LI; schmittfarms.com
This is Sparta! Well, a corn version of Sparta, at least. The maze here is shaped like a gladiator, but that’s not all: At night, the ghouls come out and chase you through the labyrinth for a haunted Halloween adventure.
The maze: Seven acres of corn sculpted into the shape of a gladiator on a horse-drawn cart.
Also check out: The farm stand selling fresh fruits, vegetables and pies; the free wagon rides, a pumpkin-patch playground and a straw pyramid for kids to climb on, plus a haunted mansion to walk through. Nighttime at the farm is geared for adults, owner Ferdie Schmitt says.
Info: Tix to the daytime maze (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) are $6; for the haunted nighttime maze, $11.
4.Historic Richmond Town Pumpkin Patch, Decker Farm
435 Richmond Hill Road, SI; historicrichmondtown.org/decker-farm
Take a trip back to ye olde Staten Island this month by visiting Historic Richmond Town, which decks itself out in Colonial Halloween gear. The farm, which bills itself as New York City’s only living history museum, keeps things rustic and simple, and the price can’t be beat.
The maze: A 25-by-30-foot labyrinth, a first for the farm.
Also check out: Live, local acoustic music every Saturday, square dancing every Sunday, pony rides, face painting, tours of farm animals, Colonial buildings of historic Richmond Town (complete with people in era-appropriate attire).
Info: Tickets are $5, $16 for a family of four, and include unlimited hayrides, face painting, arts and crafts, and a trip through the maze. Open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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