Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield – Corn Maze

so underwhelming. even my kids weren’t impressed, and it really doesn’t take much to impress a 3 and 4 year old around halloween…

It was kinda scary for my 13 year old. Paid for vip but the ticket guy said they wouldn’t honor vip because it was too busy. Um I paid so I wouldn’t have to wait an hour to get in. We will keep looking for a better one

Simply just a waste of money. Oh and do not let your kids use it as a oh I promise we are just going to hang out because that really means get drunk and eat funny mushrooms. It was a lack luster Sh! t Show of under age ignorance. Now splice in long lines respectable family’s and some old folks into the situation stir in a bit of all of this and make your own decisions. Oh and security could care less about anything other than you paid to much for a shitty time because they just want to get paid at least minimum wage.

This was my first corn maze ever. Apparently a corn maze is one of those things that sounds great in theory but isn’t so great in execution.
The Chatfield area looks beautiful and I would have probably been happier to explore the grounds a little more if I hadn’t been so bummed about the corn maze.
First of all the map was not helpful at all. The map on the website was different from the map posted at the maze, although the maze had just opened for the season so maybe they’ll fix it. The one staff member we encountered inside the maze told us it was easy and he had gone through it «fifty thousand times». Um, okay, no need to be condescending, and maybe you should find more hobbies besides going through the same corn maze over and over!!! We decided to forget the maps and just use the technique of going right at every intersection and got out of there. Kids were everywhere, which is obviously fine, but I think parents should be discouraged from taking their double-​wide stroller, especially if their kid is going to walk next to the stroller and walk sooo slowly. Strollers led to a lot of going way slower than anticipated.
The pathway itself is a little bumpy; I tripped a few times, but I probably shouldn’t have been wearing flip flops. Expect your shins and feet to come out dusty! Just a warning for other first time corn maze goers!
The «other stuff» looked okay; we were super hungry by the time we got out but the line for hot dogs was so long so we left without eating. Didn’t try the hayride but it sounds like we weren’t missing out on much. The «giant pillow» basically was a giant bag of air, from the looks of it. No adults were on it so we probably would have looked like creepers if we tried it out, anyhow.
I think it would have been fun with kids, but as a group of three adults it was just meh. But then again, I don’t know how kids would have put up with this thing; according to my FitBit we walked over two miles getting through the maze.

This was my first year going to the maze, brought my 2 year old son. He had a blast! It even rained on us halfway through (a ton, everyone had to take shelter under the tents), and we had an awesome day.
My son’s favorite part was the horse drawn hayride. He absolutely loved it, and the woman handling the wagon was very nice. We will definitely be coming back next year. Just hope it’s a little less wet next time!

Took my kids and neighbor kid. They are almost 13 and wanted to go to their first haunted corn maze. Waited in line to buy tickets for about 30 minutes. When we got to the booth the ticket sales person said there is a 2 hour wait for the haunted maze so you might want to pay $ 32 for the express pass. I asked my kids if they wanted to wait 2 hours to get in because there was no way I was paying $ 32/​per person for express, $ 22/​person was plenty. They said no so I told the woman we will just go to the regular maze. She said ok and sold us the tickets. Turns out it is the same line for both mazes, so there we were standing in line, the kids all upset that they were not going to get to go to the haunted maze and we were still waiting in line. Here is the clincher, the line was only about 30 minutes long. The ticket people were just saying it is 2 hours to try and sell the express tickets. Not what you would expect from the Botanic gardens.

Went with my husband. There was a haunted maze but that wasnt really our style. We did the regular maze in the dark which was spooky enough and the dark made it easy to navigate. It was a cool date to go on and stroll around the corn. Super fun.

Chatfield is an amazing park in our area! However, the corn maze was a huge disappointment for my husband and I. We weren’t sure if it was because we are Illinois natives (corn fields are free… everywhere…etc) but the $ 12/​ea price to get in felt like a robbery. All it included was the maze itself and a «hayride», although our hayride didn’t have any hay on it, so it was more like a wooden trailer ride.
The haunted corn maze probably would have been better, although it was twice the price, and the line was twice as long…

A decent maze, but not good value for the money at all. The maze itself could be a lot more engaging than it is. The corn maze in Corrales, New Mexico, for example, has a series of «checkpoints» you can find so you can earn prizes. This maze costs way more, and offers you way less.
Plus, there are a bunch of things that make you go «HUH?!»:
1) The maze has a really good, cryptic design… In theory. For some unknown reason, it’s broken into two halves that aren’t connected! What?! You have to find your way to the «halfway exit,» then re-​enter the maze to finish it. This is inexplicable and ruins the fun of getting immersed/​lost in a huge maze.
2) The web site flaunts a «glow maze» and mentions «3 foot glow sticks» and blacklights. The glow maze is actually just the normal maze, but there are no huge glowing objects or other sources of light. It’s completely unlit after dark. There are no blacklights anywhere. The only «glow» is if you bring your own glow sticks, or pay an extra $ 10(!!!) for the «haunted» maze, which grants you one tiny glow stick to carry.
3) The maze is staffed by overeager «guards» and «escorts» who like to SHOUT at kids for running in the maze, or for horrible infractions like touching the rope while waiting in line. That’s right, some grizzly old guy went up and down the line and YELLED at little kids, telling them «don’t even let the rope TOUCH you.» Also, one of the escorts in the maze made a thinly veiled threat that my friend would be «escorted» out of the maze if he kept joking about cutting through the corn. These people clearly get some sort of weird power trip out of being the Super Special Maze Police Who Are Better Than You.
4) The admission prices are outrageous. $ 12 for the regular maze, or $ 22 for the maze + tiny glow stick + ticket to haunted maze. For $ 22 or less, I have been to huge, all-​day autumn festivals that feature similar corn mazes (or better), more vendors, cultural activities, and tons more stuff to do.
5) Except for two weekends in September, Botanic Gardens members only get a puny discount (barely 10%). That’s the same discount students get, and the admissions staff don’t even ask you to show ID to get a student discount. So, we loyal members get the same tiny discount that anybody else can get by simply claiming to be students. That’s kind of lame!
6) Almost all of the food vendors close at 5pm, which is right when huge lines of people (I’m talking 90+ minute waits in line) start coming in. Seems like a wasted opportunity.
They get some stuff right… The haunted maze is kinda fun, though predictable. At least they have the decency to only let a couple people in at a time, so you don’t run into other groups who ruin the surprises for you. And the actors did a really good job for their part.
Not the worst $ 50 my wife and I have spent, but I can think of so many better/​cheaper/​more exciting things we could’ve done instead.

We were here today with our granddaughter, who seemed to enjoy it greatly. Four of us plus a 2 year old paid $ 24 admission and some other fees for rides and pumpkins, not sure about the cost/​value ratio unless you consider the commercial that says time with your granddaughter is priceless. It was a happening and it appeared that legions of attendees felt it was worthwhile. We saw the biggest pumpkin field (grown on location) ever. Pumpkin prices low unless you add in the admission fee, then pumpkin prices maybe higher than usual. But rides and other considerations were included, so a good time was had by all.

I spent my childhood going to the corn maze put on by the Botanic Gardens and I have to say that those are good memories best kept in the past. The corn maze is absolutely amazing, for children. As an adult I found it easy and overpriced. It is still a fun afternoon and the money certainly goes to a good cause.
I highly recommend it for any family with kids, because you will definitely have an amazing time. If you’re a kidless adult, wait for the haunted maze in the evenings or go to more challenging mazes outside of the city.

An easy corn maze but it is still a fun afternoon.

Chatfield Corn Maze — A Haiku
This isn’t that hard
Its corn cut into a maze
Um, not so much here.
I don’t know if we came too late in the season, or if its always like this, but this corn maze lacked 2 things crucial to ANY corn maze.
The corn and the maze.
You see usually the Maize is grown and clipped into a maze (see what I did there?). But at Chatfield its more of a big field with a bunch of bare patches and some corn randomly growing/​rotting in unspecified areas.
Now we have a good time where ever we go, but I like to know that my money is well spent. This was way too much money to go and frolic in a field full of dying corn.
I am going to try it again next year (because when you have a 2 year old, they find everything fun). Maybe we just went to late in the season, but if thats the case, shouldn’t they lower the price as the maze stops being a maze?

Interesting, but way Overpriced ($ 10) for what it is.
I went October 30, and the Maze was totally degraded. Probably should go in early October at the latest. Not only was it riddled with shortcuts people had made (I see now why they are so militant about cutting). But the corn itself had been totally destroyed by Colorado weather so you can see through the corn across the entire Maze. So lost a lot of the mystery of a Maze.
All the prohibited shortcuts made it confusing to know if you were on a valid path. They had taped off some of the shortcuts, but they should have done them all. It would not have taken that much time, but then again maybe people would just cut another shortcut. Kind of frustrating to see so much cheating on the Maze, which destroyed it for other people. Cheating is not winning. Oops, I forgot this is America!
I felt the price should have been reduced to $ 5, or even $ 3, considering how degraded the Maze was.
Maze path ways are too close to each other. You can clearly see the people on the next path. Need wider spacing between paths. Probably why people cut across the paths because they can see the next path.
I must admit, it can be frustrating to see the path you want and not able to figure out how to get there. But that is the purpose of a Maze.
I think the best time to go is about 1 hour before dark, which is when I went. As I was leaving, massive numbers of people were arriving. And I felt there already were too many people there for a quality experience when I was there.
I am left with the feeling that the Botanic Garden just wanted my money, and quality was not part of their thinking.

Don’t spend your bucks on this expensive waste of time. I really wanted to ask for my money back but the tickets say «no refunds», probably because they know every adult would ask for one.
I went the weekend before Halloween, and it was evident that being open for 6 weeks, this corn maze was ready to die. It was difficult to tell which trails were part of the maze, and which ones were the result of thousands of screaming, unsupervised kids trampling their own way to the exit. The maze was demolished by those going off the paths, so I don’t know how someone could have the audacity to charge $ 10 per adult for a destroyed attraction.
Zero stars for the price of the maze, zero stars for the quality of the maze, zero stars for enterainment of the maze, zero stars for the neglected children in the maze, and 5 redeeming stars because there is a beautiful and serene Botanical Garden area 100 feet away from the maze. Averaging to one star.

This is a great place if you want to bring a pre-​teen or teenager somewhere and get rid of them for several hours. For an adult, it’s not so much fun. I’ve been twice now and I won’t be back. This last time was pretty miserable. I guess I went at the wrong time on the wrong day because it was pretty packed and there were loads and loads of really annoying high schoolers running around screaming. You would think that would be entertaining, but after the first 5 minutes of it, it gets old really quick. Last year I noticed they had a haunted house set up next to it, but after wandering around for the time that I had I didn’t really feel like standing in line and paying to walk some more. The price of the attraction is a little ridiculous for what they put out.

Disclaimer: this year, we did not go into the maze itself. We went for the carnival-​type stuff they have going on.
We have a 21-​month old son and we thought it’d be fun for him to run around. All they had there were a food food stands (HORRIBLE hot dogs!!!), face painting, pony and wagon rides. Our kid is too young for the face painting or pony rides — that’s not the fault of the event — but even just as a place to allow your child to walk around and look at people, it was terrible.
It was filthy, with masses of bees/​hornets/​wasps everywhere because of the food waste. If you were within 15 ft of a trash can, you were in danger of a sting. The only place to sit was under a canopy where they had some hay bales set up, but there were trash cans there too making it filled with bees.
Now, two years ago, my husband and I did go into the maze. It was ok — too hard, I thought. But my main memory is of being screamed at by the guard up in the crow’s nest tower who watches for people acting up. He screamed at us for supposedly going off the path. We believed we were on the path, but even if we weren’t, REALLY? Screaming at a couple in their 40s for an infraction like that?
And guess what. The same guy is somehow still employed and is even worse. He gets on that bullhorn and just about nonstop screams at people for the most inconsequential infractions. We could hear him even when we had returned to our car in the remote overflow lot.
This is not an event you would expect to have any connection whatsoever to an organization like the Botanic Gardens. For shame.

Well I enjoyed myself, my family did too. I think it has to do with when we went and our expectations going in.
Our primary goal was to get off the couch and find something to do, the corn maze fulfilled that need.
We weren’t aware that there would be food there, so we weren’t surprised to not see anything except a snow cone booth, kettle corn booth and smoothie booth.
We went out to eat after anyways.
Which brings me to why I think it’s good to go here around 6 pm or so, right before it gets truly dark. I could tell my daughter was getting a little spooked being in the maze as the sun was setting and that was one of my goals taking her there. It’s kinda like a haunted house in that way. It would be a nice for those looking for a scarier experience to have actors jumping out as it gets closer to Halloween.
I’m just babbling at this point, so I’ll wrap it up. Letting my 5 year old navigate inside the maze got us thoroughly lost, but that’s the point so that was cool. The police volunteers where friendly and helpful if you get lost. Overall it was much better than sitting in front of the TV on a Saturday night, plus I could always use the exercise. $ 23 bucks for two adults and a kid was a bit pricey though. Bring a flashlight if your going at night.

Pay the minimum if you have a little kid. They don’t check for tickets at the childrens maze or pumpkin patch.
Also if yor kid is a ride hog you can buy an unlimited ride bracket for $ 25. Not too bad considering every ride is about $ 5.

This review is for the Corn Maze Only! Not a lot of fun but OK. I would never return. It was packed with kids and didn’t have much going on outside of the maze that was interesting. It had some food. It was hot dusty and boring. The maze itself was OK but not a lot of fun. Also pricey. My wife and I stopped on the way out by the side of the freeway and were checking out the prairie dogs. That was far more fun.
Yah know, I used to watch Get Smart on TV everyday because that’s when I watched TV, not because I loved Get Smart.