A giant 60-acre corn maze in California has proven so disorienting that stressed-out customers have called 911 to be rescued.
Cool Patch Pumpkins in Dixon, a farming town with 19,000 residents, is run by Matt Cooley, a second-generation farmer who decided to grow pumpkins for Halloween and sell them on the side of the road with his kids.
He was given the idea to create the maze, which sits near Interstate 80 outside Sacramento, and it has grown bigger and more labyrinthine through the years, the Los Angeles Times reported.
It has gotten so popular that it causes traffic back-ups on the freeway and resulted in lost customers making numerous 911 calls to the Solano County Sheriff’s Department.
Cool Patch Pumpkins is run by Matt Cooley (left), a second-generation farmer who decided to grow pumpkins for Halloween and sell them on the side of the road with his kids
The maze has gotten so popular that it causes traffic back-ups on the freeway and resulted in lost customers making numerous 911 calls to be rescued
Some thrill-seekers like to treat the seasonal activity like a race, while others like to take their time observing the 10-foot stalks
Callers are either told to wait for help from staff on site or bash through the cornfield to avoid the maze altogether.
Even a decade ago, calls were coming into 911 about visitors being stuck in the maze. One customer said they’d been stuck for four hours. Another said it was nearing the maze’s closing time and they were getting worried.
The farm’s website states that those who get lost should only call 911 if there’s an emergency. Instead, it advises walking between rows of corn until visitors exit the maze.
Some thrill-seekers like to treat the seasonal activity like a race, while others like to take their time observing the 10-foot stalks.
Even a decade ago , calls were coming into 911 about visitors being stuck in the maze
The farm’s website states that those who get lost should only call 911 if there’s an emergency. Instead, it advises walking between rows of corn until visitors exit the maze
A Cool Patch Pumpkins Instagram post asked how long it took visitors to get through the maze.
‘One hour and 42 minutes,’ one user said. ‘Not bad for having a 3 year old with us.’
Another said it took them 45 minutes. ‘Every year it’s so good!’ the user wrote.
The maze is designed by Cooley’s daughter-in-law, Tayler, who ensures that every year it has a different theme. This year there are two phrases carved into the corn: ‘A House Divided Shall Not Stand’ and ‘God Bless America.’
A note on Cool Patch’s website reads: ‘This year we encourage our visitors and society as a whole to band together for the greater good of our nation’.
The maze is designed by Cooley’s daughter-in-law, Tayler, who ensures that every year it has a different theme
This year there are two phrases carved into the corn: ‘A House Divided Shall Not Stand’ and ‘God Bless America’
Hay bales decorated to look like giant minions from the Despicable Me franchise are easy to spot from the freeway
The maze isn’t the farm’s only attraction, as hay bales decorated to look like giant minions from the Despicable Me franchise are easy to spot from the freeway.
The maze twice held the Guinness World Record of being the largest in the world twice, until it were usurped by a farmer in Quebec in 2023.
Thrill-seekers can enter the maze after paying $22 until the end of the season on October 31.
