Mazes. The word conjures images of towering hedges, winding paths, and the satisfying click of a puzzle solved. But what if I told you they're lurking in far more places than you might imagine? My lifelong fascination with mazes has led me down some unexpected paths, from the familiar twists and turns of botanical gardens to the surprising corners of everyday life. Join me as we explore the hidden world of mazes, uncovering their secrets in the most unlikely of locations. Every time I find a maze in an unexpected place, it puts a smile on my face. Before I get to some of those examples, I want to start with places I fully expect to find mazes.
5 Places I Expect to Find Mazes:
A Botanical Garden - Some of these might actually be labyrinths, especially if the Botanical Garden is next to a church, but if there is a botanical garden I am never surprised when I encounter a hedge maze. There are plenty of famous ones around the world. There are even some new ones thank you to an apparent fan of mazes, King Charles at the Balmoral Gardens! The 10 Most Famous Labyrinths from Around the World ; Discovering 7 of the World's Most Interesting Mazes
A Cornfield - In the Fall when the corn stalks are nice and tall I expect to see signs for corn mazes. Corn maze design has become very high-tech recently and you can find corn mazes in the shape of famous people, animals, and buildings. Each year they seem to become more complicated and nicer. How Corn Mazes are Made - A Collection of Corn Maze Videos
Museums - Mazes are common in both science and art museums. They are a fun activity that can become a teaching moment. I have seen mirror mazes, and regular mazes in museums before. There is even a very cool outdoor glass maze at a museum if you know where to look !
Maze Books - This is the least shocking place to find mazes I hope. I have created over 30 maze books, some available for free on this website. If you want to use a pencil instead of your feet to solve a maze, this is the format for you ! Free Maze Downloadable Books
Cave systems - Nature does a wonderful job creating mazes in cave systems around the world. Some occur naturally, while other underground tunnels are man made. Some examples are the Arab Caves in Spain and the Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. I also recently wrote a piece about Sandland, an ongoing tunneling project in Wisconsin that features a maze.
Lucluckies, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
5 Places Where Finding Mazes Might Surprise You:
The Cereal Aisle - Maybe this should have been expected, but if you look on the back on cereal boxes you typically find games for kids (unless you are eating the healthy stuff - which is actually a great idea !). I have found multiple mazes on cereal boxes the last few years and each time it makes me smile. Lost in the Snack Aisle: Grocery Mazes spotted !
Video Games - Maze games are not as common as they were in the 80’s, when Pac-Man was the king of maze games. But classic titles like Dig Dug, Rally-X, and Gauntlet are also maze based games that I spent quite a few quarters on back in the day. The 12 Most Important Retro Maze Video Games to Lose a Day With
Movies - I have watched and reviewed over 100 maze and labyrinth movies. They are a common plot device in horror movies and make for an interesting element. There are some all time great movies that have mazes as part of the plot. This article proves it: The Top 12 Best Maze / Labyrinth Movies of all time.
The Subway - Yes, the subway, metro, whatever you want to call it might just contain a maze. For example if you are ever in Alby, Stockholm the underground station on the Red Line 13 features a painted maze. And of course you may be familiar with the artwork in the London Underground, including a tile maze in the Warren Street station. Many of the works are of labyrinths from a 2013 project by artist Mark Wallinger.
The Mall - This is certainly not a place I would expect to find a maze, but the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN contains the Amazing Mirror Maze. a 2500 square foot mirror maze. You can plan a visit to the maze on the website. This short video confirms my suspicion that I would get lost!