Maze graphics or online Mazes in virtual reality are cool,
but nothing can equal the mystery and majesty of having your physical
body surrounded by a life size Maze or Labyrinth in real reality. Here are some life size unicursal Labyrinths
and Maze puzzles I've made
in various media:
- Canvas Labyrinth: A unicursal Labyrinth in the Chartres Cathedral plan measuring 28 feet across, with passages
10" wide and walls 1" thick, is at Kent
Unity Church. I designed and helped paint it, where it was dedicated on
September 8, 2002. This Labyrinth was featured in the newspaper in September,
2003 which can be seen here.
- Sand Labyrinth #1: I enjoy
making Mazes in the sand on the beach, that one can walk through
whenever I can, as seen in this Chartres cathedral style unicursal
Labyrinth, created in June, 1998.
- Sand Labyrinth #2: This is another Labyrinth done in the sand on the ocean shore.
This is in a Native American "Man in the Maze" variant
of the classical seven circuit style of unicursal Labyrinth, and
was created on September 12, 1999.
- Sand Labyrinth #3:
Another Labyrinth done in sand on the ocean shore. This one is
in the ten circuit Cretan style of unicursal Labyrinth, and was
created on May 2, 2001.
- Sand Labyrinth #4:
Yet another Labyrinth in sand at the ocean, in the
classic seven circuit style of unicursal Labyrinth, created on
August 31, 2001.
- Sand Labyrinth #5:
One more Labyrinth in sand at the ocean, in a modified form of
classic seven circuit style of unicursal Labyrinth, created on
September 19, 2008.
- Irish sand Labyrinth: A
classic seven circuit sand Labyrinth created on the beach of Dingle Harbor in
Ireland, created on May 25, 2004, for the 6th
Gate of the 11:11 Doorway. Another picture of this Labyrinth can be seen
here.
A different Labyrinth I made there three days earlier at night can be seen
here.
- Night sand Labyrinth: This sand
Labyrinth was created at night by flashlight at Golden Gardens Park in Seattle,
Washington, on October 14, 2004. The log in the middle of the seed pattern area was dragged across the
sand to draw the walls.
- Birthday Labyrinth: This sand
Labyrinth was created at Carkeek park in Seattle, Washington, on January 8,
2005, in honor of my wife Jessica's 28th birthday. :-)
- Carkeek sand Labyrinth: Another sand
Labyrinth created at Carkeek park, in the Chartres Cathedral style, in Seattle, Washington, on
April 24, 2005.
- Golden Gardens sand Labyrinth:
Another classical seven circuit sand
Labyrinth created at Golden Gardens Park in Seattle,
Washington, on September 4, 2005.
- Grass Labyrinth #1: This is a classical seven circuit style unicursal Labyrinth, made on
a lawn using string tied to nails stuck in the ground, created
on August 11, 1999, for the
4th
Gate of the 11:11 Doorway.
- Grass Labyrinth #2: This is another Labyrinth made on a lawn
of a friend's place with string and nails,
in the style of the "Man in the Maze" variant of the
classical seven circuit unicursal Labyrinth, created on November
12, 2000.
- Rock Labyrinth: This beach
Labyrinth was made with rocks above the high tide mark, so was semi-permanent.
It's a classical seven circuit, created to replace an older rock Labyrinth
somebody else made with a different pattern, after that Labyrinth was no longer
visible. This was at Golden Gardens park in Seattle, Washington, on May 9, 2004.
- Chalk Labyrinth #1: I
drew this classical seven circuit style unicursal Labyrinth with chalk on the pavement
of a driveway in April, 1999.
- Chalk Labyrinth #2: Friends and I
drew this classical seven circuit style unicursal Labyrinth with chalk in a
parking lot on February 5, 2005.
- Snow Labyrinth: I carved this
classical seven circuit unicursal Labyrinth in the snow, with the text
"Think Labyrinth!" around the perimeter, outside my apartment on
January 9, 2005.
- Snow Maze: Here's a non-unicursal Maze I
carved in the snow on the front lawn of where I lived around 1987. The image is a scan of two photos laid side by
side.
- Sand circle Maze: Here's a non-unicursal
11 ring Maze drawn at the ocean on "3rd Beach" by LaPush, Washington,
on September 18, 2005.
- Sand spiral Maze: Here's a Spiralstorm
style Maze drawn at the ocean on by Moclips, Washington,
on September 22, 2007.
A few images of life size Mazes I've personally visited:
- Glacier Maze: This
is the first life size Maze I ever visited. It's located in Coram,
Montana, right outside of Glacier National Park. I was there in
1988 and 1989.
- Glacier Maze record:
In 1989 I set the record for the fastest time through! They change
the way through a few times a year, resetting the record time
in the process, however you only get one try at the season record,
as it's much easier once you've done it before.
- Tarp Maze #1: On the way
to Glacier Maze, I noticed this life size Maze formed of tarps alongside
I-90 just outside of Spokane, Washington.
- Tarp Maze #2: Darest
thou enter the Labyrinth? This was erected for the Kent Canterbury
Renaissance Faire in Kent, Washington in August, 2000. It's not
really made of tarps, but rather sheets hanging between wood stakes.
It measured 14 by 14 passages, and was a "braid" Maze i.e. one with no dead ends in it.
- Tarp Maze #3: The Amazing Castle
Maze was at the Kent Canterbury
Renaissance Faire in August, 2005. It's plan here measured 9 by 9 passages, and
was the first Maze at the Faire since 2000.
- Evergreen Maze: This
life size Maze was located in Gig Harbor, Washington, and was
composed of evergreen trees. The large circular figure in the
background is a Moongate, where the path to the Maze goes through
it. This Maze unfortunately no longer exists.
- Peace Labyrinth: Bellevue
Unity Church has a life size unicursal Labyrinth in the Chartres
Cathedral plan called The Peace Labyrinth
on its grounds. On New Year's Eve of 1998 this other Chartres
plan unicursal Labyrinth painted on three large pieces of canvas
was displayed inside the church. On New Year's Eve of 1999 a different
canvas Labyrinth was set up inside at the same location which
may be seen here.
- Canvas Labyrinth:
Once a month Plymouth Congregational Church in Seattle displays
and has open to the public a life size unicursal canvas Labyrinth
in the Chartres Cathedral plan. This Labyrinth is almost identical
to those that were at Bellevue Unity above, except this one is
painted in purple, instead of blue or green.
- Picnic Maze: This
small life size Maze was temporarily erected during the 1995 Microsoft
Company Picnic. It had a dinosaur theme and measured 13 passages
by 7 passages. A map of the Maze may be seen here.
- Robot Maze: The Seattle Robotics Society
has had contests at the Pacific Science Center where member built
robots would run through a small wood Maze, seeing who could make
it through in the shortest time.
- Science Center Maze: The
Pacific Science Center sometimes has a Maze exhibit, including
an indoor life size Maze visitors can walk through. They currently
have a small and more or less permanent life size Maze the plan
of which may be seen here.
One of the most common types of life size Maze is the cornfield Maze. Here
are a some images of life size corn Mazes I've visited:
- Cornfield Maze #1: A very
large life size Maze, with an outline in the shape of the state
of Washington, and passages along major highways in the state,
was created out of a cornfield in Snohomish, Washington in 1997.
- Cornfield Maze #2:
Another large life size Maze, with three entrances (easy, medium,
and hard) and an outline in the shape of two cows, was created
out of a cornfield near the same area as above in 1998. They sold
the postcard pictured there.
- Cornfield Maze #3:
I visited a corn Maze on two acres at Chapman Farms outside of
Aberdeen, Washington in September, 1999. It had a Halloween theme
with scarecrows, cute signposts for paths, and other things in
it. This was the first life size Maze I ever went through at night!
A map of the Maze they had drawn and made available may be seen
here.
- Cornfield Maze #4:
Cornfield Mazes are common in Washington, and have no sign of
stopping! This Maze, created as a part of A-Maze-ing Corn Fest '99
north of Seattle, was sponsored by QFC. I visited it on September 20, 1999. A-Maze-ing Cornfest 2001 north of Seattle featured four separate
corn Mazes next to each other, in the shapes of airplanes or helicopters,
that I visited in August, 2001.
- Carpinito Brothers corn Maze:
Carpinito Brothers Farms created this corn Maze in a shape of
an Orca whale and her calf in Kent, Washington in October, 2000.
A map of the Maze may be seen here.
The goal is to visit six different checkpoints (indicated by the
circles next to the numbers on the map) and mark that you were
there on your map with a hole punch. They have a Maze every year, where where a
map of the Maze they had in 2002 may be seen here,
and a map of the Maze they had in 2003 may be seen here.
For their 2004 Maze, a picture of Halloween decorations in it can be seen here,
while a map of this Maze can be seen here. For
their 2005 Maze, a picture of the hole punching can be seen here,
while a map of this Maze can be seen here. For
their 2006 Maze, a map of it can be seen here
(notice the 9 passage junctions in the middle of each of the palm trees). For
their 2007 Maze, an image of one of the checkpoints can be seen
here, while its map can be seen
here. For their 2008 Maze, an image looking
down a long passage can be seen here, while its map can be seen
here.
- Biringer Farms corn Maze: A
large life size Maze, forming a map of the world with the text "A Mazing Race",
was created out of a cornfield by Marysville, Washington, which I visited on
September 22, 2002. Another place which does Mazes every year, a map of Maze
they had in 2003 may be seen here. For their
2004 Maze, a picture of a muddy passage can be seen here,
while a map of this Maze can be seen here. For
their 2005 Maze, a picture of a tunnel passage they often use can be seen here,
while a map of this Maze can be seen here. For
their 2006 Maze, a map of it can be seen here.
- Stocker Farms corn Maze: Stocker
Farms creates corn Mazes every year, as seen in this picture of one of two
bridges in their 2004 Maze, where a map of this Maze can be seen here.
For their 2005 Maze, another picture of a bridge can be seen here,
while a map of this Maze can be seen here. For
their 2007 Maze, a picture looking down from a bridge can be seen
here, while its map can be seen
here. For their 2008 Maze, a picture looking
across from a bridge can be seen here, while its map can be seen
here.
- Carleton's corn Maze: Carleton
Farm near Lake Stevens, Washington had a corn Maze in 2006 featuring a bridge
marked by a flagpole, where a map of it can be seen here.
Many Washington corn Mazes were damaged in a windstorm in October, 2007. For
Carleton's 2007 Maze, an image of a passage next to a blown down section of corn
can be seen here, while its map can be seen
here. For 2008, a picture of their small Kid's
Maze near the main Maze can be seen here, while
a map of the corn Maze itself can be seen
here which has been edited with red to
indicate the location of additional passages and the Maze's one bridge.
-
Remlinger Farms corn Maze: Remlinger
Farms had two corn Mazes in 2007, where the smaller "kid's" Maze was in the
shape of a pumpkin and had a large pumpkin in the nose which can be seen
here, while a map of both Mazes can be seen
here.
The life size Mazes in this section I haven't visited:
- Hampton Court hedge Maze:
Perhaps the most famous Maze in the world. Image scanned from
a postcard.
- Longleat hedge Maze: The largest
hedge Maze in the world, when measuring path length.
- Survivor Maze #1: "This
next challenge will prove harder than the rest. You'll be rats
in the maze for this little test. Just keep your wits, and you'll
make it with ease. The prize is the idol, and that's much better
than cheese." In the TV show Survivor II on CBS, the immunity
challenge in episode 5 was a race through a Maze.
There were two identical Mazes built side by side, where the two
tribes had to enter, find each of the checkpoints within their
Maze in order, and then exit. The Maze measured 13 by 17 passages,
and contained 22 dead ends and 5 passage loops. They say it took
46 tons of lumber, three miles of burlap, and two weeks to build. A game which
allows one to try to solve this Maze comes with the program Daedalus,
where a screenshot from this game can be seen here.
A slightly modified version of this game was used by the Survivor
Spades online league for one of their challenges.
- Survivor Maze #2: In Survivor IV, the
immunity challenge in episode 6 was another race
through a Maze. This time there was just one Maze, which both tribes
were inside at the same time, where they had to find each of their
checkpoints within the Maze in order, returning to the center after each
one. The Maze was symmetric, in five rings, and contained 14 dead ends and 3
passage loops. A game which
allows one to try to solve this Maze comes with the program Daedalus,
where a screenshot from this game can be seen here.
A modified version of this was used by the Survivor
Spades 2 online league for another one of their challenges.
- Survivor Maze #3: In Survivor
VI, the
immunity challenge for the final four was yet another race
through a Maze. The final contestants had to race through the Maze
blindfolded, finding four checkpoints represented by the four elements,
returning to the center when done. Each quadrant of the Maze was symmetric,
where the whole thing contained 40 dead ends and 12 passage loops. A game which
allows one to try to solve this Maze comes with the program Daedalus,
where a screenshot from this game can be seen here.
-
Survivor
Maze #4: In Survivor VIII, the
immunity challenge for the final four again was one more race through a
Maze. The final contestants had to race through the Maze
with minor obstacle courses in certain passages, finding eight checkpoints in
the eight points of the star shaped Maze, returning to the center when done. A game which
allows one to try to solve this Maze comes with the program Daedalus,
where a screenshot from this game can be seen here.
-
Survivor
Maze #5: In Survivor IX, the
immunity challenge for the final four this time was a race through a vertical
Maze, which was like a 2D Maze flipped on edge. The final contestants had to
navigate the Maze, climbing up and down ladders to change their elevation, and
find ten different checkpoints within the Maze in any order, returning outside after each. A game which
allows one to try to solve this Maze comes with the program Daedalus,
where a screenshot from this game can be seen here.
-
Survivor
Maze #6: In Survivor XI, the
immunity challenge for the final four was a race through a
bird shaped Maze. The final contestants had to race through the Maze,
finding six different checkpoints within the Maze in any other, going across a
pool of water and then up a Maya pyramid in the middle after each. A game which
allows one to try to solve this Maze comes with the program Daedalus,
where a screenshot from this game can be seen here.
-
Survivor
Maze #7: In Survivor XIV, the
immunity challenge for the final five was a
race through
several Mazes. The final contestants had to race through five Mazes in
sequence while blindfolded, finding a checkpoint within each that yields the key
to the next area. A game which
allows one to try to solve this Maze comes with the program Daedalus,
where a screenshot from this game can be seen here.
So what is the largest Maze in the world? In the 2005 Special 50th Anniversary
Edition of the
Guinness
Book of World Records we have:
- Largest temporary corn maze and pathway: Stewarts GardenLands Maize Maze
covered an area of 16.9 acres (68,271 m2) when it opened on July 10 2003 in
Christchurch, Dorset, UK. The maze, which has a central lobster shape, was
designed by Adrian Fisher (UK) and created by Martin and Susie Stewart (both
UK). A 8.83-mile-long (14.22-km) pathway in the maze holds the record for the
longest path in a temporary maze.
- Largest permanent hedge maze and pathway: The largest permanent hedge
maze is the Peace Maze at Castlewellan Forest Park, County Down, Northern
Ireland, UK, which has a total area of 2.77 acres (11,215 m2) and a total path
length of 2.18 miles (3.51 km). The maze opened on September 12 2001 and was
designed by Beverly Lear (UK) and created by the Forest Service, Northern
Ireland, UK, assisted by members of the public. The 2.18-mile-long (3.51-km)
pathway holds the record for the longest pathway in a permanent hedge maze.
- Largest permanent tree maze: Designed by Erik and Karen Poulsen (both
Denmark), the Samso Labyrinten on the Island of Samso in Denmark has an area of
645,835 ft2 (60,000 m2) and its path measures 16,830 ft (5,130 m). It was
created in September 1999 and opened to the public on May 6 2000.
- Oldest hedge maze: The maze in the gardens of Hampton Court Palace,
Surrey, UK, was built for King William III of England. Designed by royal
gardeners George London and Henry Wise (both UK), it was planted between 1689
and 1695 using hornbeam Carpinus. The maze covers an area of 0.5 acres (0.2
hectares), with a total path length of 0.5 miles (800 m).
The world's largest
Maze as listed in the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records is the Pineapple
Garden Maze at Dole Plantation. Before that, in the 1997 Guinness Book of World
Records, we had:
- The largest maze ever constructed was made in a cornfield
in Shippensburg, PA. It had a total path of 2.03 miles and covered
in area of 172,225 square feet, and was in existence for two months
in August-September 1995.
- Permanent: The largest permanent maze is the hedge maze
in Ruurlo, Netherlands, which has an area of 94,080 square feet.
It was created from beech hedges in 1891.
- The maze with the greatest path length is at Longleat,
Warminster, England. It was opened on June 6, 1978 and has 1.69
miles of paths flanked by 16,180 yew trees.
- The K.I.D.S. maze in Shaw Park, Clayton, MO was made of
PVC posts, with fencing and clear plastic stretched between the
posts. It covered an area of 175,250 square feet, with a total
path length of 2.47 miles. The maze was erected in May 1996 and
taken down in June 1996. [This entry was in the "Extra! Extra!"
recent arrivals section.]
Before that, in the 1987 Guinness Book of World Records,
we had:
- The largest maze is Il Labirinto at Villa Pisani, Stra,
Italy, with 4 mi of paths. Napoleon was "lost" in it
in 1807. The oldest datable representation of a labyrinth is that
on a clay tablet from Pylos, Greece, from c. 1200 BC. [I don't
know why this Maze is no longer mentioned.]
- The largest hedge maze is at Longleat, Wiltshire, Eng.
with 1.69 mi of paths flanked by 16,180 yew trees. It was opened
on June 6, 1978 and measures 381 x 187 ft." [This Maze is
also still mentioned above.]
I've made a few of my own attempts at largest Mazes:
- The Connelly Maze:
In 1987, when I saw that the largest Maze had 4 miles of paths
in it, I resolved to beat it! The result was a computer generated
Maze printout with 4.2 miles of paths, with dimensions of over
23 long by 11 feet wide. The Maze is 1023 passages across by 2047 down, and
printed on 688 pages. I wrote the Guinness people about this Maze, and got a response
that they had a number of computer Maze submissions, including
one that was almost a half mile long. Note the two Mazes here
are also mentioned near the top of my Maze Mansion
page.
- The Connelly II:
In 1988 I finished an even larger Maze, created in response to
the largest computer Maze the Guinness people had received. The
stack of paper on the bed in the picture is one long, thin Maze,
measuring only 8.8 inches wide but 130 feet more than a half mile
long. This one is 39 passages across by 199999 down, with over
22 miles of paths, and printed on 3031 pages. I wrote the Guinness people about this Maze
as well, but the response was that they didn't have a category
for computer Mazes. As far as I can tell, this is or at least
was the largest computer generated Maze at the time.
- Castle at the center of the Labyrinth:
This shows a long thin Maze unrolled around the house I lived
in at the time. This was taken November 29, 1987 and done in honor
of my one year anniversary of seeing the movie Labyrinth for the
first time. I unrolled the Maze making my house like Jareth's
castle at the center of his Labyrinth, then watched the movie.
:-)
- Tower Maze: The Tower
Maze is the second largest computer Maze I've ever printed. At the time
I finished it, in November, 1987, it was the largest I ever
did. It is exactly 30% the size of the Connelly II Maze, my current largest. It's printed on 935 sheets of paper,
has 6.76 miles of passages, and weighs over 11 pounds. The smaller
Maze on the left is the one I unrolled around the house above, where it's
titled the Choreographic Maze.
A selection of links about cornfield and other life size Mazes
in the physical world around us:
- Adrian Fisher Maze Design:
Numerous life size Mazes, products, info, and more, by the organizer
of England's "Year of the Maze". See also Adrian Fisher's Maize Mazes
and Adrian Fisher's World Maze Database.
- Minotaur Mazes: Creator
of many themed, interactive, traveling, and educational life size Mazes.
- The MAiZE:
The world's largest cornfield Maze company.
- MazePlay:
Another cornfield Maze company, that can design and cut corn Mazes
for you. For their older designs see
Great Adventure Corn Mazes.
- American Maze Company:
Creator of many record-breaking life size "maize" Mazes.
- The Corn Maze Directory:
A directory of corn Mazes in the USA and Canada, by Etty Blum.
- Maize Quest:
Creator of many corn and other types of Mazes, with a focus on
contests and other fun activities. Play their Maze Quest computer
game here.
- Maze Mania:
A 2.5 acre wooden fence Maze that gets changed every day in Garden City, South
Carolina.
- Black Hills Maze:
A 39,000 square foot Maze (1.2 miles of paths) constructed of Douglas Fir,
among a family adventure play park south of Rapid City, South Dakota.
- Cowtown Cattlepen Maze:
A 5400 square foot Maze and other attractions in Forth Worth,
Texas.
- The Garden Maze: A
hedge Maze in Luray Caverns, Virginia.
- Foster's Produce and Corn Maze:
Foster's Produce in Arlington, Washington has made a giant cornfield
Maze every year since 1998.
- Hedgend Maze:
Hedgend Maze in Victoria, Australia features a life size hedge
Maze, a "rainbow" Maze, and other activities.
- Maze Lecture:
Describes different kinds of Mazes and Labyrinths; includes a
picture of six French garden Mazes (a large one surrounded by
five smaller ones).
- Soekershof Walkabout:
About a collection of life size Mazes and Labyrinths in South Africa.
- Mike's Mazes: A
list of life size Mazes in the United Kingdom and information on types of
Mazes.
- Amazing Stuff: Mazes
and Labyrinths in life sized versions, books, and other products, by Steve Gordon.
- Maze hobby:
A discussion of Mazes in movies and life sized versions of them, by Greg Keogh.
-
Modular Maze Panels:
Life size tarp Mazes and how to construct them, by Paul, Bob, Ken and Bob.
A selection of links about unicursal Labyrinths and their use
in spiritual growth:
- Mid-Atlantic Geomancy:
Unicursal Labyrinths, how to make them, and how use them in meditation.
See also The Labyrinth Society.
-
Labyrinthina Home Page:
Site about the spiritual significance of Labyrinths, with life
size Maze pictures.
- Labyrinthproducts.com:
Labyrinth Products From Relax4Life include finger Labyrinths,
jewelry, books, Labyrinth making kits, and more.
- Grace Cathedral:
Has information about Veriditas, the world-wide Labyrinth project
and features online shopping for Labyrinth products. See also
their Grace Online
page.
- Awakenings Labyrinth:
Dan Johnston's site contains information about the classical and
Chartres style Labyrinths, their spiritual meanings, and how to
make them.
- Labyrinths: The
Pilgrim's Way: Fish Eaters presents a traditional Catholic view of
Labyrinths and Labyrinth walking, along with geometrical measurements.
- The Sacred Labyrinth Walk:
Open to a new spiritual experience in the Labyrinth, by Georgiana
Lofty.
- Mystery Labyrinth:
Lots of online simulations, pictures, and information about Labyrinths and Mazes.
-
PAXworks: Resources, information, and products
offered for the Labyrinth journey.
-
Jo Edkins' Maze Page:
Excellent analysis of many types of unicursal Mazes and variants,
and how to make them.
-
Through Mazes to Mathematics:
An analysis of the properties of unicursal Mazes, by Tony Phillips.
-
Daedalus in the 21st
Century:
A program that generates all possible unicursal Labyrinths, by Tristan Smith.
-
Surrender to the
Heart: About Labyrinth Inspiration Cards and the Labyrinth of the
Lake in Texas.
- Chartres replica:
A Labyrinth with the same plan as the famous unicursal one in
Chartres Cathedral was recently made in
St. Paul Anglican Church
in Vancouver, BC.
- Labyrinth Springs:
About a unique spiritual Labyrinth in Labyrinth Springs, New Zealand,
with a giant Genesa Crystal in the center.
- The Labyrinth:
A global information network of resources in medieval studies.
- Northwest
Labyrinth Enthusiasts: An MSN community about Labyrinths in the
Pacific Northwest.
- Labirintus:
A quality Hungarian index site with links to many Labyrinth and
Maze sites in various categories.
A selection of dead links. These sites are still listed for history and in
the hope they will someday work
again.
This site produced by Walter D. Pullen
(see Astrolog homepage), hosted
on Magitech and astrolog.org,
created using Microsoft FrontPage,
page last updated November 29, 2008.
