AND MET THE MAN BUILDING THE ááWHOLE THING BY HAND. <NAT: Tiller revving / machine starting up> IN DANVILLE… ONE OF VERMONT’S ATTRACTIONS STARTS OUT LOOKING LIKE ááTHIS. <10:36:03 MIKE BOUDREAU / “MIKE THE BRIDGE GUY” “As that corn grows up, people will be lost and swearing all throughout those open areas.”> THIS IS THE GREAT VERMONT CORN MAZE… A 24-ACRE PUZZLE KNOWN FOR ITS BRIDGES… ELABORATE DESIGNS… AND ITS ABILITY TO MAKE EVEN THE MOST CONFIDENT MAZE-GOERS QUESTION ááEVERYTHING. <NAT: Tiller carving paths> BUT WE CAME HERE IN JUNE… BEFORE THE WALLS OF CORN GROW TALL ENOUGH TO HIDE ALL THE WORK BEHIND IT. <10:42:12 MIKE “We come out here with a large piece of graph paper, and my wife will tell me which way to go to put points… it’s kind of like making a big mural on a wall”> MIKE BOUDREAU BUILDS THE MAZE BY HAND EACH YEAR. NO DRONES… NO A-I… JUST GRAPH PAPER… HUNDREDS OF FLAGS… AND HOURS BEHIND A ROTOTILLER. HE EVEN LET ME GIVE IT A TRY! <10:24:24 MIKE “We usually do about two hours of roto-tilling, lay some flags, two hours of roto-tilling, lay some flags…”> <10:24:14 MIKE “Once we lay them out, we only go about maybe 3 to 400 at a time”> IT ALL STARTED BACK IN 1999… WHEN MIKE AND HIS WIFE BUILT A FIVE-ACRE VERSION FOR THEIR NEPHEWS ON HER FAMILY’S FIFTH-GENERATION FARM. <10:21:23 MIKE “People seemed to enjoy it and that, unfortunately for my wife, has allowed my creative end of things to pop loose… we went from five acres to bigger and better, and it was just never enough.”> AND IT HASN’T STOPPED SINCE. THERE’S A BLACKLIGHT SECTION… <NAT: Blacklight maze sound effects> A TUNE ROOM… <NAT: Tune room / makeshift instruments> AND BRIDGES… EVERYWHERE. MIKE — WHO CALLS HIMSELF ‘THE BRIDGE GUY’ — SAYS THEY REALLY ADD TO THE EXPERIENCE. <10:40:39 MIKE “If you add one bridge, you magnify the complexity of it. We have over 100 feet of bridges plus an underground tunnel.”> WHICH IS WHY THIS ááISN’T YOUR NORMAL STROLL THROUGH A CORNFIELD. <10:25:10 MIKE “This can’t just be a walkthrough. I need people to hate me. So when they ring the bell of success, it’s actually a bell of success.”> <NAT: Bell / maze sound if available> THE FUNNY THING IS… MIKE SAYS HE’S NOT REALLY A PUZZLE GUY! <10:32:26 MIKE “This has nothing to do with mazes. Nothing to do with puzzles. This is all to do with a creative outlet…”> <10:32:48 MIKE “The brain works that way… I need to make stuff, need to create stuff.”> FOR HIM… THIS FIELD IS A BLANK CANVAS. EVERY YEAR… A NEW THEME. A NEW DESIGN. A NEW WAY TO GET PEOPLE LOST… AND BRING THEM TOGETHER. <10:39:40 MIKE “We work 16 hours a day, sweat, bleed,
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This is Our Home: Meet the Vermonter building New England’s largest corn maze by hand
Before the corn gets tall, the Great Vermont Corn Maze comes together through graph paper, flags, and a LOT of rototilling
Summer is just getting started, but in Danville, work is already underway on one of Vermont’s most famous fall attractions.The Great Vermont Corn Maze spans 24 acres and is known for its elaborate designs, bridges, blacklight section, and plenty of wrong turns. Each year, Mike Boudreau, better known as “Mike the Bridge Guy,” builds the maze by hand using graph paper, flags, and a rototiller.What started in 1999 as a five-acre maze on his wife’s family farm has grown into a massive creative project that brings people back year after year.For Boudreau, the maze is less about puzzles and more about creating something memorable. Every season brings a new theme, a new design, and a new way to get people lost before they finally ring the bell of success.
Summer is just getting started, but in Danville, work is already underway on one of Vermont’s most famous fall attractions.
The Great Vermont Corn Maze spans 24 acres and is known for its elaborate designs, bridges, blacklight section, and plenty of wrong turns. Each year, Mike Boudreau, better known as “Mike the Bridge Guy,” builds the maze by hand using graph paper, flags, and a rototiller.
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What started in 1999 as a five-acre maze on his wife’s family farm has grown into a massive creative project that brings people back year after year.
For Boudreau, the maze is less about puzzles and more about creating something memorable. Every season brings a new theme, a new design, and a new way to get people lost before they finally ring the bell of success.
