LATHROP, Calif. — Every October, something strange happens in the Central Valley town of Lathrop. Like a page out of a Steven King novel, children from all over California make their way into the corn. They are drawn to this field not because of evil spirits, but because they want to conquer one of California’s most elaborately designed corn mazes at Dell’Osso Farm, a pioneer of corn maze development.
“We were one of the very first corn mazes in the nation, actually,” said Susan Dell’Osso.
Since 1997, Susan Dell’Osso and her husband Ron have transformed this corn field into challenging themed mazes.
“It's about 15 acres, and it has two mazes in it. This year, we're honoring the 75th anniversary of Peanuts, so you'll see Snoopy on his doghouse,” said Dell’Osso.
Coming up with elaborate designs is the easy part. Getting those designs on the corn field is another story.
“You know, people always assume that we cut it down when the when the corn is tall, but it doesn't work that way,” said Dell’Osso.
Shaping the maze starts in July when the corn is just a few inches tall.
“When the corn is very small, we mark out the maze and then we hoe it down, so we're just removing very small pieces of corn,” said Dell’Osso.
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Today, Dell’Osso Family Farm uses GPS to plot and paint out the shape of the maze. When they first started, they used graph paper and tape measures to map out the coordinates.
“It was very cumbersome and we'd never knew if the design was accurate until we would get an aerial shot,” said Dell’Osso.
The corn maze brought in big crowds, but the heart of the operation was pumpkins. Dell’Osso Family Farm was founded in the 1920s by three brothers from Italy who started farming asparagus. Then, in the 1950s, Susan’s father-in-law Rudy started growing pumpkins.
"At that time we were one of the five growers of pumpkins in this area, so there was five of us who basically grew all the pumpkins for the West Coast,” said Dell’Osso.
Pumpkins are still grown on the Dell’Osso farm today but the family has shifted its focus to what it calls agritourism.
“We are one of the top agritourism operations in the nation,” said Dell’Osso.
The property is essentially a farming-themed amusement park allowing kids to learn and play with food grown in the valley. There are more than 30 different activities at the farm including a petting zoo, a carousel and train rides. There’s a little something for everyone!
MORE AGRITOURISM PER MILE ON THE BACKROADS: Now an autumn tradition for thousands, Apple Hill was born out of desperation.
