Groups have been coming to Swank Farms for over eight year years
now, when the first corn maze opened on only nine acres. Since
then, the mazes expanded to more than 30 acres
– adding new attractions and new things to do each year.
Hollister – Enclosed on either side by corn stalks easily quadruple their size, the small group of second-graders led the adults through the maze – reading clues, then darting confidently forward along the dirt path.
Coming to a division – both options looking equally plausible – the young girls’ conviction waned. Looking to their teacher and a parent volunteer for guidance, the girls checked each path tentatively.
“I don’t want to get lost!” said Mia Neumann, 6.
“We might get lost, but that’s part of the fun,” replied Victoria Landis, a second-grade teacher at Salinas Christian School.
With that, the group decided to veer to the left.
Groups like this class have been coming to Swank Farms for over eight year years now, when the first corn maze opened on only nine acres. Since then, the mazes expanded to more than 30 acres – adding new attractions and new things to do each year.
The haunted maze offers scares for teenagers and adults, while the smaller mazes and animals provide entertainment for the younger kids.
“People think it’s just the haunted part, but there’s lots to do for families,” co-owner Bonnie Swank said.
On Friday morning, first- and second-graders on a field trip from Salinas Christian School found plenty to pique their interest.
While one group explored the maze, another class went “goat fishing” – holding long corn stalks over a fence to lure the many goats that call Swank Farms home with the promise of a mid-morning snack.
Standing atop a hay stack, 6-year-old Derrick Perez held a corn husk for the goats, which had gathered around the students, pulling and biting at the stalks.
“Does anybody want a nibble?” Derrick called, attracting a small goat who bit at the corn hair.
His classmate, Nicole Dorado, 7, said that her favorite part of the trip so far had been feeding the goats.
“They’re cute,” she said.
After nearly losing her corn stalk to a particularly ravenous goat, 6-year-old Destiny Partida said she also enjoyed feeding the goats – pointing out that this was her first time seeing one in person.
For co-owner Dick Swank, it’s children like Destiny who make his job worthwhile.
Swank said the best part of the farm is seeing the children “getting exposed to something different.”
“Kids these days are so far removed from the wide-open spaces and the animals,” he said.
He said he’s sometimes surprised by how little young people know about farm life. The most shocking moment was when one boy visiting asked if the corn stalks were real or made of silk or plastic.
Swank said he first got the idea for the corn maze – made with real corn stalks – from a friend eight years ago. The friend visited a maze and suggested that Swank try his hand at bringing one to San Benito County.
Since that time, the maze has grown, not only in size but in popularity. Last year, 38,000 people visited the farm from the area and surrounding regions.
“Because of our haunted events, we draw a lot of people who just love Halloween,” Bonnie Swank said.
The mazes themselves change each year, too. The farm has added a new haunted maze – Sinisterium. Swank, who designs the mazes, said her designs have evolved as well.
“The first year I knew nothing about mazes, so I just got a children’s book,” Bonnie Swank said. “The next year, I went and got some graph paper and just planned it all out.”
Now she really enjoys the designing process – adding circles and changing the layout every year so that even she and her husband occasionally get lost in the maze.
If people get lost inside the maze, Swank said she considers her design a success.
“I’ve been called evil,” she said. “It’s a title I wear proudly.”
