Hard printable mazes

50 dense mazes that take real time. Half of them are the largest grid this site makes, so budget more than a coffee break.

50 printable sheets · Checked and published by Nora Quill

Maze 1: Hard 26 x 34 A 26 by 34 maze. The route is 217 steps and there are 94 points where you have to turn back. Puzzle #120301. Print Answer

Maze 2: Hard 26 x 34 A 26 by 34 grid. The correct route is 175 steps long and there are 92 dead ends waiting along the way. Puzzle #120302. Print Answer

Maze 3: Hard 26 x 34 884 squares and 90 dead ends. The good route passes through 239 of them. Puzzle #120303. Print Answer

Maze 4: Hard 26 x 34 A 26x34 maze with 89 dead ends. The solution runs 397 steps from the entrance to the exit. Puzzle #120304. Print Answer

Maze 5: Hard 26 x 34 287 steps end to end, spread across a 26 by 34 grid with 93 turnings that lead nowhere. Puzzle #120305. Print Answer

Maze 6: Expert 34 x 45 A grid of 1530 squares. Only 564 of them are on the correct route; the rest include 156 dead ends. Puzzle #120306. Print Answer

Maze 7: Expert 34 x 45 A 34 by 45 maze. The route is 644 steps and there are 153 points where you have to turn back. Puzzle #120307. Print Answer

Maze 8: Expert 34 x 45 A 34 by 45 grid. The correct route is 726 steps long and there are 155 dead ends waiting along the way. Puzzle #120308. Print Answer

Maze 9: Expert 34 x 45 1530 squares and 144 dead ends. The good route passes through 800 of them. Puzzle #120309. Print Answer

Maze 10: Expert 34 x 45 A 34x45 maze with 147 dead ends. The solution runs 392 steps from the entrance to the exit. Puzzle #120310. Print Answer

Maze 11: Hard 26 x 34 371 steps end to end, spread across a 26 by 34 grid with 86 turnings that lead nowhere. Puzzle #120311. Print Answer

Maze 12: Hard 26 x 34 A grid of 884 squares. Only 373 of them are on the correct route; the rest include 102 dead ends. Puzzle #120312. Print Answer

Maze 13: Hard 26 x 34 A 26 by 34 maze. The route is 359 steps and there are 91 points where you have to turn back. Puzzle #120313. Print Answer

Maze 14: Hard 26 x 34 A 26 by 34 grid. The correct route is 419 steps long and there are 92 dead ends waiting along the way. Puzzle #120314. Print Answer

Maze 15: Hard 26 x 34 884 squares and 100 dead ends. The good route passes through 411 of them. Puzzle #120315. Print Answer

Maze 16: Hard 26 x 34 A 26x34 maze with 88 dead ends. The solution runs 331 steps from the entrance to the exit. Puzzle #120316. Print Answer

Maze 17: Hard 26 x 34 363 steps end to end, spread across a 26 by 34 grid with 94 turnings that lead nowhere. Puzzle #120317. Print Answer

Maze 18: Hard 26 x 34 A grid of 884 squares. Only 271 of them are on the correct route; the rest include 89 dead ends. Puzzle #120318. Print Answer

Maze 19: Hard 26 x 34 A 26 by 34 maze. The route is 227 steps and there are 96 points where you have to turn back. Puzzle #120319. Print Answer

Maze 20: Hard 26 x 34 A 26 by 34 grid. The correct route is 323 steps long and there are 95 dead ends waiting along the way. Puzzle #120320. Print Answer

Maze 21: Hard 26 x 34 884 squares and 92 dead ends. The good route passes through 433 of them. Puzzle #120321. Print Answer

Maze 22: Hard 26 x 34 A 26x34 maze with 92 dead ends. The solution runs 245 steps from the entrance to the exit. Puzzle #120322. Print Answer

Maze 23: Hard 26 x 34 327 steps end to end, spread across a 26 by 34 grid with 97 turnings that lead nowhere. Puzzle #120323. Print Answer

Maze 24: Hard 26 x 34 A grid of 884 squares. Only 333 of them are on the correct route; the rest include 81 dead ends. Puzzle #120324. Print Answer

Maze 25: Hard 26 x 34 A 26 by 34 maze. The route is 317 steps and there are 88 points where you have to turn back. Puzzle #120325. Print Answer

Maze 26: Hard 26 x 34 A 26 by 34 grid. The correct route is 261 steps long and there are 83 dead ends waiting along the way. Puzzle #120326. Print Answer

Maze 27: Hard 26 x 34 884 squares and 82 dead ends. The good route passes through 181 of them. Puzzle #120327. Print Answer

Maze 28: Hard 26 x 34 A 26x34 maze with 93 dead ends. The solution runs 255 steps from the entrance to the exit. Puzzle #120328. Print Answer

Maze 29: Hard 26 x 34 213 steps end to end, spread across a 26 by 34 grid with 86 turnings that lead nowhere. Puzzle #120329. Print Answer

Maze 30: Hard 26 x 34 A grid of 884 squares. Only 269 of them are on the correct route; the rest include 84 dead ends. Puzzle #120330. Print Answer

Maze 31: Expert 34 x 45 A 34 by 45 maze. The route is 630 steps and there are 157 points where you have to turn back. Puzzle #120331. Print Answer

Maze 32: Expert 34 x 45 A 34 by 45 grid. The correct route is 388 steps long and there are 160 dead ends waiting along the way. Puzzle #120332. Print Answer

Maze 33: Expert 34 x 45 1530 squares and 144 dead ends. The good route passes through 712 of them. Puzzle #120333. Print Answer

Maze 34: Expert 34 x 45 A 34x45 maze with 161 dead ends. The solution runs 384 steps from the entrance to the exit. Puzzle #120334. Print Answer

Maze 35: Expert 34 x 45 602 steps end to end, spread across a 34 by 45 grid with 171 turnings that lead nowhere. Puzzle #120335. Print Answer

Maze 36: Expert 34 x 45 A grid of 1530 squares. Only 418 of them are on the correct route; the rest include 154 dead ends. Puzzle #120336. Print Answer

Maze 37: Expert 34 x 45 A 34 by 45 maze. The route is 644 steps and there are 161 points where you have to turn back. Puzzle #120337. Print Answer

Maze 38: Expert 34 x 45 A 34 by 45 grid. The correct route is 558 steps long and there are 171 dead ends waiting along the way. Puzzle #120338. Print Answer

Maze 39: Expert 34 x 45 1530 squares and 151 dead ends. The good route passes through 330 of them. Puzzle #120339. Print Answer

Maze 40: Expert 34 x 45 A 34x45 maze with 156 dead ends. The solution runs 522 steps from the entrance to the exit. Puzzle #120340. Print Answer

Maze 41: Expert 34 x 45 196 steps end to end, spread across a 34 by 45 grid with 146 turnings that lead nowhere. Puzzle #120341. Print Answer

Maze 42: Expert 34 x 45 A grid of 1530 squares. Only 336 of them are on the correct route; the rest include 155 dead ends. Puzzle #120342. Print Answer

Maze 43: Expert 34 x 45 A 34 by 45 maze. The route is 306 steps and there are 156 points where you have to turn back. Puzzle #120343. Print Answer

Maze 44: Expert 34 x 45 A 34 by 45 grid. The correct route is 216 steps long and there are 143 dead ends waiting along the way. Puzzle #120344. Print Answer

Maze 45: Expert 34 x 45 1530 squares and 142 dead ends. The good route passes through 270 of them. Puzzle #120345. Print Answer

Maze 46: Expert 34 x 45 A 34x45 maze with 157 dead ends. The solution runs 304 steps from the entrance to the exit. Puzzle #120346. Print Answer

Maze 47: Expert 34 x 45 574 steps end to end, spread across a 34 by 45 grid with 158 turnings that lead nowhere. Puzzle #120347. Print Answer

Maze 48: Expert 34 x 45 A grid of 1530 squares. Only 522 of them are on the correct route; the rest include 154 dead ends. Puzzle #120348. Print Answer

Maze 49: Expert 34 x 45 A 34 by 45 maze. The route is 238 steps and there are 165 points where you have to turn back. Puzzle #120349. Print Answer

Maze 50: Expert 34 x 45 A 34 by 45 grid. The correct route is 234 steps long and there are 167 dead ends waiting along the way. Puzzle #120350. Print Answer

What makes these hard

Size, and nothing else. Half the sheets here are 26 by 34 and half are 34 by 45, which is the largest grid this site fits on one page. An expert board holds over 1,500 cells, the correct route runs several hundred steps, and there are hundreds of dead ends around it. No trick has been added and no rule has changed: the difficulty is genuinely the board.

That is worth saying because "hard" is the most abused word in printable puzzles. Plenty of sheets labelled hard are the same grid as the easy version with a different heading. Each card here states the exact dimensions, the measured route length and the measured dead end count, so you can check the claim before you print.

How to actually solve one

Tracing forward from the entrance is the slow way on a board this size, because most branches you meet are dead ends and you find that out only after committing to them. Two approaches work better:

Work backwards from the exit. The end of the route usually has fewer branches feeding into it, so the last third of the path falls out quickly.
Fill the dead ends. Shade in any corridor that terminates. Repeat, and the shading spreads inward until what is left unshaded is the route. It is slower to start and much faster to finish.

Both are more pleasant with a pencil than a pen, for the obvious reason.

One route, and it is provable

Each maze is generated as a perfect maze, which means exactly one path connects the entrance to the exit. There are no loops and no second solution, and the site verifies this on every board before it is published rather than trusting the method. On a sheet with several hundred dead ends that guarantee is the difference between a puzzle and a frustration, because it tells you a wrong turn is always a wrong turn and never a longer way round.

Printing a dense grid

Scaling matters more here than anywhere else on the site. Set it to 100 percent or "actual size". At 34 by 45 the corridors are already close to the smallest that survives a home printer, and letting the dialog shrink the page by even a few percent is what turns the walls into a grey smudge. The 15mm margin is already built in, so nothing needs adjusting and the file prints on A4 or US Letter as it is.

If your printer is running low on toner, use one of the 26 by 34 sheets instead of a 34 by 45. Faint output is much less forgiving at the larger size.

The answer sheet, and finding a board again

The solution is a separate download with the route drawn through the grid. Each description also ends with a puzzle number, which is the value the generator used to build that specific board, so it identifies the maze permanently. The Maze Maker produces both of these sizes on demand if you want more.

How to use these sheets

Pick a sheet and press Print. The file is a PDF sized for A4 and Letter paper.
Print it in black and white at normal quality. None of these sheets need colour ink except the colour by number pages.
Keep the answer page for yourself, or print it too if you want to check the work later.

How to Print These Sheets

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