Spring Grove Corn Maze Celebrates 'Star Trek's' 50th Anniversary

SPRING GROVE, IL — Boldly go where, well, more than a few people have gone before.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Star Trek,” Richardson Adventure Farm has created its annual corn maze in the likeness of Spock and Kirk and tops it off with the “Star Trek” logo. You’ll also see the Starship Enterprise, or at least walk through it.

Billing itself as the world’s largest corn maze, the maze offers acres upon acres of twisty, turny paths, but no dead ends.

George Richardson, owner of the farm, said he wouldn’t call himself a “huge Trekkie,” but enjoyed the TV show, which later spawned several movies.

“It seemed like a really fun theme to do a lot of fun stuff with,” Richardson said.

When picking a theme, Richardson said he looks for something that will be fun for the maze goers and something that will make for a good picture. Originally, Richardson thought of doing something with the National Park Service, but realized the maze wouldn’t be all that interesting.

Planning for the maze takes about 3 months. Richardson consults with the designer, Shawn Stolworthy, about how he’d like it to look. After about 12 to 15 emails back and forth, the final design is agreed upon.

Using “extremely accurate” GPS technology, Stolworthy brings a camper and a tractor and plots the maze.

“The first thing he does when he comes here is drive his tractor to the four corners of the corn field and puts the coordinates into the program that holds the image of the maze,” Richardson said. Then it’s just a matter of following where the computer tells him to go. Stolworthy’s GPS is reportedly accurate to inches.

If last year’s numbers are any indication, more than 80,000 people could attend this year. However, a lot of that depends on the weather.

It should take you around 90 minutes to two hours to complete the maze. To solve it, there are various checkpoints throughout with a different shaped hole puncher at each of them. Once you get through your card, you’re done!

Richardson Adventure Farm is located at 909 English Prairie Rd. in Spring Grove. To see hours of operation, visit its website.

photo via Richardson Adventure Farm