Checking out Richardson’s Farm for its Popular Maze
Weather is starting cool, leaves are turning colors, and I’m craving apple cider donuts. Autumn is here. While there are many things to do and see in a city during fall, my first stop begins at nearby farms. Whether apple picking or pumpkin patching, a drive out amongst the colorful trees always makes it a special treat. See as I headed to Spring Grove, Illinois to get lost in a corn maze at Richardson Farm.
On an earlier post, I visited a sunflower farm in early September and was met with sunflowers in their not-so-golden era. Refusing to make the same error, I quickly found myself at a farm in late September for an essential visit to a corn maze. Richardson Farms are specifically known for their themed corn mazes.
Richardson Farm in Spring Grove, IL – Corn Maze, Farm, and More
Claimed “World’s Largest Corn Maze,” Richardson Farm boast 28 acres with 9-10 miles of corn maze trails. Each year, there’s a new design. It’s worth looking up past designs honoring Earth Day, Chicago Sports teams, the Beatles, and even the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. They’ve also done patriotic designs honoring the state of Illinois, President Lincoln, and the Star-Spangled Banner.
The 2023 design that will be featured in this post had a Jurassic Park theme, with a T-Rex running after a Jeep, its mouth ready for a bite! Other dinosaurs are also featured on a smaller scale. But of course, these can only be seen overhead. Up front, everything is a little bit of the same.
Last thing to know about the maze, is there are 4 mini mazes to work through from easy to hard. Just start at the right side and look for clues along the way. Maps provided allow to reach checkpoints in which you can climb a few steps to get a view of the maze from atop. Depending on you map-savvy skills and level chosen, it could be from 20 minutes to two hours.
Make sure to bring water with you! You’ll thank me later. The day I went was particularly hot and sunny. After already regretting skipping sunscreen, I realized I should’ve brought my water bottle!
I went through the maze with signposts along the way with a hole puncher to mark off the spots you reached. Whenever I found stairs, I climbed to get a view overhead. It took me 30 minutes to get through the maze alive, and the level…? Don’t worry about it.
If you’re looking for your own little adventure, this year’s corn-maze is inspired by Back to the Future in its titled theme, “Back to 1985.” It’s not the first time they did a Back to the Future theme for the maze. Looks like the farm is a fan of the classic Robert Zemeckis film. You can visit the corn maze until October 26, 2025.
More Than Just a Farm – Other Attractions at Richardson’s
Outside of the corn mazes, the farm offered lots of things to do. It’s a very family-friendly environment so there are play areas for children and a little train. There was a hill set up for a slide with adults and older children. A zip-line for the adults at the observation tower, and a small petting zoo for all.
The petting zoo was pretty small but did have machines (bring your quarters) to buy feed for the goats. But I have a soft spot for the alpacas. They had a little house but would pop their heads for a photo op…apparently. There was even a little sky bridge for the animals to get to another play pen. It was very exciting for the crowd to see the animals using it.
And despite its size, nothing beats seeing and petting farm animals. If you’re an animal love with hopes of a closer look than you can get at the zoo, Lake Geneva has a drive-thru safari. This safari also has good to purchase so you can directly feed the animals from your car window. This will be featured on a future post.
Spring Grove is near the Illinois-Wisconsin border, so I’ve stopped before on the way to or after Lake Geneva. There are food stands and picnic tables so you can spend all day here. The smell of apple-cider donuts was in the air and when I looked for them, I found this line.
The farm store is at the entrance so on your way out, you can stroll through for the usual suspects. The pumpkin patch is near the store so large or small, you can pick up pumpkins. I tend to buy smaller pumpkins, mostly white, for around the house as a decoration. this batch of itty-bitty pumpkins: adorable and unusual.
You can always visit the farm store but need tickets for the farm visit itself (corn maze, petting zoo, observation deck and more included). Make sure to check the farm website for to see what requires an extra, it’s usually anything showier you can play with.
McHenry County in Illinois has a lot of farms, so this is the same area as Von Bergen’s Sunflower Farm. Stade’s Farm is another favorite simply for the variety of fruits and vegetables you can pick. If you’re in the Chicago area, it’s an easy drive for a farm visit and there are lots of choices. It’s proximity to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is another plus.
