their newest epic corn maze design.

This year, Richardson Adventure Farm in Sugar Grove is boldly going where no man has gone before with a “Star Trek”-themed maze commemorating the 50th anniversary of the iconic TV series.

Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike can lose themselves in 28½ acres and 9½ miles of corn, winding through Mr. Spock’s Vulcan ears or Capt. Kirk’s hair and the bridge of the USS Enterprise.

Richardson notes, however, that “we have never lost anyone yet. ... We actually design the maze with no dead ends so you won’t get stuck for hours.”

There have been Richardsons at the farm since it was homesteaded in 1840. They’ve grown crops and raised cattle and pigs, but in 2001 the family branched out with the corn maze and discovered “maybe we like this more than raising pigs,” Richardson said.

“Fall is the time to get outside and enjoy those last months of great weather before we have to load up with thick overcoats for winter,” he said. “When the nights cool down, that hot chocolate, that hot cider and cider doughnuts — man, they taste good in the fall.”

Over by the Fox River, the St. Charles Scarecrow Fest in October gives families a chance to DIY and to be spooked or enchanted by an array of over-the-top scarecrow contest entries.

“It connects us to yesterday,” Greater St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau Associate Director DeAnn Wagner said.

Last year, she met a family with an annual tradition of building a scarecrow at the event. “They always have their pictures taken with their daughters in the same spot so they can see the progression over the years.”