Whether you prefer a classic flavor like vanilla or want to expand your palate with options like burgundy cherry or s’mores, an ice cream trail throughout Pennsylvania provides ample opportunities to enjoy a tasty treat.
For the eighth year, Scooped: An Ice Cream Trail offers a road map to more than 50 creamery locations throughout the state — including stops in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties.
To sign up, just download the Scooped: An Ice Cream Trail app and log in or visit https://www.visitpa.com/trip/scooped-ice-cream-trail.
A partnership of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s PA Preferred program, the Department of Community and Economic Development Tourism Office and the Center for Dairy Excellence, the tour aims to highlight ice cream shops and attract visitors to the commonwealth.
Boasting 4,940 dairy farms and 468,000 cows producing 10 billion pounds of milk each year — about 2,501 gallons per cow — Pennsylvania ranks third nationally in ice cream production, sixth in number of dairy cows and eighth in milk production, according to the state Department of Agriculture. The dairy industry provides more than 47,000 jobs statewide and generates $11.8 billion annually to support Pennsylvania’s economy, state officials said.
Through the initiative — which runs to Sept. 7 — ice cream enthusiasts receive 100 points for each visit through the digital passport program. Those who accumulate 600 points receive a commemorative stainless-steel tumbler, and customers who earn 1,000 points may enter to win an overnight getaway at Rocky Acre Farm Bed & Breakfast in Lancaster County.
The cooler with take home containers of ice cream at Manning Dairy in Dalton on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRPAHER)
Manning Dairy in Dalton on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRPAHER)
Zanyiah Fraiser scoops ice cream at Manning Dairy in Dalton on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRPAHER)
Manning Dairy in Dalton on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRPAHER)
Jean Manning, co-owner of Manning Farm Dairy in North Abington Twp., appreciates the family-friendly aspect of the ice cream trail. Manning’s also has retail locations in Clarks Summit, Dunmore and Scranton.
“Going from place to place, you can bring the family and have an outing,” she said. “It’s the summer, it couldn’t be better than doing something like this, and there’s a goal at the end of the rainbow.”
Manning notices many customers travel from outside the area each year, including a couple from Philadelphia who popped in Monday.
“They’re originally from Scranton and saw we were on the ice cream trail,” she said. “They had come here probably 25 years ago and said they had to come again. We have a lot of people who just hear the name somewhere and decide to come visit.”
Manning added the buzz surrounding the trail provides an opportunity to educate guests about the quality of the farm’s product.
“We make our ice cream mix from scratch from cow’s milk,” she said. “We don’t buy a mix.”
Chet Mozloom, executive director of the Lands at Hillside Farms in Kingston Twp., noted the nonprofit has participated in the trail for multiple years and enjoys seeing people visit the farm.
“For ice cream fanatics, it’s a pretty cool thing as far as a family event,” he said. “It’s really less about Hillside and more about the people who are into spending time with family and having a reason to travel and explore Pennsylvania.”
The Lands at Hillside offers about 60 different flavors of handmade ice cream on a rotating basis throughout the year — including summer favorites like apple pie, strawberry and blueberry, Mozloom said.
“Believe it or not, most people eat vanilla ice cream,” he said. “I want to taste something.”
Mozloom believes the trail has the potential to serve a dual purpose: educate people about the local farm and drive traffic to small businesses.
“There is no place to get dinner at the Lands at Hillside Farms, so hopefully when people come from out of town they stop at another place and it has more of an impact than just ice cream cones,” he said. “We appreciate that this exists to bring attention to our sort of dying industry — creameries. There was probably one in every town and now there’s not.”