By Blake Jackson
Pennsylvania’s Scooped: An Ice Cream Trail is back for 2025, inviting families and travellers to enjoy locally made ice cream while exploring the state’s rich dairy heritage. This year’s trail features 51 PA Preferred® creameries, connecting visitors with farm families and giving them a sweet way to support local agriculture.
The trail began in 2018 and is a collaboration between the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s PA Preferred® program, the Department of Community and Economic Development’s Tourism Office, and the Center for Dairy Excellence. It aims to highlight Pennsylvania’s family-run dairies and creameries and offers a fun, educational summer adventure.
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding and DCED Secretary Rick Siger kicked off this year’s trail at Destiny Dairy Bar in Cumberland County. The bar is part of Stover Farms, a third-generation dairy farm where visitors can feed calves, visit a petting zoo, and learn about the benefits of A2 milk.
Participants can register for free at visitpa.com/scooped and track their progress using a digital passport. Visitors earn points by visiting stops and buying ice cream. Rewards include a commemorative tumbler for six stops and a grand prize entry for 10. Those who visit 16 stops earn both.
“Pennsylvania ice cream is the sweetest you’ll find anywhere,” said Secretary Redding. “Meeting a farm family, seeing where they work their magic, and trying fresh-made local ice cream makes summer even sweeter when you know your purchases help support Pennsylvania farms and keep our economy thriving.”
Pennsylvania ranks eighth in the U.S. for milk production with 4,940 dairy farms and 468,000 cows. The dairy industry supports 47,000 jobs and contributes $11.8 billion to the state’s economy.
With nearly all dairy farms family owned, the trail offers a unique opportunity to connect with the people behind the products and learn about life on the farm.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-peopleimages
Categories: Pennsylvania, Livestock, Dairy Cattle