Sweet-treat lovers will be screaming for ice cream across Lancaster County and Pennsylvania this summer.
Seven Lancaster County ice cream businesses are part of the eighth annual Scooped: An Ice Cream Trail, through which people can earn points toward prizes by visiting and making purchases at ice cream shops and creameries across Pennsylvania.
And more than 30 Lancaster County shops, creameries and restaurants are on Discover Lancaster’s Lancaster County Ice Cream Trail, where ice cream fans can get freebies and discounts of various kinds, and earn points toward prizes by visiting and buying a sweet treat.
State officials kicked off the annual Pennsylvania trail, which now has 51 possible stops across the state, on Thursday, May 29. It runs through Sept. 7.
A dish of A Taste of Lititz ice cream, from Greco’s Italian Ices & Homemade Ice Cream, Lititz, waits to be devoured during Celebrate Lancaster, Aug. 16, 2024, in Binns Park, Lancaster. Greco’s is one of the ice cream shops on both the state and Lancaster County ice cream trails this summer.
The Lancaster County trail launched for the season on Memorial Day and runs through Labor Day, Sept. 1.
Both trails are digital-only; after you sign up online, you’ll get a link to place a seasonal pass on your phone. You’ll show your phone pass to the creameries you visit, and where you make a purchase, in order to get points on your pass.
READ: Here’s where to get PA Farm Show milkshakes in Lancaster County in June
State trail
On the Scooped state trail, if you accumulate at least 600 points at six or more ice cream shops around Pennsylvania between now and Sept. 7, you’ll be sent a notification to claim a branded stainless-steel drink tumbler as a prize.
If you earn up to 1,000 points this summer, you’ll receive an entry into the grand-prize drawing for items including a two-night stay for a family of four at Rocky Acre Farm Bed & Breakfast in Mount Joy.
Another possible prize in the drawing is a Fox Meadows Creamery experience for four people at the Ephrata location. The winners can tour the Fox Meadows farm and creamery, make a batch of ice cream in the production room, feed a calf and have complimentary ice cream treats and lunches.
Lancaster County stops on the Scooped state trail include Fox Meadows Creamery locations at 2475 W. Main St., Ephrata, and 193 E. Main St., Leola; Greco’s Italian Ices and Homemade Ice Cream, at 9 E. Kleine Lane, Lititz, and 329 Main St., Unit C, Landisville; Lapp Valley Farm Creamery, 244 Mentzer Road, New Holland, and Lapp Valley Farm Creamery & Cafe, 4040 Old Philadelphia Pike, Gordonville; and the Milkhouse at Oregon Dairy, 2900 Oregon Pike, south of Lititz.
You can sign up for the trail and get a list of all the ice cream businesses participating across the state here.
This is what the digital passes for the state and Lancaster County ice cream trails look like, once they’re loaded onto your cellphone.
Lancaster County trail
Once you sign up online, the trail works in a similar way to the state’s: check in at ice cream shops, make a purchase and get points toward prizes.
Once you’ve accumulated 900 points by visiting and making purchases at ice cream businesses around the county, you can choose among four branded prizes: a LANC trucker hat, a “Shop Local Lancaster County” canvas tote, a Lancaster pennant flag or a Lancaster County water bottle-tote bag combo.
Lancaster County locations participating in the county trail are 32 Below Ice Cream Shop in Brickerville and Lititz; Bird-in-Hand Bakery & Cafe, Bird-in-Hand; Down On The Farm Creamery, Strasburg; Figments in Sprinkles, Elizabethtown; Fox Meadows Creamery in Ephrata and Leola; Good Life Ice Cream Treats in Lancaster’s Hawthorne Centre; Greco’s Italian Ices & Homemade Ice Cream in Lititz and Landisville; Hayloft Ice Cream, Leola; Hinkle’s Restaurant, Columbia; Lancaster Sweet Shoppe, Lancaster; Lapp Valley Farm Creamery, New Holland, and Lapp Valley Farm Creamery & Cafe, Gordonville; Lickity Split Restaurant, New Holland; Little Dippers Ice Cream, Mount Joy; Twin Kiss, Manheim; Mezcla Ice Cream, Lancaster; Nikki’s Custard in Lancaster; Old Barn Creamery, Holtwood; River Street Sweets, Tanger Outlets, Lancaster; Scoops Ice Cream & Grille, Mountville; September Farm Cheese, Honey Brook; The Jigger Shop, Mount Gretna; The Milkhouse at Oregon Dairy, south of Lititz; The Shack Restaurant & Mini Golf, Manheim; Tin Roof Cafe n’ Sweets, Ephrata; Turkey Hill Experience, Columbia; Twisted Sisters Ice Cream and Handmade Chocolates, Manheim; Udder Bliss Creamery, Elizabethtown; and Vintage Candy Shop, Lancaster.
A variety of freebies and deals are available at these trail stops in the county, including free ice cream; free beignets with purchase; discounts on ice cream; free stickers; buy one, get one at half price pints; free kids’ cones; and free toppings on sundaes.
You can see a list of these county shops and creameries, learn what deals they’re offering on the trail and sign up to participate here.
