School’s out for summer and it’s time to celebrate the season with a heaping ice cream cone (don’t forget the rainbow sprinkles!).
Fortunately, the Susquehanna River Valley has plenty of options for treats that will satisfy your sweet tooth, keep you cool, and be easy on your wallet. A win-win-win!
Let’s go alphabetical for this one to keep things fair.
Amy's Frosty Freeze in Mifflinburg
Amy’s 
is currently owned by David and Irene Reiff, who bought the business in August 2020 (during the pandemic that shall not be named). Married for 24 years, they joke that the business should be called The Flying Milkshake, and here’s why:
“David likes to share a story of when they were dating, in the old order Mennonite church. Irene bought him a milkshake from Amy’s. He was really looking forward to this amazing refreshing milkshake. When they were on their way home, the buggy hit a pot hole and sent his milkshake out the open door. He was so disappointed.”
But they kept the Amy’s name, since their youngest daughter's name is Amy.
Great story, Reiffs!
The Reiffs share that, “Years later after leaving the Mennonites and starting a family in May of 2020, David took Irene to treat her to some ice cream on their anniversary, they saw that their favorite ice cream shop was for sale. That started David’s dream to own an ice cream shop, because he loves ice cream and he could keep his 11 children busy.”
The busy family also owns a van rental business and raises chickens outside of Mifflinburg.
Amy’s always has chocolate, vanilla and twist soft serve, but they also offer a rotating flavor (or two) like peanut butter, mint, maple, strawberry, cotton candy, banana…you get the idea. They often have vegan Dole Whip, too.
For more information about their flavors and specials (fresh strawberry sundaes are popular now) visit them on Facebook.
Howell’s Ice Cream King in Mount Pleasant Mills
Howell’s, which has been in business for ten years, is a treasure because you can grab lunch or dinner and a cone – at the same time!
They offer chocolate and vanilla soft serve, as well as a rotating third and fourth flavor each week like raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, to name a few. Their sundaes are made with fresh fruit, too.
They are also proud to offer gluten-free (GF) options: fries (regular not curly) and tots are naturally GF and they have one fryer that isn’t used to cook anything breaded. Just let them know when ordering if you require GF, so they can be sure to use that fryer.
They also have GF cones and sandwich wraps.
Locals comment on the large portion sizes for a fair price and friendly service.
For more information about their flavors and specials visit them on Facebook.
Jacks Mountain Freeze in Middleburg
This is
another one-stop-shop for lunch or dinner. They have a robust menu of food items, plus ice cream by the scoop, sundaes, floats, milkshakes, and Twisters. Tax is included in their menu, so there are no surprises or counting pennies while in line.
Their ice cream menu always includes chocolate and vanilla, with an extra third and fourth flavor weekly. They also have ice cream pies for your summer gathering or party.
Are you into geocaching? They have one hidden on-site! If you find it, make sure to let them know!
For more information, check them out n Facebook.
Knoebels in Elysburg
Ice cream at Knoebels could have its own blog post, BUT suffice to say, there are many, many options. Good luck choosing just one!
- Soft Serve at the stand near the Carousel and Alamo
- Hand-dipped ice cream in a dozen flavors, plus sundaes at The Old Mill
- Thick milk shakes (near The Old Mill)
- Liege waffle with vanilla ice cream, which is a Belgian style pearl sugar waffle. Find it at the Creekside Coffee stand.
- Ice Cream Nachos at the Soft Serve stand
- Apple Cider Slushies at the Candy Apple Orchard
- Lemon Slush at Kandy Korners
- Icee Frozen Drinks at Slush N’ Such near Casa de Refrescos
- Make your own rainbow of slushies (up to 6 flavors) at Mix It Up near Playland and the Alamo
- Sno-Cones at the Casa de Refrescos
- Dairy-free Dole Whip soft serve at the Cookie Nook
- Once known as “the ice cream of the future” Knoebels also has Dippin’ Dots, a beaded ice cream product in several locations including Slush N’ Such
- And a NEW frozen beaded treat called 40 Below – bold coffee flavors and refreshing fruit flavors. That’s available at the new 40 Below stand near Flying Turns, and at Dole Soft Serve.
If you’re visiting the Crystal Pool, you can cool off in the shade with an ice cream sandwich, popsicle, or my favorite poolside treat – the Nutty Buddy!
Check out all of the NEW food options in the 2025 food guide.
Old Mill Creamery in Mifflinburg
Situat
ed along Route 192 between Lewisburg and Mifflinburg in the tiny community of Cowan, Old Mill Creamery offers ice cream and bottled milk, sourced from a dairy farm that’s less than a mile away.
In 2022, local dairy farmer John Nolt, together with his family, opened Old Mill Creamery in a restored 190-year-old mill. It was a dream many years in the making for Nolt.
The creamery specializes in ice cream served in homemade waffle cones (you can usually smell them from the parking lot!) and thick, creamy milkshakes.
The milk comes from Nolt’s own dairy farm, which got its start in 1993. The farm is located less than a mile from the creamery and has a herd of 58 cows. Nolt said the distance from farm to creamery is a stark difference from most bottled milk, which he said travels on average 300 miles from the farm to the store shelf. Old Mill Creamery’s ice cream tests at 14% butterfat.
Old Mill Creamery serves hard ice cream by the scoop in a dozen flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, raspberry, butter pecan, chocolate chip cookie dough, cookies and cream, coffee, peanut butter, Oreo, butterscotch and orange cream, to name a few. Customers can sit at tables inside in the air conditioning or at picnic tables and benches outside.
The small retail store boasts a wide variety of freshly bottled milk: whole milk in gallons, half gallons and single serve; reduced-fat milk and skim milk in gallons and half gallons; and chocolate milk in gallons, half gallons and single serve. A fun addition: the creamery also offers a drive-thru.
Nolt said, “If you read the history, the hub of these little towns was always their mill,” he said. “The farmers all ended up there and exchanged all the news there. And when you step out here on a summer evening and there’s a group of neighbors standing here and their friends are there. ... It’s like it’s a different variation of that. I love the socializing and seeing friends meeting each other here.”
sweetFrog Premium Frozen Yogurt in Lewisburg
If you’re looking for frozen yogurt and variety GALORE, look no further than sweetFrog in beautiful downtown Lewisburg. Boasting half a dozen flavors, including vegan, no-sugar-added, nonfat and low-fat varieties, the best part of this gem is pondering this question – what are you gonna choose for toppings?
This destination truly is a place where adults can be kids for a few minutes.
Toppings include the standard items like nuts, sprinkles, hot fudge, and caramel, but SO MUCH MORE. Sweet gummy candies. Sour gummy candies. Fresh fruit. Dried fruit. Nuts of every variety. Chocolate candies. Cereals. Marshmallows. Crunchy and salty toppings. You name it, they probably have it!
What I love about this place is that you can go ALL IN and indulge in something that’s truly unique and over the top – or you can keep it healthy and choose a vegan option like Dole Whip with only fresh toppings – guilt-free!
It makes a fantastic summer time lunch too (as an adult, we all deserve that treat once in a while!)
For more information about hours – they are open year-round – check out their Facebook page.
Tastecraft in Milton and Lewisburg
Ne
ed a coffee fix while your kiddo gets an ice cream? Or, perhaps mix the two? Read on!
Check out Tastecraft, with two locations in Milton and Lewisburg. This year-round destination is a coffee shop, but also has bagels, French macarons in 20+ flavors, sandwiches and salads, and even hand-dipped ice cream.
If it’s too hot outside for traditional coffee, they have iced coffee and cold brew AND one of my faves – the best of both worlds – Java Jolt ice cream from Nittany Valley Creamery.
They can make the ice cream into a milkshake too. Other popular flavors are Strawberry & Cream, Mint Chocolate Chip, Blueberry Cheesecake and Cookies & Cream.
Have you ever tried an Affagato? It’s ice-cream submerged in velvety espresso! The taste-masters at Tastecraft also created a Shakeaccino, a drink that combines your favorite ice cream flavor and cold brew coffee. Are you drooling yet?
A blog post about Tastecraft wouldn’t be complete without a few words about their coffee. They roast their beans in-house and their espresso is a creamy single origin Ethiopian medium roast. They also have at least two roasts of drip coffee each day: light roast is single origin Brazilian, medium roast is single origin Ethiopian and dark roast is single origin Honduran.
For more information and hours, check out their website.
