6 great stops for ice cream around New England this summer

If you're looking for ice cream, there's plenty of it in New England. (Getty Images)

Hiking, fishing, mountain bike riding and simply getting away from it all are just a couple of reasons to visit ski country during the summer. No matter what you do during the day, there’s no sweeter way to cool off than ice cream.

Whether it is hard serve or soft, in a cone (always go for the waffle cone) or a dish, or as a frappe, it is always going to be a winning choice. Just about every town in New England has a place with a walk-up window.

Here are just a few of the best spots in New England, and one just outside for good measure.

Chances are I’ll be the one asking for a large mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone with chocolate jimmies, or maybe it will be a coffee frappe. Then again, a hot fudge sundae with vanilla always hits the spot.

Butterfields Ice Cream

Dover-Foxcroft, Maine

If you are going way up north, you might as well make it worth your while. About 30 miles south of Moosehead Lake, Butterfields has been scooping on the side of Routes 6, 15 and 16, less than a mile west of downtown, since 1950.

They have all of the flavors one would expect, and others like orange pineapple, ice cream of doom and banana cream pie, and some locally inspired treats like mint katahdin breeze, kineo karamel and blueberry.

They make their own ice cream sandwiches and can whip up a blitz with your favorite candy mix-ins, and at reasonable prices. There is indoor seating available for when the weather chooses not to cooperate.

Hatchland Farm

North Haverhill, N.H.

Two years ago, the farm’s Wicked Good Dairy Delights ice cream shop and dairy store moved to a new and much bigger location on the opposite side of Route 10, allowing for a greater selection of products from the farm and other area small businesses and a kitchen that serves breakfast sandwiches and lunch specials.

The ice cream tastes great and there’s a large covered patio to enjoy whatever your heart desires. The last time I stopped by there, it was for a brownie sundae. A very rich brownie with vanilla ice cream with real hot fudge and whipped cream. It is the perfect way to add those calories back after knocking off another 4,000-footer, and serves as motivation to knock out another one the next day.

Hatchland also makes some of the best chocolate milk anywhere.

Hornstra Farms

Norwell, Mass.

While there might not be any ski lifts in Norwell, the 129-acre Norris Reservation nearby has hiking trails that can be used for cross-country skiing when the weather chooses to cooperate.

The Hornstra family has been delivering milk and dairy products on the South Shore for more than 100 years, but opened the current Norwell shop at 246 Prospect St. in 2014. In addition to the seasonal ice cream stand that has a whole host of flavors and concoctions, the year-round store offers products from other area farms, like honey, meats and breads.

While enjoying a cone or sundae on the property, you can see the cows out at pasture.

Last summer, the Hornstras bought the former Peaceful Meadows ice cream stand and dairy store in Whitman at auction and quickly reopened the Route 18 staple. Owners have said they hope to have cows return to the property soon. For those who remember how good Peaceful Meadows was, word is that you can still get a lime rickey at the Whitman location.

Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks

Montpelier, Vt.

You can get ice cream anywhere, but only in Vermont can you get a maple creemee. And who makes the best one is like debating pizza in New Haven. Plenty of Vermonters think you can do no better than just three miles north of the state house on County Road.

Creemees are available year-round, because a sweet tooth doesn’t disappear in the cold, and the store has a host of maple products and other local goods, including books by Burr Morse, who ran the farm until late 2022 before passing it down to his nephew Jake Shattuck.

You can watch a video on the sugaring process, visit the animals on the property, and there are walking trails to help you savor the Vermont landscape.

Morse Farm also offers a maple milkshake for those who might have had a maple creemee earlier in the day and want to mix it up a bit.

While similar in appearance, there are two slight differences between a creemee and typical soft-serve. The big one is that there is more butterfat in a creemee than in soft-serve. Also, when the ice cream is being churned in the machine, the agitator that creates the smooth texture runs at a faster speed when making a creemee. The faster speed increases the amount of air in the ice cream, giving the creemee its light and airy texture.

Super Secret Ice Cream

Bethlehem, N.H.

Located along Route 302 in the center of Bethlehem, the year-round spot opened two years ago quickly has developed a following for its small-batch ice cream with creative flavors.

The milk and cream come from the Hatchland Farm, while the flavors that get mixed with the base ingredients are sourced either locally or from small, eco-conscious farms — the vanilla beans come from a farm in Hawaii and the organic chocolate comes from a farm in Ecuador.

I’ve had the coffee ice cream in both a waffle cone and a frappe, and it was the most robust I have ever tasted, and the perfect way to get some calories back into the system after a summer hike in the Whites.

Laiterie de Coaticook

Coaticook, Quebec

For the best hard-packed maple ice cream, with small pieces of maple sugar mixed in, jump across the border and visit the Laiterie de Coaticook. It is located on Route 147 just north of Coaticook, Que., about 20 minutes from the small crossing in Norton, Vt., and 35 minutes from the major crossing at the end of I-91.

The ice cream shop has a walk-up counter, prepackaged ice cream, which can be brought back over the border with a receipt, and a small Milk Museum that takes a historical look at the dairy production process.

Coaticook is a fun town that is well worth wandering around with the hiking trails through the Parc de la Gorge de Coaticook highlighted by the longest suspended footbridge in North America as it crosses the 164-foot-high gorge.