Madison County’s Ice Cream Trail is posted again, and time with more tasty spots to try out.

This year, the trail features 15 businesses.

What You Need To Know

Madison County’s Ice Cream Trail is posted again, and time with more tasty spots to try out

This year the trail features 15 businesses

It’s a tasty way to support small businesses and upstate farmers

There’s nothing like a few scoops of ice cream on a hot summer day.

In the middle of the state, Visit Madison County, NY is back with their Ice Cream Trail – this time with more ice cream stands.

“There’s a lot more to offer than just soft serve ice cream,” said Visit Madison County, NY operations manager Chelsea Scheuerman. “Many of our shops have gluten or sugar free options, and many of our shops even have more to offer than just ice cream.”

That includes as the Caz Sports Bowl.

“It’s a number of small businesses going on, from bowling to golf simulators,” said Caz Sports Bowl owner Dennis Marconi. “And they have the ice cream stand for something else for them to do and contribute to a lot of the local kids here in sports. We do a number of fundraisers with the ice cream for the high school and sports.”

Visiting small town ice cream stands not only supports that local business, but also the upstate agriculture industry.

“Ice cream is a huge deal. Many of these ice cream shops are buying locally made or New York state ice cream,” said Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County local foods educator Katie Livingston. “So it’s a great way to support the dairy industry in times when farming is so difficult.”

“Going around to different ice cream shops and learning about the different local farmers that are providing these dairy products to get turned into ice cream is a big deal,” said Abigail Hirt, the Madison County dairy ambassador. “And being able to try these different ice creams and be able to say that you’ve tried this really funky flavor of ice cream is a really cool way to contribute.”

According to the International Dairy Foods Association, the average American eats about four gallons of ice cream a year.

“We’re going into our third year. I think this is the most vibrant year we’ve had so far, with the most participating shops,” Scheuerman said. “It started with 12 and now we’re up to 15. So, it’s growing in popularity.”

According to the International Dairy Foods Association, ice cream companies contribute nearly $12 billion to the nation’s economy.

The Ice Cream Trail can be found here.