I drove to Bloomingburg for a soft serve cone the other day. I wasn’t planning to. That’s how ice cream works up here.
Every Hudson Valley town has the ice cream place. The roadside stand with 45 cars packed into a lot built for 12. The soft serve window everyone suddenly remembers the second it hits 70 degrees. The creamery with the line down the sidewalk on a Tuesday in July.
I’ve been collecting them for years, one cone at a time, asking every local I know to defend their favorite. This is my running map, organized by county, with the spots worth the drive. I haven’t made it to every single one yet, and I’ll say so where that’s true, but these are the names that keep coming up.
Here’s the map.
Orange County
Bellvale Farms Creamery, Warwick
This is the one everyone means when they say “let’s get ice cream.” They make it on-site from their own dairy farm, the flavors rotate with the season, and the parking lot is exactly the chaos I described up top. Worth it anyway.
Twin Cone, Bloomingburg
My pick, and the reason I drove to Bloomingburg in the first place. An old-school soft serve window: one thing done well, no frills, cash only, open when the weather says so. Worth the trip even if the town isn’t on your radar for anything else.
The appeal is the appeal of every great soft serve stand. You go, you get a cone, you stand in the parking lot and eat it. That’s the whole thing.
Weirs Ice Cream, Washingtonville
The Orange County classic that always gets paired with Twin Cone. I haven’t made it here yet, but it’s on the short list for this summer.
Mary Jane’s Dairy Bar, Newburgh
A Newburgh summer institution with a seriously devoted following. On my list to try this season.
Trailside Treats Creamery, Goshen
Hand-crafted small batch made in-house, with real dairy-free options and homemade Italian ices, tucked on a side street right by the Heritage Trail entrance. The kind of ambitious little creamery I root for.
What’s the Scoop?, Goshen
A proper stand with picnic tables and Adirondack chairs, hard flavors plus soft serve that gets creative (piña colada soft serve, for one). An easy Goshen stop.
Ulster County
Cherries, Stone Ridge
A locals-know spot in Stone Ridge, the kind of place where if you know, you know. On my list.
Huguenot Creamery, New Paltz
New Paltz has a lot of ice cream opinions, and this is the one that wins most of the arguments. Small-batch, rotating flavors, the daily menu posted on their Instagram.
Alleyway Ice Cream, Saugerties
A tiny parlor tucked down an actual alley off Partition Street in Saugerties, turning out handmade, unusual flavors. It has a real reputation for the best scoops around among people who take their Hudson Valley ice cream seriously.
The Original Mickey’s Igloo, Kingston
A Kingston institution for 65-plus years: 24 flavors, plus oat-milk vegan options for the dairy-free crowd. It outlasts every trend because the town won’t let it go.
The Restaurant Ice Cream Sidebar
A couple of places get named not for a stand, but for restaurant ice cream worth the trip:
Peekamoose (Big Indian): some of the best restaurant ice cream in the region, a different category entirely, but worth knowing if you’re already headed to the Catskills for dinner.
Fruition Chocolate Works (Shokan): a chocolate maker that also makes ice cream. If a chocolatier tells you where to get a scoop, listen.
Dutchess County
Fortunes Ice Cream, Tivoli
Worth a 45-minute drive north, by every account I trust. Tivoli is a tiny river town and this is the reason to go. On my list.
Beacon Creamery, Beacon
Beacon’s Main Street scoop shop, and the easiest way to try Jane’s, the small-batch Kingston maker locals love to name-drop. Walkable from the galleries and shops, which makes it a dangerous little stop.
Zora Dora’s, Beacon
Micro-batch ice cream and fruit paletas made with local produce, also in Beacon. Between this and Beacon Creamery, one Beacon afternoon can easily become a two-treat afternoon.
Spoons Ice Cream, Poughkeepsie (Eastdale Village)
A small neighborhood spot in Eastdale Village, the kind of place that becomes part of your weekly routine if you live nearby.
Putnam County
Moo Moo’s Creamery, Cold Spring
How this wasn’t on my first list, I don’t know. Moo Moo’s has been scooping on the Cold Spring waterfront since 2011, sixteen flavors made fresh daily with something like ninety-five in the rotation, and it hand-dips Jane’s too. Cold Spring is a whole day trip on its own, and this is the reward at the end.
Scoops.ny, Carmel
Family-owned for 25 years. The kind of place that survives because it’s part of the town’s summer fabric, not because it has a social media strategy.
Westchester County
Blue Pig Ice Cream, Croton-on-Hudson
So good it ruins other ice cream for you, according to more than one loyalist, and that’s a high bar I intend to test. Founded in 2010, farm-to-cone with local Hudson Valley dairy, and a short walk from the Croton-Harmon train, so you can even make it a car-free trip.
Columbia / Greene / Hudson Area
Ronnybrook Farm, Ancramdale
You’ve probably seen their glass milk bottles at farmers’ markets, so the ice cream comes with built-in credibility. Keep an eye out for their Free Cone Friday.
The Rolling Cones, Mobile / Events
A mobile soft serve operation that turns up at events and festivals around the region. Worth a follow if you’re the kind of person who plans a weekend around where the good trucks are.
Capital Region (Albany / Saratoga Adjacent)
A few spots up here get loud endorsements even though they’re technically past the Hudson Valley line. If you’re headed north anyway:
- Guptill’s (Latham), a Capital Region staple.
- Kurver Kreme (Albany), a local classic.
- Normby Creamery, another name that comes up.
I’m not driving to Albany for ice cream this summer, but if you live up there or you’re passing through, these are the names to know.
What Makes It Hudson Valley
Soft serve windows. Cash-only counters. Lake-town classics. Roadside stands where the parking lot was never designed for the volume of people who show up on a 75-degree Saturday.
The best ice cream here isn’t necessarily fancy ice cream. It’s the place you went as a kid. The place you take out-of-town visitors. The place that opens for the season on a weekend in April and everyone just knows.
It’s also deeply regional. People will defend their town’s spot like it’s a personality trait. And honestly? That’s part of the charm.
The Visit List
I’m planning cluster trips by sub-region this summer:
- Orange County loop: Bellvale Farms, Twin Cone (already done ✅), Weirs, Mary Jane’s, plus the Goshen pair (Trailside Treats and What’s the Scoop?). One big Saturday.
- Ulster run: Cherries, Huguenot Creamery, Alleyway in Saugerties, and Mickey’s Igloo in Kingston.
- Dutchess run: Spoons, Fortunes (the 45-minute-drive spot), plus Beacon Creamery and Zora Dora’s in Beacon. A date day.
- Putnam run: Moo Moo’s on the Cold Spring waterfront, then Scoops.ny in Carmel.
- Lower valley: Blue Pig in Croton.
I’ll update this post as I go, with photos and real opinions on what to order. If you’ve been to any of these and have a flavor rec, I’m listening.
Make a full day of it. Ice cream is the reward at the end of a good Hudson Valley day. Pair it with a real meal (where to eat in the Hudson Valley) or a morning of picking your own (strawberries, peaches, or apples).
FAQ
When is ice cream season in the Hudson Valley? Most seasonal stands open in April (weather-dependent) and close in September or October. A few stay open year-round. Check Instagram or call ahead if you’re making a special trip early or late in the season.
Are these places cash-only? Many are. Assume cash unless their website says otherwise. There’s usually an ATM nearby, but it’s easier to just bring cash.
Which spot is best for kids? All of them, honestly. These are family places. Bellvale Farms, Moo Moo’s, and Blue Pig all have outdoor seating. Most soft serve windows are stand-and-eat, which works fine if your kids are the run-around type.
What about dairy-free options? Several spots (Alleyway, Huguenot Creamery, Trailside Treats, Mickey’s Igloo) rotate dairy-free or vegan flavors. Call ahead or check their Instagram for the daily menu.
Can I visit multiple spots in one day? You can, and I’m planning to. The Orange County loop is doable in one afternoon. Ulster and Dutchess spots are more spread out but still manageable if you’re strategic.
