Old Mill Creamery lands on Pennsylvania’s 2026 ice cream trail

Old Mill Creamery at 6542 Buffalo Creek Road outside Mifflinburg has landed on Pennsylvania’s 2026 Scooped Ice Cream Trail, putting a Union County stop in front of families and road-trippers looking for a summer destination. The statewide campaign launched June 4 in New Holland and marks the trail’s ninth year, but the local payoff is immediate: another reason to turn a quick dessert run into a longer visit in Buffalo Valley.

The numbers show why the state keeps pushing the trail. Pennsylvania officials say dairy remains a major economic engine, with 4,940 dairy farms and 468,000 cows producing 10 billion pounds of milk a year. The industry supports more than 47,000 jobs and contributes $11.8 billion annually to the state economy. Against that backdrop, the trail functions as both marketing and economic development, steering visitors toward small businesses that can capture spending on ice cream, meals, fuel and other purchases during the busiest travel months of the year.

The passport system is built to keep people moving from one shop to the next. Each check-in earns 100 points. Visitors who hit six creameries receive a branded insulated bag, and those who reach 10 check-ins get an entry into the Merrymead Farm Family Experience grand prize drawing. The prize includes a creamery tour, an ice cream-making class, an overnight stay at Normandy Farms in Blue Bell and a $100 gift card to Farmer’s Daughter Restaurant.

Old Mill’s appeal goes beyond the scoop. John Nolt bought the old mill and corner lot in December 2017, then developed the creamery with help from Horizon Farm Credit and the Center for Dairy Excellence. The business opened to the public in June 2022 inside a 190-year-old mill building that WNEP described as a functioning creamery. That history gives the stop a built-in story for visitors who want more than a cone: it is a working example of rural reuse, dairy entrepreneurship and preserved local character.

Country Creamery in Selinsgrove also made the trail, but Old Mill is the clearest Union County draw. Its location on Buffalo Creek Road makes it easy to pair with a drive through Mifflinburg and the surrounding countryside, where even a short stop can ripple outward to nearby shops, restaurants and farms. For Union County, the trail is less about novelty than visibility, and Old Mill Creamery now has a statewide platform to turn summer traffic into repeat business.