ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 21, 2026)—Maryland’s Best Ice Cream Trail is back for its 14th year with new locations! Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks and Maryland’s Best welcome residents and visitors alike to celebrate the state’s dairy industry by visiting participating locations from May 21–-September 7, 2026.
Maryland’s Best is a statewide marketing program dedicated to connecting consumers with farmers, watermen and locally made products. The program supports local businesses while ensuring consumers have access to fresh, high-quality products grown and harvested right here in Maryland.
To participate in the 2026 Maryland’s Best Ice Cream Trail, go to marylandsbest.maryland.gov/
“I love seeing the way the trail evolves over the years as we interact with more consumers and farms,” said Secretary Atticks. “We are excited to have multiple ways to interact with the Ice Cream Trail this year and we can’t wait to get more people out to our dairy farms!”
The Maryland Department of Agriculture is again partnering with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to encourage visitors to explore nearby Maryland State Parks before or after enjoying a sweet treat along the trail. Participants who check in for hikes using the Bandwango digital pass will be entered for a chance to win a Maryland State Park Pass.
“We are always searching for new ways to attract visitors to our wonderful state parks and natural areas,” said Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz. “The Ice Cream Trail offers an enticing and delicious local treat for park visitors either before or after they navigate one of the nearby trails. We encourage Marylanders to take on a season-long adventure by visiting all the creameries and hiking on the state’s trails.
The 2026 Ice Cream Trail features 13 on-farm creameries—or 14 stops including Chesapeake Bay Farms’ second location—spanning more than 145 miles from Maryland’s mountains to the Eastern Shore. Each location produces and sells its own ice cream directly to consumers. Each stop on the trail offers visitors a closer look at Maryland’s dairy industry and the important role the state’s nearly 300 dairy farms play in local agriculture. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2022 Census of Agriculture, Maryland dairy farms produced just under 102 million gallons of milk (or roughly 2.5 million bathtubs filled with milk!).
The following creameries are stops along this year’s Ice Cream Trail:
New this year, select non-farm locations serving locally sourced ice cream that supports Maryland dairy farms have been added to the trail. Visit the following locations as well to receive points on your Bandwango digital pass!
Participants can earn multiple prizes—including custom stickers, coffee mugs and hats—by collecting points along the trail. Visitors who complete all 13 on-farm creamery stops will be entered for a chance to win the grand prize: Maryland’s Best Ice Cream Trailblazer Champion! The grand prize includes a $50 gift card to an on-farm creamery, a copy of Tales of the Dairy Godmother: Chuck’s Ice Cream Wish and a personalized plaque.
For more information on the digital pass, the trail and how to win prizes, visit marylandsbest.net.
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