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Best Ice Cream in Berks County, Town by Town

A trail, not a ranking. Berks ice cream grouped by where you already are, from Barto and Birdsboro to Bernville, Kutztown, Topton, and greater Reading, with the flavors reviewers name on their own.

Berks Connect Blog|Published August 27, 2026
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The best ice cream in Berks County is not one shop, it is a trail. On-farm creameries make it where the milk is, retro parlors in Birdsboro, Kutztown, and West Reading lean hard on the 1950s, roadside drive-ins hold down the small towns, and farm markets from Bernville to Fleetwood keep an ice cream counter going alongside the produce. Four stops anchor the map: Longacres Modern Dairy in Barto, Scoupe Deville in Birdsboro, Sweet Ride Ice Cream in West Reading, and Plum Creek Farm Market and Creamery in Bernville. Everything below is the drive between them.

How we picked these Berks County ice cream stops.

We read the customer-review themes on BerksConnect business profiles for the places across the county that scoop, watched for the specific flavors strangers name on their own, and checked our read against the county's public conversation, from the visitors bureau's trail map to the state's. Nothing here is ranked, nothing is paid placement, and the field is local on purpose, grouped by where you already are.

The official Berks County ice cream trails.

Berks County has an official ice cream trail, and it agrees with us. The county's visitors bureau, Pennsylvania's Americana Region, runs the Sweet & Salty Trail, a seasonal passport of scoop shops, candy stores, and pretzel bakeries, and the 2026 edition runs May 22 through September 8. Six of the places in this post are stops on it: Sweet Ride, Scoupe Deville, Pop's Malt Shoppe, Way-Har Farms, Lori's Candy Station, and the mini golf ice cream window at Schell's.

The 2026 map also picks up Willy's Ice Cream Saloon in Fleetwood and Jen & Jessie's Creamery in Oley; both get their due below.

The state runs a trail as well. Pennsylvania's Scooped ice cream trail, in its ninth year in 2026, strings together 59 PA Preferred creameries between June 4 and September 7, with free sign-up and prizes as the check-ins stack up. The Berks County stop is Way-Har Farms in Bernville, and more on that below.

Ice cream in southern Berks: Barto and Birdsboro.

Longacres Modern Dairy in Barto, the creamery people measure drives by.

Longacres Modern Dairy is the stop people measure drives by. Out on Route 100 in the far corner of the county, it has built its reputation on flavors you have trouble finding anywhere else; banana and teaberry are the ones reviewers keep naming, and the vegan and lactose-free bench draws a following of its own. One reviewer called the vegan vanilla the best lactose-free ice cream they had ever had.

Then there is the chocolate milk, sold in glass bottles you bring back for a refill. Reviewers talk about it the way people talk about a secret, and one drove two and a half hours for it.

Another said the Graham Cracker Swirl alone justifies a trip from anywhere. Go test that.

Scoupe Deville in Birdsboro, the 1950s ice cream parlor built for a whole evening.

Scoupe Deville answers a different question: what if the ice cream shop itself were the outing? The room runs a full 1950s theme, classic car and jukebox included, and out on the deck a couch built like the back of a car faces a movie on a projector. Reviewers bring it up over and over, and not only the ones with kids in the car.

The ice cream is made in house and the flavor board runs long. Cotton candy, German chocolate cake, and peanut butter ripple are the ones customers name without prompting, there are vegan flavors too, berry and Oreo among them, and reviewers keep mentioning how clean the place is kept. Not nothing, for a product that turns sticky the moment it melts.

Ice cream in Reading and West Reading.

Sweet Ride Ice Cream in West Reading, the parlor you smell before you see.

You can smell Sweet Ride before you reach the door, because the waffle cones are made on site and the sidewalk gets the benefit. Inside is a 1950s parlor far bigger than the storefront suggests, with board games in the back and a line reviewers say moves faster than it looks.

The banana pudding is the flavor people write paragraphs about. And the dietary bench runs deep: one reviewer, deep into a year of travel through 38 states, said this was the first shop they had found carrying gluten-free sugar cones.

The dogs are covered too. Frosty Paws in the case means reviewers show up with the whole family.

Great American Creamery, downtown Reading's Penn State scoop counter.

Downtown, Great American Creamery gives Reading a scoop counter with a credential all its own: the hand-dipped case is Penn State Berkey Creamery ice cream, which Berks Weekly's coverage of the Penn Street opening in February 2022 called the only Berkey scoops in Greater Reading. Death by Chocolate was on the flavor list then, and it is still the order reviewers name, one of them in a chocolate-dipped waffle cone.

The milkshakes get singled out on their own, and one customer went home with Brickel Butter and Graham Slam together and has not gotten over it. Outside there is a playground, and a small market of local products on the side, which is why one reviewer describes grandparents sitting and talking while the kids wear themselves out.

Check the day's hours before you make a special trip.

More frozen-treat listings across the county live at ice cream and frozen treats in Berks County. Pick the town you will actually be in and work from there.

Ice cream in western Berks: Bernville and Robesonia.

Plum Creek Farm Market and Creamery in Bernville, the farm soft serve worth planning around.

Plum Creek is the stop that ruins your plan in the best way. You come for soft serve, and the limited-edition flavor changes monthly, so customers keep returning to find out what it is now; one reviewer names pumpkin soft serve and a caramel macchiato among the rotations, another mentions twisters, and reviewers call the portions generous.

Then you walk out through a market stocked with produce, baked goods, and pantry things, past an outdoor playground that reviewers cite consistently. It is also one of the county's better breakfast rooms, which we got into in our Berks County breakfast roundup. Lines build at peak, and reviewers say the queue keeps moving.

Way-Har Farms in Bernville, the creamery the state trail keeps picking.

Further out Bernville Road, Way-Har Farm Market is the one the state keeps picking: it is the Berks County stop on Pennsylvania's Scooped ice cream trail for 2026, and the Reading Eagle reported in June 2025 that it was the only Berks location on that summer's 51-stop edition. The same report put the flavor rotation near 90 across the year, with 50 to 60 on at any one time, nondairy options included.

The counter sits inside a country store with a personality, stocked with baked goods, candies, and jellies, and there are pup cups for the dog. Grapenut is the flavor with a following, unusual enough that one reviewer suggests asking for a taste first, and another watched an owner churning butter from the excess milk while they shopped.

The dairy roots are not decoration. Berks Weekly's 2024 profile traced the farm market to 1970, a third-generation family business selling milk from its own cows, with a traveling ice cream wagon and its signature Way-Har Whips besides.

Lori's Candy Station in Robesonia, hand-dipped ice cream inside a candy shop.

In Robesonia, Lori's Candy Station is a candy shop that takes its ice cream side just as seriously, and reviewers agree: one calls the hard ice cream there their favorite local ice cream.

The homemade caramel, the cashew turtles, and the chocolate-covered pretzels and graham crackers pull people in on their own. Several reviewers describe bringing their kids to the shop their own parents brought them to, which is about the strongest thing you can say about a candy store.

Ice cream in northern Berks: Kempton, Kutztown, and Fleetwood.

The Nesting Box in Kempton, farm ice cream at the end of the back roads.

Up in Kempton, The Nesting Box sits on a working farm at the end of the back roads, and reviewers call the drive worth it. The six-flight tasting is how to do a first visit; lemon Oreo, salted caramel pretzel, and peanut butter swirl are the flavors reviewers keep circling back to.

The market side sells eggs, milk, beef sticks, jellies, and maple cotton candy, so the drive home is not empty-handed.

Pop's Malt Shoppe in Kutztown, the ice cream parlor that scoops Leiby's.

Kutztown has the parlor. Pop's Malt Shoppe serves Leiby's homemade dairy ice cream in waffle cones and bowls made by hand, under a 1950s theme that goes all the way to giant checkers games in the booths and spoons that change color in cold ice cream.

Reviewers name cinnamon churro, lemon meringue, and Monkey Bones, a banana ice cream with peanut butter ripple and chocolate chips. The sundaes, they add, come out bigger than the size ordered suggested.

Farm-market ice cream in Fleetwood.

In Fleetwood, Kirbyville Farm Market runs an ice cream bar inside a farm market, with a playground and animals to look at while the cones go down. The black raspberry is the flavor one reviewer recommends outright, and the peanut butter specialty sundae gets its own praise for the toppings spread.

The bakery case is known for its shoefly pie, which is the correct thing to carry out of a Berks farm market. The place belongs as much to the county's farm stands and markets as to its ice cream trail.

Willy's Ice Cream Saloon in Fleetwood, the scoop stop on Pricetown Road.

Fleetwood has a second window worth knowing. Willy's Ice Cream Saloon, at 3700 Pricetown Road, is a seasonal, all-outdoor counter the county visitors bureau put on its 2026 Sweet & Salty map, and its own site has it open for the season, Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 9.

Leashed dogs are welcome, and pup cups are free. Between the saloon and the farm market, Fleetwood is a fair afternoon on its own.

Ice cream in the Oley Valley.

Jen & Jessie's Creamery in Oley, scooping since 2004.

The Oley Valley's scoop stop is Jen & Jessie's Creamery, at it since 2004 and into its 22nd season in 2026, per its own site. The counter runs soft serve and premium hand-dipped ice cream in house-made fresh waffle cones, with sundaes, milkshakes, and a flavor list that reaches past the classics to Salty Caramel Truffle and Mississippi Mud.

There is a grill side of hamburgers and hot dogs, the season runs seven days a week, and the county put it on the 2026 Sweet & Salty map as well.

If the Oley name you grew up with is Oley Turnpike Dairy, the dairy bar with the petting zoo, it closed in August 2022 when its owners retired after 52 years, a run worth tipping a cone to. The valley never went without: Jen & Jessie's was scooping the whole time.

Ice cream stands in Topton and Blandon.

Herman's Drive-In in Topton, the stand generations grew up on.

Topton is where nostalgia does the heavy lifting. Reviewers describe Herman's Drive-In as a town staple they have been going to since childhood, and several write about bringing their own kids now.

The peanut butter milkshakes are named repeatedly, one newcomer singles out the creamsicle milkshakes, and a rotating flavor of the week keeps the board moving. In summer, Tuesday waffle-and-ice-cream nights run with fried Oreos alongside.

Then there is the Dipstick, a house creation one reviewer described in loving detail: a banana split lengthwise with ice cream between the halves, dipped in chocolate, chopped peanuts optional. Order it once and report back.

The soft-serve window in Blandon.

Blandon's case is simple: one reviewer flatly calls the soft ice cream at Fiore's Chill-n-Grill Cafe the best in the county. It is a grill and ice cream counter with picnic tables and umbrellas, the kind of stop that turns an errand into supper outside.

Strawberry cheesecake gets a direct recommendation, and the orange cream smoothie has a devoted fan who makes the trip for it alone. One reviewer's standing order is the twist with chocolate sprinkles, which they say always comes with extra.

Worth the drive: Leiby's Ice Cream House in Tamaqua.

One name from just over the Schuylkill County line belongs in any Berks ice cream conversation: Leiby's. The ice cream house on West Penn Pike in Tamaqua runs Wednesday through Sunday, with the full kitchen back alongside the scoops since spring 2025, per the Times News.

No drive required for the flavor itself, though. Pop's Malt Shoppe in Kutztown scoops Leiby's homemade dairy ice cream, waffle cones included.

More Berks County ice cream shops to look at.

A few more worth a stop, each with its own page:

  • Yogo Crazy Frozen Yogurt in Wyomissing: self-serve frozen yogurt built around a toppings tower one reviewer christened the "Great Wall of Yogo," with sweet coconut the flavor that gets called out and a room reviewers keep calling spotless.
  • Schell's Restaurant, Dairy Swirl, & Miniature Golf in Temple: an ice cream window with a 27-hole miniature golf course alongside, which turns dessert into a whole evening.
  • Meadow View Farm in Kutztown: soft serve on a pepper and heirloom-tomato farm, and one reviewer's advice is not to skip it at the hot pepper festival. Seasonal and closed Sundays, so call before you build a trip around it.
  • Kramer's Korner and Kramer's Scoops and Subs in Shartlesville: a scoop counter inside a convenience store on Old Route 22, where Big Apple Pie is the flavor that gets named, the strawberry milkshake has its own admirer, and prices and staff both come in for praise. Call ahead.
  • Kwik Shoppe Drive In in Shoemakersville: the old-school drive-in reviewers say they are glad is still standing, where the Fudge Brownie Flurry gets written about in all caps, dole whip turns up on the board sometimes, and the menu runs all the way to duck.
  • Kona Ice of West Reading & Manheim Township: shaved ice on wheels, serving community and youth events around the Sinking Spring area.

How to plan a day around the best ice cream in Berks County.

Pick a direction, not a list. North strings together a farm creamery, a retro parlor, and an old drive-in without much backtracking; west gets you two farm markets and a candy shop; south gets you Barto and Birdsboro, and Barto is the one a reviewer drove two and a half hours to reach.

Go on a weekday if you can. Plum Creek and Sweet Ride both draw a line at peak times, and in both cases reviewers say it keeps moving, but ice cream is one of the few things that is meaningfully better on a Tuesday.

If you are making the loop anyway, make it with the passports open. The county's Sweet & Salty Trail and the state's Scooped trail both run as free check-in programs through early September in 2026, and eight of the stops above count toward the first one.

Frequently asked questions about ice cream in Berks County.

Where can I get vegan or dairy-free ice cream in Berks County?

Longacres in Barto carries non-dairy options, and one reviewer rated the vegan vanilla the best lactose-free ice cream they had had. Scoupe Deville in Birdsboro keeps vegan flavors, berry and Oreo among them, and Sweet Ride in West Reading covers vegan, sugar-free, and gluten-free, down to gluten-free sugar cones. Way-Har Farms in Bernville keeps nondairy options in its rotation as well, per the Reading Eagle's June 2025 report.

Which Berks County ice cream stops are also farm markets?

Several, and that is a feature of the county. Plum Creek Farm Market & Creamery in Bernville and Kirbyville Farm Market in Fleetwood both pair an ice cream counter with a full market and a playground, and Way-Har Farm Market, also in Bernville, runs its counter inside a country store stocked with baked goods and candy. The Nesting Box in Kempton pairs its ice cream with a farm market of its own.

Where can I get a milkshake in Berks County?

Herman's Drive-In in Topton is where reviewers name the peanut butter milkshakes repeatedly, and one newcomer singles out the creamsicle. Great American Creamery in Reading has a reviewer who called its milkshake the best they had had in years, and at Kramer's Korner and Kramer's Scoops and Subs in Shartlesville one reviewer bought a strawberry milkshake for their daughter and reports she was in heaven.

Which Berks County ice cream spots give kids something to do?

Scoupe Deville in Birdsboro has the mini drive-in movie deck, and Pop's Malt Shoppe in Kutztown puts giant checkers in the booths and sends kid meals out in cardboard cars. For running-around room, the Bernville and Fleetwood farm markets both keep playgrounds, and Schell's Restaurant, Dairy Swirl, & Miniature Golf in Temple runs a 27-hole miniature golf course alongside its own ice cream window.

Who brings ice cream to a party in Berks County?

Sweet Ride Ice Cream in West Reading runs catering and an ice cream truck, and reviewers describe weddings and first birthdays handled start to finish. The Nesting Box in Kempton has handled a wedding dessert the couple came back to thank them for. And Kona Ice of West Reading & Manheim Township is a mobile caterer serving shaved ice at community and youth events around the Sinking Spring area.

Sources.