The Massive 300-Acre New York Farm Where You Can Get Homemade Ice Cream With Mountain Views
My rule with a working dairy farm is simple. If the cows are visible from the picnic table, the ice cream is going to be good. This one qualifies twice over.
Bring a cooler for the curds. Bring an appetite for everything else. A scenic drive through New York turns into a full afternoon at a place like this, and nobody seems to mind the detour.
Cows graze in a field beside the parking area, which tells you exactly how far the milk travels. Not far. It goes from the pasture to cheese curds and cold scoops without leaving the property.
Ice cream comes by the flight here, so ordering one flavor is not really the plan anybody sticks to.
Ridges roll out below, and there is water down there too. Something about eating dessert with a view like that makes people forget they were only stopping for a minute.
A Dairy Farm That Serves Dessert With A Panorama
Farm visits usually mean mud on your shoes and hay in your hair. Here you get both of those plus a waffle cone in your hand and a long look at the hills above Seneca Lake.
The property spans roughly 370 acres of working farmland, which is a lot of ground for one family to manage. Around 70 to 75 dairy cows live on site, and their milk never travels far before it becomes something delicious.
What makes the whole thing click is the short distance between the animals and the dipping case. Milk leaves the barn, moves through the on site processing facility, and comes back as cheese or ice cream. That kind of closeness is rare in the food world.
Outdoor seating faces the water and the ridgelines, so the scenery does half the work. Kids run on the lawn. Dogs are welcome.
Nobody rushes you along.
Fourth generation farms carry a certain steadiness, and you can feel it here. The creamery and farm store opened in 2010, and the family has kept it going without a break since. It is agriculture and dessert sharing one address.
Meet Shtayburne Farm Creamery On Chase Road
Shtayburne Farm Creamery sits in the countryside of Rock Stream, New York, at 2909 Chase Rd, Rock Stream, NY 14878. Getting there is part of the fun, since the roads out that way roll and dip through farm country.
One thing worth knowing before you go: the approach from the west is a dirt road. Coming in from the east gives you pavement the whole way. Neither route is difficult, but a heads up saves surprise.
The farm store itself is a single room, clean and well stocked, with a counter where the ordering happens. Most guests grab their food and head outside to the tables, which is where the real seating lives.
Watkins Glen sits close by, so plenty of travelers fold this stop into a bigger Finger Lakes day. Waterfalls in the morning, cheese curds in the afternoon. That is a solid itinerary.
Summer hours run Monday through Thursday from 10 in the morning until 5, then Friday and Saturday until 8. Sunday is a rest day for the shop, so plan accordingly and check ahead during other seasons.
Twelve Flavors Waiting In The Dipping Case
Homemade ice cream arrived at the farm in 2019, and by 2020 a proper dipping case held twelve flavors at a time. That number strikes a good balance. Enough variety to argue over, not so much that you freeze up at the counter.
Because the milk comes from cows a few hundred feet away, the texture leans thick and genuinely rich. Guests describe it as creamy over and over, which is the highest praise a scoop can earn.
Cones are the classic move, though cups work fine if you plan to walk the property. Milkshakes are on the menu too, and they pull the same ice cream into something you can drink.
Cold brew coffee rounds out the drink options. Pairing a cold brew with a scoop is a smart adult play, especially after a morning of hiking.
Flavor lineups shift, so treat each visit as a fresh discovery. Chocolate lovers, coffee fans, and mint chocolate chip loyalists all tend to leave satisfied. The best strategy is simple: ask what came out of the batch freezer most recently.
The Flight Board Everyone Talks About
Flights of ice cream and cheese sound like a dare until the board hits your table. Then it makes perfect sense.
You choose 4, 8, or 12 items and mix them however you like. All ice cream. All cheese.
A split down the middle. The staff arranges everything on a tasting board and sends you off to graze.
Portions are not stingy either. Each ice cream selection comes out generous enough that an eight item board easily feeds two people who came hungry.
The genius of the setup is decision relief. Instead of committing to one flavor and wondering about the other eleven, you sample your way across the menu. Sharing a board also turns the whole thing into a group activity, complete with friendly debate over the winner.
Cheese and ice cream on the same plate teaches you something, too. The salt of an aged cheddar makes a sweet scoop taste sweeter. Curds squeak between spoonfuls of chocolate.
Contrast does wonders.
Flights are the single most mentioned thing about this place, and once you have tried one you understand exactly why.
Artisan Cheese Made A Barn Away
Cheese came first at this farm, long before the ice cream showed up. The on site processing facility turns fresh milk into a lineup that covers a lot of ground.
Monterey Jack appears in playful versions like blueberry, cranberry, and jalapeno. Cheddars range from a Summit Signature Aged to extra sharp and smoked bacon. There is even a deeply aged reserve for folks who like a bold, funky bite.
Fresh cheese curds are the sleeper hit. Plain curds squeak the way good curds should, and flavored versions come in buffalo wing and dill. Bring a bag home and they rarely survive the drive.
German Quark also sits in the cooler, a spreadable, high protein cheese that works on toast or stirred into fruit. It is not something you spot at every farm stand, which makes it worth grabbing.
Fluid milk is sold here as well, straight from the same herd. Pick up a bottle and you have completed the circle from pasture to kitchen.
Cheese lovers should budget extra time at the cooler. Choosing takes a while, and that is half the pleasure.
Thirty Minutes Behind The Scenes
Curiosity gets rewarded here. The farm offers 30 minute guided tours that walk you through the cows, the daily operations, and the processing area where milk becomes cheese.
Half an hour is a smart length. Long enough to actually learn how a working dairy runs, short enough that younger visitors stay interested the whole way through.
Seeing the processing room changes how the food tastes afterward. You watch where the curds form, then you eat curds. That connection sticks with people.
A pasture walk is also available, giving guests a chance to observe the herd out in the open. Cows are unbothered by attention and mostly continue chewing while you admire them.
Petting the cows is not part of the experience anymore, so set expectations with kids beforehand. Watching from a respectful distance is still plenty exciting, especially when calves are around.
Farm tours like this are a quiet reminder that dairy is real work done by real hands every single day. Four generations of it, in this case. Booking ahead is wise, since tour availability depends on the rhythm of farm chores.
Lawn Chairs, Umbrellas, And Lake Air
Outside is where this place really opens up. Picnic tables spread across the lawn, umbrellas throw shade, and the view stretches toward the lake and the hills beyond.
Sunshine plus a cone plus a breeze off the water is a hard combination to beat. The seating area gives families room to spread out without anyone feeling crowded.
Children have grass to run on, which parents appreciate after a long stretch in the car. Pets are welcome too, so the golden retriever in the backseat gets to join the party.
Farm cats sometimes patrol the tables looking for a handout. They are bold, charming, and extremely interested in cheese, so guard your board with mild vigilance.
Indoor seating exists as well, though the room is compact. Most visitors choose the outdoor tables when the weather cooperates, and honestly the scenery makes that an easy call.
Photographers get a bonus. Cows in the near field, ridgelines in the distance, and a tasting board in the foreground make for a frame that beats any vineyard shot. Come on a clear afternoon and the light does the rest.
Fill A Cooler On Your Way Out
Leaving empty handed is nearly impossible. The farm store stocks more than dairy, and the shelves reward a slow browse.
Jams, jelly, honey, and nuts from local producers line the space, along with charcuterie meats that pair naturally with the cheeses in the cooler. Gift boxes are available too, which solves several holiday problems at once.
Crackers and snacks sit nearby so you can build a picnic on the spot. Grab a few cheeses, a jar of something sweet, and you have assembled lunch without any cooking.
Smart travelers pack a cooler before heading out this way. Cheese curds and blocks of cheddar travel well on ice, and future you will be grateful.
Take away containers of ice cream are available from the refrigerator case as well, which is excellent news for anyone who cannot pick just one flavor at the counter.
Supporting a fourth generation New York dairy farm feels good, and the products back it up. This is a stop that keeps giving after you have driven home, right up until the last curd disappears from the bag.