Ice Cream at Beech Hill Farm, Hopkinton, New Hampshire

It might seem a bit wacky to drive miles and miles through dappled country roads just for a cup of ice cream… But we had heard from good sources that this 9th generation run farm had delicious ice cream, so we got into the car, drove through what seemed like endless charming and dappled country roads in search of the Beech Hill Farm. Sometimes these foodie adventures are a wild goose chase. But I am happy to report that the ice cream at this quaint farm was well worth the drive.

Established in 1771 or five years before U.S. independence was declared(!), the Beech Hill Farm has been run by generation after generation of the Kimball family — they are currently up to their 9th or 10th generation of farm managers.

The farm sets up several corn mazes every year. These are corn fields with built in passageways making up the mazes; you enter and proceed to get seriously lost in this giant maze, surrounded by tall stalks of corn plants. I have never done a corn maze in my life, and while we were intrigued, I wasn’t sure if we were up to wandering through a field of corn at that point — I had visions of a serious outbreak of hay fever while navigating my way through the maze, and suddenly getting a strong sense of claustrophobia in the process. But the corn mazes are a big draw for students, neighboring households, etc.

The farm has a large space in a barn/building that houses its ice cream retailing operations that offer up to 70+ different flavors, along with sundaes, areas selling preserves and other foods, local handicrafts, etc. There are lots of tables and chairs, presumably for tourists at the peak of the summer season when a cold and delicious serving of ice cream is MOST WELCOME!

The farm set up one of its wooden buildings as a “museum” that showcases a variety of farm implements…

It was interesting to browse through this small “museum” space and I also noted some old town notices from the 1800’s announcing the food or events availalbe at the height of the rainy season.

The potted chrysanthemums were enormous and rather stunning. These ones were say 3-5 days shy of full bloom!

You could purchase several different colors of chrysanthemums at the farm’s gardening shack…

…or if you like, how about some freshly cut corn stalks with heads of corn still attached? I gather these are used as decor for the upcoming holidays of Halloween and possibly Thanksgiving and they are semi-dried and placed in front of homes and such. At USD4 for a bunch of corn stalks, I thought these were a great bargain.

So how was the ice cream? I got a cup of black raspberry frozen yoghurt while Mrs. MM had a serving of caramel ice cream. Both were superb — really, really good. Rich, silky and soft, the frozen yoghurt and ice cream were well worth the drive to find the Beech Hill Farm!

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15 Responses

  1. Hi…since you’re in in the New England area, was wondering if you have an agenda in Vermont too? I’ve been a long time fan of your site. :-)

  2. It is really nice to be visiting farms with special produce.
    Re: the maze.We’ve tried a similar maze in Luray caverns.It was fun!

  3. Good a.m. Mr and Mrs MM. wow! that is a hefty serving of ice cream /and yoghurt, MM. I remember one trip to Sacramento my sis drove me all the way to SF looking for this small restaurant for their famous clam chowder. It was worth it. After partaking, we just turned around and drove back to Sac to beat the traffic, lol. For the corn maze, I often wondered what it is like. In Lynden, a place close here, they have this corn maze every year. Must be popular with the young ones. Yes, those corn stalks will be good for decor come Halloween or Thanksgiving. Sure is cheap. Must grab some from the farm. Did not think of it before.

  4. Reminds me of the time my brother was married on the Big Island…sister P and I took the kids on a drive from Kona through the mountains all the way to Hilo (took forever) to try these malasadas that we had read about in Saveur. Complaints all around from the kids..long sighs, tempers getting short. We got to Hilo, found this place and ordered the malasadas. Ok, so they were Hawaiian shakuy. The kids are now almost 8 years older and the mere mention of that particular road trip still makes them roll their eyes :-)

  5. Have you had the pleasure of trying Jeni’s ice creams? I have adored every flavor I’ve tasted…but my favorite is Salty Caramel. The perfect, perfect balance of sweet and salty. Jacques Torres makes the same flavor and while it tastes lovely, it falls short of Jeni’s perfection. Only drawback is that Jeni’s is $11 a pint!

  6. I wish we have similar farms here in the Philippines that sell their own produce. Well, I guess the little shacks dotting the Tagaytay road come close, where the farmers themselves sell the produce of their land – they are much cheaper and you even get free tasting and good bargains.

    When we were in Melbourne, we would buy our veggies and fruits from a similar farm and I really enjoyed it. You can’t get in any fresher!

    Reading your blog makes me want to pack up and go to Maine, my favorite state, and all the other new England States for that matter. It’s been so long since I’ve been to that part of the globe. Sigh.

  7. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us, MM. Having a great time as always, reading about your trips.

  8. we are on our third day of an indian summer here in the bay area as well. i think i’ll have some ice cream for breakfast.

  9. nothing is too wacky to drive for miles on end for something really good and worth it – and that’s what hubby and i say. besides, it’s the getting there that adds fun to the trip.

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