Smiley’s Ice Cream: A True Cow to Cone Experience

Smiley’s Ice Cream serves up some of the freshest cow to cone ice cream you’ll find in the Shenandoah Valley. From salted caramel choc chunk to classic vanilla, the ice cream is smooth, creamy, and simply perfect.

The secret of Smiley’s Ice Cream? Fresh, local ingredients.

Smiley’s Ice Cream creations start with milk and cream sourced from Mt. Crawford Creamery right down the road. You can even go visit the cows! It’s then churned with cane sugar and other locally sourced ingredients in a traditional “porch ice cream” fashion. Just like the owner, Derek Smiley, used to do as a child on his parent’s back porch. (Click HERE for more!)

Smiley’s Ice Cream first started serving its creations out of a 12 foot trailer in 2001.

Word got out and the fan base grew, culminating in the opening of a brick and mortar store in 2017 adjacent to the Mt. Crawford Creamery. Business really started to boom, and I can attest to the lines pouring out the door. To manage the growing pains, Smiley’s has recently moved right down the road to a stunning new shop with 5,000 square feet and double the parking capacity. I miss enjoying a cow whilst admiring the cows, but hey, more ice cream for everybody!

What flavors should you try?

While the core flavors are solid and reliable (the salted caramel choc chunk is my favorite!), the specials and seasonal flavors are where things get zesty.

Butterbeer, cookie monster, and maple walnut are just some of the flavors that have popped up over the month of October. I tried the Boston Cream Pie (pictured above) on my first trip back to Smiley’s after being in Australia for 13 months. And it was something special. Delightfully rich vanilla ice cream full of chocolate swirls, globs of cream, and chunks of vanilla cake. The highlight of my most recent Smiley’s excursion was brownie batter. Thick chocolate ice cream with chunks of ooey gooey Ghirardelli brownies sprinkled throughout.

So if you find yourself in the good ‘ole Shenandoah Valley, swing on by to get a cone! You won’t regret it, guaranteed!