It is no secret that New Englanders are in love with ice cream.

Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts have too many ice cream stands to count. And it’s the seasonal ice cream stands that separate the Northeast from many other parts of the country – it is almost a rite of passage for people in the region to hit their favorite roadside spots for a sweet treat as soon as the weather starts getting warmer and return just before they shut down for the season (with multiple visits in between, of course).

Much like the endless debates about regional foods such as bar pizza, steak tips and roast beef sandwiches, a big topic centers around favorite ice cream stands, not just for the ice cream itself but for the atmosphere and even the ride out to the places. Well, one spot that often gets mentioned is Kimball Farm in Carlisle, a beloved spot that has everything you could possibly want from an ice cream stand.

For those who grew up in the northwest suburbs of Boston, a common tradition was mystery rides to ice cream stands that dot the region, much of which remains rural and whose mix of farms, fields and deep woods makes for scenic drives where getting to the stands is half the fun.

In the case of Kimball Farm, the drive from Boston proper is particularly interesting (if you take Massachusetts Avenue) in which every community from Boston to Carlisle gets progressively smaller and more rural until you find yourself on a twisty road with almost no streetlights. In the summer, temperatures can sometimes be a good 10 degrees cooler than in the heart of the city. And yet Kimball’s is only about 20 miles from downtown Boston, making it very doable really from almost any place inside Route 128.

There are some great ice cream shops in and around the city and they play a big role with those who don’t have cars and have to rely on walking, biking or public transportation, but there really is something special about an ice cream stand situated in a quiet, pastoral area, and the Carlisle location of Kimball Farm pretty much serves as a blueprint for such a place.

While the flagship location of Kimball’s in Westford is a true destination spot that has everything from batting cages to miniature golf to bumper cars along with live music, an arcade, a grill and seafood shack and a country store, the Carlisle location — which is only a few miles to the east — has a completely different feel.

There’s the stand itself, some picnic tables on either side, an area set aside for farm animals and, well, that’s about it. Carlisle is indeed all about ice cream and ice cream only, being the quietest of the four Kimball’s locations (the stands in Lancaster and Jaffrey, New Hampshire, include food shacks and country stores but are also relatively low key).

Because the Carlisle location of Kimball Farm focuses almost exclusively on ice cream, it’s particularly important that the ice cream here is top quality, and there is certainly no question about that. It’s often ranked among the best within Interstate 495 (along with the Westford location, which is only about 500 feet from that highway).

Photos: Ice cream and atmosphere at Kimball Farm in Carlisle

All of the ice cream is made from scratch in Westford and delivered to Carlisle and the other locations several times a week. It’s quite a bit more rich and creamy than what you might find at your neighborhood ice cream shop thanks to its high fat content which, by the way, can cause the ice cream to melt a bit faster than you might expect on hot days. That’s a good thing, a true sign of high-quality ice cream.

On any given day, you might find between 40 and 50 flavors of ice cream at the Carlisle location of Kimball Farm. Some of the most popular include black raspberry (perhaps their signature flavor), maple walnut, mint chocolate chip, mocha chip, chocolate almond and of course, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. A few more unusual flavors can be found here as well such as caramel cashew chip, kahlua fudge and vanilla blueberry crumble, but it’s really just a matter of personal preference because all of the options are top notch.

One thing to consider is that, like so many ice cream stands in the local area, the small size is really more of a large and the large is almost too much to eat unless you are extremely hungry, so the kiddie size is actually a good option for most, while a mini size is suitable for those who perhaps just want a little bit of a taste after a big meal.

The offerings at Kimball’s do go a bit beyond your basic cups and cones, with the banana split and the Kimball special perhaps being the standouts among the specials. The former comes in a small and a large size, and the large approaches belly-buster territory with its bananas, huge portions of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream, various toppings and sauces and a mountain of whipped cream with nuts on top.

The Kimball special is as much of a work of art as the banana split, and it is more or less a banana split without the bananas, so which one you choose might depend on whether you like bananas or not.

Sundaes, frappes and ice cream sodas round out the specials, and you can also order frozen yogurt, sherbet, sorbet and sugar-free and dairy-free ice cream here as well.

The North Shore and South Shore have their share of outstanding ice cream stands (Benson’s, Cresent Ridge, Hornstra Farms and Richardson’s all come to mind), and Kimball Farm is just one of several great ones west of the city (Erikson’s, Dairy Joy and Bubbling Brook are all faves), but it really is tough to beat Kimball’s in Carlise for its combination of ice cream and atmosphere.

If you’ve never been, do yourself a favor and head up Route 225 to give it a try, and because the place typically stays open until early October, there’s still plenty of time left to check it out.

Kimball Farm, 343 Bedford Road, Carlisle, MA, 01741. kimballfarm.com/location/carlisle

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