The History of Moose Tracks Ice Cream

Moose Tracks ice cream got its start in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the late 1980s, when Wally Blume decided to move away from his career in corporate dairy sales and began experimenting with making his own ice cream treats. He created Moose Tracks — vanilla ice cream with peanut butter cups and a special type of fudge swirled in — in his basement. He then began selling the flavor to local ice cream parlors and it caught on from there. Interestingly, the flavor was named not after the animal, but after a local mini-golf course that was the first place to start serving the flavor. When Moose Tracks ice cream took off, and Wally and his wife, June, bought out Wally’s original partner in the venture, then founded Denali Flavors to produce the ice cream along with other flavors. The brand’s sister company, Denali Ingredients, still produces many of the components for Denali ice creams, including Famous Moose Tracks Fudge. The fudge, which is used to make the beloved chocolatey swirls in Moose Tracks ice cream, follows a proprietary recipe. As the flavor continued to grow in popularity, many brands began to make their own version of Moose Tracks. Denali provides the official fudge for some of these brands; this is typically denoted on the packaging. Today, Moose Tracks is one of America’s most beloved ice cream flavors and is so popular that Denali even produces several variations of the original Moose Tracks, including a minty variety and a caramel-heavy option.