Cheese in North Carolina

Where the Cheese Is

The Mountains: Asheville and Around

Western North Carolina has the densest cluster of cheesemakers in the state, mostly goat dairies on small farms. The nonprofit WNC Cheese Trail publishes a map of its members: cheesemakers, wineries, cideries and shops that stock local cheese. Looking Glass Creamery in Columbus is the easiest visit, with a café, viewing windows and free samples. Round Mountain Creamery near Black Mountain, the first Grade A goat dairy in the state, runs booked tours with a tasting. Mount Gilead Farm near Leicester keeps an honor-system farm store, and Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery in Fairview ages its cheese in a cave dug into the mountain.

The Piedmont

Between Charlotte, the Triad and the Triangle, cheese is spread thinly. White Tree Farm in Statesville books goat farm tours with a tasting, and Brown Creek Creamery in Wadesboro, a Jersey cow dairy in Anson County, gives tours on request. Charlotte has Orrman's Cheese Shop, with free wine tastings on Thursday evenings and ticketed wine and cheese pairings.

The Sandhills

Ithíka Acres Creamery near Raeford, west of Fayetteville, makes goat cheese and fudge, opens its farm store three days a week and walks small groups around its barns and creamery.

When to Go

Spring is kidding season, when the goat dairies are at their liveliest; Mount Gilead runs scheduled farm tours with bottle feeding from March to June. Summer and early autumn bring the most open days and events at Looking Glass. October is the month to aim for if you can: the leaves turn on the Blue Ridge, Looking Glass grows sunflowers for picking, and the Carolina Mountain Cheese Festival gathers the mountain cheesemakers in Black Mountain. Winter is quiet, and several small farms close or cut back their hours.

A Two-Day Mountain Route

Start in Asheville and drive about 45 minutes south to Looking Glass Creamery in Columbus for lunch: a cheese board or grilled cheese, then a walk past the cellar window and the goats. Get there before 4:30pm, when the kitchen stops taking food orders. On day two, book a morning tour at Round Mountain Creamery on Old Fort Road, about 30 minutes east of Asheville, then have lunch in Black Mountain. In the afternoon head north of Asheville to Mount Gilead Farm near Leicester to stock up from the honor-system store. Asheville's cheese shops and the trail's cideries and wineries fill any gaps.

Getting Around

You need a car. The farms are on rural roads, often unpaved for the last stretch, and there is no public transport to them. Asheville Regional Airport is the nearest airport for the mountain stops; Charlotte Douglas covers the Piedmont. Western North Carolina is still recovering from Tropical Storm Helene in 2024, and the WNC Cheese Trail asks visitors to check with each member before setting out.

More Places to Taste and Buy Cheese

A separate statewide NC Cheese Trail also exists, but its website has not been updated since early 2025 and lists only four cheesemakers, so check each farm's own site.