Discover Oxford County's Cheese and Dairy Makers for Big Cheese Days

Do you want the cheese, the whole cheese and nothing but the cheese? This Big Cheese Days itinerary for Saturdays in May brings you right to the cheese and dairy makers.

How to Visit Our Cheese & Dairy Makers on Saturdays in May for Big Cheese Days

From touring cheese factories to enjoying specialty flavours and more, you won’t want to miss these stops for Big Cheese Days. Here’s the perfect way to see it all! Read on or skip ahead:

• Tour Mountainoak Cheese
• Save Big at Bright Cheese and Butter
• Taste Goat's Milk Ice Cream at Udderly Ridiculous
• Get your Fill at Golspie's Milk Vending Machine
• Tour Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese
• Grilled Sheep Cheese Sandwiches at Red Dragon Dairy
• Deliciously melted Gouda cheese melted on a baguette
• Butter Tart Ice Cream Sundae at Dad's Ice Cream

Stop 1: Tour a Gouda Factory at Mountainoak Cheese

Where: Mountainoak Cheese, 3165 Huron Rd. New Hamburg, ON. (View Map)
When: 10am-11am
To note: Tour is $15 and includes sampling, tours being held between 10 am and 4 pm

Start your day by touring an award-winning Gouda factory! Mountainoak Cheese is nestled into rural Ontario on a beautiful farm property where they make amazing Goudas using milk from their family’s dairy farm.

You’ll get a chance to tour the factory, learn about the cheese-making process and get a peek into the beautiful aging room.

When you’re finished, try some of their award-winning Goudas that they make in over 20 different varieties. We love their GOLD farmstead Gouda and their wild nettle Gouda.

Grab some to go along with their quark (a soft cheese similar to yogurt) and their fresh, squeaky curds (we love the ones with cracked black pepper.

Drive time to next stop: 15 mins

Stop 2: Save on cheese at Bright Cheese and Butter

Where: Bright Cheese and Butter, 816503 Oxford Rd. 22 Bright, ON. (View Map)
When: 11:15 am (Bright Cheese and Butter is open 9 am-4 pm and providing samples during these hours)

Just a short 15 minutes away, Bright Cheese and Butter has been making cheese on the same property since the 1800s.

Every Saturday in May, Bright Cheese and Butter will be sampling their well-known, naturally-aged cheese made with 100% local milk.

Drive time to next stop: 2 mins

Stop 3: Taste Goat's Milk Ice Cream at Udderly Ridiculous

Where: Udderly Ridiculous Farm Life, 906200 Township Rd 12, Bright, ON. (View Map)
When: 11:30 am- 12:00 pm

Just a minute away is Udderly Ridiculous, a goat farm and ice cream company with award-winning experiences that welcome you to discover farm life. Picnic with the alpacas, enjoy yoga and playtime iwth goats, and purchase their gourmet ice cream and other Ontario-made products.

For Big Cheese Days, enjoy goat milk ice cream samples of their unique flavour combinations. Book online to secure a spot at one of their experiences ahead of time.

Perfect for groups of friends and families with kids and teens.

Drive Time to Next Stop: 23 mins from Udderly Ridiculous

*Eating throughout the day? Continue on. Looking for lunch? Consider adjusting your itinerary and stopping at Brickhouse Brewpub, Upper Thames Brewing Company, or Charles Dickens in Woodstock.

Stop 4: Get your Fill at Golspie's Milk Vending Machine

Where: Golspie Dairy, 455259 45th Line, Woodstock, ON. (View Map)
When: 12:30 pm -12:40 pm (Golspie Dairy is open 10 am- 4 pm)

Head out of Woodstock and toward Golspie Dairy, located on a 5th generation dairy farm, operated by Laurence (the Farmer) and Marja (the Cheesemaker).

This dairy offers whole milk (white or chocolate) from the vending machine and British style cheeses including Crowide, a fresh cow's cheese.

During Big Cheese Days, enjoy 'Milk and Cookies.' For $2 get a glass of milk (whole or chocolate) and a Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Drive Time to Next Stop: 20 mins

Stop 5: Tour Gunn's Hill Artisan Cheese

Where: Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese, 445172 Gunn’s Hill Rd. Woodstock, ON. (View Map)
When: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm (Gunn's Hill is open 9 am- 5 pm and is hosting tours at 10 am and 1 pm)

Next up! Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese. Head out of Woodstock and down a scenic gravel road to this cheese factory.

Specializing in Appenzeller-style cheeses learned by the head cheesemaker in the Swiss Alps while studying there, Gunn’s Hill is known for its delicious cheeses made with milk from their family’s dairy herd down the road. Enjoy their Squeeky Fresh Curd Poutine at their picnic tables, available 11 am - 1 pm on Saturdays in May, before your tour.

Drive Time to Next Stop: 16 mins

Stop 6: Grilled Sheep Cheese Sandwiches at Red Dragon Dairy

Where: Red Dragon Dairy, 383723 Salford Rd. RR#1 Salford, ON. (View Map)
When: 2 pm - 2:30 pm (Red Dragon is open 10 am-5:30 pm)
To Note: Serving up fresh, grilled cheese sandwiches using their sheep cheese

It’s time to visit Red Dragon Dairy, your final cheesemaker. Red Dragon Dairy is Oxford’s newest cheese factory and they specialize in sheep milk cheeses.

Grab a fresh, grilled cheese sandwich using their sheep cheese.

Before heading out the door, be sure to check out the full shop offerings. Red Dragon Dairy not only carries their own cheese but a selection of other local groceries (coffee, chocolate, honey etc.), local produce, sheep milk and their lamb as well as sandwiches, baked goods and some treats from Wales where the cheesemaker is from.

Drive time to next stop: 15 mins

Stop 7: New Galma Dairy Gouda Melted on a Baguette

Where: New Galma Dairy, 284059 Daniel Rd, Mount Elgin, ON. (View Map);
When: 2:40 pm New Galma Dairy is open 11 am - 4:30 pm, Last Three Saturdays in May)

Next up is Oxford's newest Cheesemakers, New Galma Dairy. Open the final three Saturdays in May, this family-owned dairy will be serving up deliciously melted Gouda Cheese on a baguette, using the Arteflame. Check out the storefront and shop their mini and baby cheese wheels in a variety of flavours.

 

Stop 8: Butter Tart Ice Cream Sundae at Dad's Ice Cream

 

Where: Dad's Ice Cream, 2 Vance Drive, Tillsonburg, ON. (View Map);
When: 2:45 pm (Dad's Ice Cream is open 12 pm - 10 pm, Last Two Saturdays in May)

You made it! The final Cheese/Dairy Maker is Shaw's Ice Cream, served at Dad's Ice Cream. As teenagers running this ice cream stand, named of rthei rdad, the McLaughlin sisters fell in olove with Shaw's Ice CReam. In 2001 they purchased the struggling brand they loved, ensuring future generations would fall in love with Shaw's.

Head to the window and order their special Cheese Trail Flavour. During Big Cheese Days, try their Butter Tart Sundae featuring butter tarts from The Country Table in Tillsonburg.

Fill out the rest of your day at these Tillsonburg Big Cheese Days spots: Coyle's Country Store, Tillsonburg Station Arts Centre, Two Girls and a Cheese Shop, and Betty's Marketplace.

See you soon!

We can’t wait to see you on Big Cheese Days, Saturdays in May. Want help planning your itinerary? Reach out to us at tourism@oxfordcounty.ca and let us know when you plan to come, how many stops you’d like to see and what you can’t miss.