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A large wheel of sheep’s milk cheese aging in the cave at Valley Shepherd Creamery

Photo courtesy of Valley Shepherd Creamery

6 farms · 4 counties · updated

The Skylands Food Cheese Trail

The Skylands Food Cheese Trail is a self-guided drive to six farms in northwest New Jersey that make cheese from their own animals’ milk: sheep in Long Valley, goats in Stockton, water buffalo in Asbury and grass-fed cows in Branchville, Fredon and Milford. Every stop sells its cheese on the farm, so bring a cooler.

See the stops Map & day trips →

The trail at a glance

Every stop makes its cheese on the farm, from its own animals’ milk.

FarmTownCountyMilkVisiting
Jersey Girl CheeseBranchvilleSussexCowWalk-in farm store
Springhouse CreameryFredonSussexCowWalk-in farm store
Riverine RanchAsburyWarrenWater buffaloBy appointment
Valley Shepherd CreameryLong ValleyMorrisSheep, goat & cowWalk-in farm store
Bobolink Dairy & BakehouseMilfordHunterdonCowWalk-in farm store
Gorgeous Goat CreameryStocktonHunterdonGoatWalk-in farm store

2 stopsSussex County

Caciocavallo cheeses hanging to age in the cave at Jersey Girl Cheese

Photo courtesy of Jersey Girl Cheese

Branchville (Frankford Township) · Cow (the farm’s own Jerseys)

Jersey Girl Cheese at Hillcrest Orchard & Dairy

Italian-style cheeses made from the farm’s own grass-fed Jersey cows, aged in a cave dug into the hillside.

Hillcrest Orchard & Dairy is a 67-acre working farm outside Branchville, and Jersey Girl Cheese is made right here with milk from its own grass-fed Jersey cows. The cheesemakers trained in Italy, and it shows: hand-stretched mozzarella, caciocavallo, scamorza, provolone and ricotta salata, with the aged wheels resting in a cave built into the hill.

You can see the cows and chickens up close, and in fall the orchard is open for apple picking, reached by hayride.

Cheeses to try

  • Fresh hand-stretched mozzarella
  • Caciocavallo
  • Scamorza
  • Toma
  • Canestrato
  • Ricotta salata

This fallPick-your-own apples from early September (10+ varieties, by hayride), plus cider and cider doughnuts at the farm store. Call ahead to check what’s ready to pick.

Hours
Monday: closed
Tuesday & Thursday: 1–4 PM
Wednesday & Friday: 10 AM–5 PM
Saturday & Sunday: 10 AM–5 PM
Visiting
Walk-in farm store
Walk in during farm store hours. No appointment needed.
Address
2 Davis Road, Branchville, NJ 07826
Directions
Also sold at
Jersey Girl Cheese shop, 179 East Main Street, Rockaway (Morris County)
A herd of brown Jersey cows grazing in a green pasture under a cloudy sky

Stock photo: Stephanie Davison / Unsplash

Fredon (Fredon Township (Newton mailing address)) · Cow (the farm’s own Jerseys & Guernseys)

Springhouse Creamery

A single-herd farmstead dairy where the milk runs from the parlor straight down to the cheese vat below.

Pete and Marilyn Southway’s Jersey and Guernsey cows are milked in a barn that sits directly above the creamery: the milk travels by tubing from the parlor to the vat downstairs. That is about as short a trip from cow to cheese as you will find in New Jersey.

The specialty is soft farmstead cheese in a dozen flavors (garlic pepper, tomato basil, everything bagel and more), plus flavored cheese curds and glass-bottled cream-line milk.

Cheeses to try

  • Original farmstead cheese
  • Garlic pepper
  • Hot pepper
  • Tomato basil
  • Everything bagel
  • Flavored cheese curds
Hours
Self-serve farm shop, reported open around the clock
Visiting
Walk-in farm store
Self-serve farm shop: pick up and pay on the honor system. No tours are posted.
Address
85 Phil Hardin Road, Newton, NJ 07860
Directions
Also sold at
Sussex County farm markets and local stores, including Hayek’s Market and Buck’n Cow

1 stopWarren County

Water buffalo grazing in a fenced pasture at Riverine Ranch

Photo courtesy of Riverine Ranch

Asbury (Franklin Township) · Water buffalo (the farm’s own herd)

Riverine Ranch

One of the few water buffalo dairies in the country, turning its own herd’s milk into mozzarella, stracciatella and yogurt.

Brian and Courtney Foley brought their first water buffalo to the Musconetcong River Valley in 2006. Today the herd is around 200 animals, and their milk becomes cheese and yogurt in small batches on the farm.

This is the place for true buffalo mozzarella and stracciatella made in New Jersey, plus aged caciocavallo, paneer, labneh and a mango lassi. Their cheese took a silver award at the 2025 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest.

Cheeses to try

  • Buffalo mozzarella
  • Stracciatella
  • Ricotta
  • Caciocavallo
  • Paneer
  • Buffalo milk yogurt
Hours
No regular store hours posted
Visiting
By appointment
By appointment. The farm says visits are “by appointment, or by chance,” so email or call before you drive out.
Address
247 Cemetery Hill Road, Asbury, NJ 08802
Directions
Also sold at
Online with shipping, and at New York City Greenmarkets

1 stopMorris County

Wheels of cheese on wooden shelves in the aging cave at Valley Shepherd Creamery

Photo courtesy of Valley Shepherd Creamery

Long Valley (Washington Township) · Sheep, goat & cow

Valley Shepherd Creamery

New Jersey’s best-known sheep dairy, with more than twenty cheeses and an aging cave 26 feet under the hillside.

Valley Shepherd has been making cheese in Long Valley since 2005 from its own grass-fed sheep, plus goat and Jersey cow milk. There are no cheesemaking machines here: the milk is warmed, cultured and cut by hand in open vats.

The wheels age in a cave dug 26 feet into the hillside. The weekend cave-wagon tour takes you there by wagon ride, after a look at the cheesemaking room, barn and milking parlor.

Cheeses to try

  • Oldwick Shepherd (sheep)
  • Pepato (sheep)
  • Tartufo Shepherd (sheep)
  • Califon Tomme (cow)
  • Valley Thunder (cow)
  • Nettlesome

This fallCave-wagon tours every Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 PM through November 7, 2026. Adults $9.95, children under 12 $9, or $21.95 with a cheese tasting tray for two. Book online by Thursday morning for Saturday, Friday morning for Sunday. Rain or shine; bring your own wine or beer.

Hours
Thursday–Saturday: 10 AM–5 PM
Sunday: 11 AM–5 PM
Monday–Wednesday: closed
Visiting
Walk-in farm store
Walk in to the Sheep Shoppe during store hours. Cave tours must be booked online in advance.
Address
50 Fairmount Road, Long Valley, NJ 07853
Directions
Also sold at
Valley Shepherd cheese shops in Summit and Madison, and many NJ and NYC farmers markets

2 stopsHunterdon County

Dairy goats gathered around a farmer sitting on a log at Gorgeous Goat Creamery

Photo courtesy of Gorgeous Goat Creamery

Stockton (Kingwood Township) · Goat (the farm’s own Alpines)

Gorgeous Goat Creamery

New Jersey’s only Grade A goat dairy: chèvre, feta and goat Gouda made on the farm, plus goat hikes and farm tours.

Maria Stewart and Matt Kriegler milk a herd of Alpine dairy goats and make everything on the farm: fresh chèvre in several flavors, goat’s milk feta, Gouda aged two to six months and a soft-ripened cheese called Cumulus. It is the only Grade A goat dairy in New Jersey, and the only place bottling goat milk in the state.

The farm store opens on weekends. For more time with the goats, book a farm tour or a goat hike (ages 5 and up), both running through November.

Cheeses to try

  • Plain chèvre
  • Black pepper & garlic chèvre
  • Herbes de Provence chèvre
  • Goat’s milk feta
  • Goat’s milk Gouda
  • Cumulus (soft-ripened)

This fallFree Goat Social on Saturday, October 24 (RSVP required). Farm tours and goat hikes run through November, and cheese is available through December.

Hours
Friday: 3–6 PM
Saturday & Sunday: 12–4 PM
Visiting
Walk-in farm store
Walk in to the farm store during store hours. Tours, goat hikes and all other farm events must be booked in advance. Use the 08559 ZIP in your GPS: the farm warns that the map pin can send you to a neighbor’s road.
Address
71 Featherbed Lane, Stockton, NJ 08559
Directions
Also sold at
Madison, West Windsor, Hunterdon and Somerset County farmers markets

The cheese trail this fall

Late September into November is the best time to go: cave tours, goat hikes, apple picking and the last fresh wheels before the farms slow down for winter.

  • Jersey Girl Cheese

    Pick-your-own apples from early September (10+ varieties, by hayride), plus cider and cider doughnuts at the farm store. Call ahead to check what’s ready to pick.

  • Valley Shepherd Creamery

    Cave-wagon tours every Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 PM through November 7, 2026. Adults $9.95, children under 12 $9, or $21.95 with a cheese tasting tray for two. Book online by Thursday morning for Saturday, Friday morning for Sunday. Rain or shine; bring your own wine or beer.

  • Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse

    Cheesemaking runs through November, so fall is the last chance for fresh wheels until spring. Farm tour with a pasture walk on Saturday, October 3 (10–11 AM), and the last bread-making class of the year on Sunday, October 4 (1–5:30 PM).

  • Gorgeous Goat Creamery

    Free Goat Social on Saturday, October 24 (RSVP required). Farm tours and goat hikes run through November, and cheese is available through December.

More fall food events across the region: harvest festivals, farm dinners and everything on this month.

Map & day trips

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Before you go

  • Bring a cooler and ice packs. Fresh mozzarella, chèvre and curds need to stay cold on the drive home.
  • Check hours the morning you go. These are small working farms, and hours shift with the season, the weather and the milking schedule.
  • Book tours ahead. Valley Shepherd’s cave tours and Gorgeous Goat’s tours and goat hikes sell out and can’t be bought on the day.
  • Arrange Riverine Ranch in advance. It has no regular store hours.
  • Be a good guest. Stay out of barns and pastures unless you’re invited in, and keep dogs in the car.
A cheesemaker checking the milk in a stainless steel vat at Jersey Girl Cheese

Photo courtesy of Jersey Girl Cheese

How we chose the stops

The trail has one rule: the farm has to make its cheese, on the farm, from its own animals’ milk, not just sell cheese made somewhere else. Every stop is in the Skylands (Sussex, Warren, Morris and Hunterdon counties so far) and sells to visitors, either walk-in or by appointment. We check each farm’s hours and events against its own website and social pages, most recently on September 29, 2026.

We couldn’t find a Somerset County farm that makes its own cheese. Know one, or a Skylands cheesemaker we missed? Tell us about it.

Visiting? Share your haul with #SkylandsFoodCheeseTrail and tag @skylandsfood.

Cheese trail questions

Is there a cheese trail in New Jersey?

Yes. The Skylands Food Cheese Trail links six New Jersey farms that make their own cheese: Jersey Girl Cheese (Branchville) and Springhouse Creamery (Fredon) in Sussex County, Riverine Ranch (Asbury) in Warren County, Valley Shepherd Creamery (Long Valley) in Morris County, and Bobolink Dairy (Milford) and Gorgeous Goat Creamery (Stockton) in Hunterdon County.

Which New Jersey farms make their own cheese?

In the Skylands, six farms make cheese on site from their own herds: Valley Shepherd Creamery (sheep, goat and cow), Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse (grass-fed raw cow’s milk), Gorgeous Goat Creamery (goat), Riverine Ranch (water buffalo), Jersey Girl Cheese at Hillcrest Orchard & Dairy (Jersey cow) and Springhouse Creamery (Jersey and Guernsey cow).

Where can I get sheep’s milk cheese in New Jersey?

Valley Shepherd Creamery in Long Valley, Morris County, milks its own sheep and makes more than twenty cheeses, including Oldwick Shepherd and Pepato. The farm store (the Sheep Shoppe) is open Thursday to Sunday, and weekend cave-wagon tours run through early November.

Is there a water buffalo farm in New Jersey?

Yes. Riverine Ranch in Asbury, Warren County, keeps a herd of around 200 water buffalo and makes buffalo mozzarella, stracciatella, ricotta and yogurt on the farm. Visits are by appointment, so email or call before you go.

Do I need an appointment to visit the cheese farms?

Four stops have walk-in farm stores: Jersey Girl Cheese, Springhouse Creamery (self-serve), Valley Shepherd Creamery and Bobolink Dairy. Gorgeous Goat’s store is walk-in on Friday afternoons and weekends, but its tours and goat hikes must be booked. Riverine Ranch is by appointment. Hours at small farms change with the season, so check before you drive.

When is the best time to do the cheese trail?

Late September through early November. Valley Shepherd runs weekend cave tours until November 7, Jersey Girl’s orchard is open for apple picking, Gorgeous Goat runs goat hikes through November, and Bobolink makes cheese only from April through November.

Why isn’t Cherry Grove Farm on the trail?

Cherry Grove Farm makes excellent farmstead cheese, but it is in Lawrenceville, Mercer County, outside the five Skylands counties. It is a short drive south of Gorgeous Goat if you want to add it.

Is there a cheese farm in Somerset County, NJ?

We could not find a farm in Somerset County that makes its own cheese, so the trail has no Somerset stop yet. If you know one, tell us and we will check it out.

Details checked against each farm’s own listings on . Farm hours change, so confirm before you go. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

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