Green County Cheese Trail

Established in 1949 this cheese factory originally made Limburger, Brick, and Cheddar cheeses. This factory introduced Baby Swiss to Green County. In 2004 Chalet Cheese Co-op purchased the Deppeler Cheese Factory. Currently, head cheesemaker, Wally Hartwig, produces international award-winning 22-pound wheel Baby Swiss as well as 40-pound block Baby Swiss. Deppeler cheese can be purchased through the USA since 1997: Hefti Creek Specialties, W6309 Hefty Rd., Monticello WI.

This alpine-style cheese factory co-op is located in the rolling hills of Green County north of Monroe. Established as a co-op in 1885, this factory has a rich history of producing high-quality unique cheeses for over 125 years. Currently, the Chalet Cheese Co-op has 13 members and has the distinction of being the only Limburger cheese factory in the United States. Managed by Michael Hlubek, cheesemakers specialize in Swiss, Natural Smoked Swiss, Baby Swiss, Brick, German Brick, and Liederkranz.

Alp & Dell Cheese Store in downtown Monroe, Wisconsin is a classic Green County stop for anyone who wants to taste their way through America's Dairyland. The shop carries over 100 varieties, from local cheddar, Swiss, and brick to goat and sheep milk specialties, imported Swiss and French raclette and fondue blends, and the famously pungent limburger, alongside the largest selection of Wisconsin cheese curds you'll find in flavors like white cheddar, garlic dill, and jalapeño. Free samples are set out throughout the store, and you can pair your finds with summer sausage and Landjaegers from Zuber's Sausage Kitchen, plus olives, mustards, crackers, beer, and wine, with an extended cheese and wine tasting held every Saturday. The real draw for visitors is the viewing hall, where you can watch award-winning Roth Cheese being made first-hand, and the Swiss patio out front is a good spot to sit for a while afterward. Ask for the owner, Tony, who has been known to give personalized tours and yodel for guests. Find them at 657 2nd Street, open Monday through Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm.

Baumgartner's Cheese Store & Tavern has been selling cheese on Monroe's town square since 1931, making it Wisconsin's oldest cheese store and one of the most recognizable stops in Green County's Swiss cheese country. The retail side stocks Wisconsin favorites like aged Swiss, brick, and cheddar alongside imported cheeses and specialty foods, while the adjoining tavern serves food and locally brewed beers. The house specialty is the limburger sandwich, made with cheese from Chalet Cheese Cooperative just up the road, the only limburger maker left in the United States, traditionally served on rye with raw onion and mustard. Even if you skip the limburger, the brick cheese and summer sausage on rye is a solid order, and there is a full menu of tavern fare. Part of the appeal is the room itself: murals and world maps line the walls with pins marking where visitors have traveled from, and dollar bills cover the ceiling, tacked up there by staff who have the technique down. The Green County Courthouse sits across the street and Minhas Brewery is just down the block, so it fits easily into a day of wandering downtown Monroe. Find it at 1023 16th Avenue, open daily with late hours most nights and midnight close on Friday and Saturday. It gets especially busy during Cheese Days, the festival held the third weekend of September in even-numbered years.

Silver-Lewis Cheese Factory is a working farmstead cooperative in the rolling hills outside Monticello that has been making cheese since 1897, which makes it one of the oldest continuously operating cheese plants in Green County. It was incorporated in April 1897 when the Silver and Lewis families went into business together, became a dairy cooperative in 1963, and today takes milk from 17 small local farms across Green and Dane counties, most of them milking between 50 and 90 cows. The specialties are brick and muenster, plus a range of other varieties including a popular veggie cheese, and regulars single out the flavored farmers cheeses, with habanero a frequent favorite. This is not a polished tourist attraction with a gift shop and a tasting room. It is a small retail counter attached to the factory where you buy cheese direct, often still cold from the make room, and the staff will hand you samples while you decide. Find it at W3075 County Highway EE, generally open weekday mornings through early afternoon, so plan around a lunchtime close and call ahead if you are driving a distance. It sits about 11 miles from New Glarus and 13 from Monroe, which makes it an easy add to a back-roads cheese loop through the area.

Decatur Dairy sits out among the rolling hills near Brodhead and has been making cheese since the 1940s under Steve Stettler, a third-generation cheesemaker and four-time graduate of the Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker program certified in six different cheeses: brick, cheddar, farmers cheese, havarti, muenster, and specialty Swiss. The attached shop carries well over 100 varieties, including their own Stettler Swiss, Colby Swiss, smoked cheddar, and washed curd brick, with cheese cut to order right off the block and curds made fresh every day. Those curds took Best of Class at the World Championship Cheese Contest in both 2022 and 2024, and they come in a rotating lineup of flavors, including beer curds made with New Glarus Brewery beer. The other reason to make the drive is the made-to-order grilled cheese sandwiches, which people routinely rate as the best they have had, along with dairy-fresh ice cream and picnic tables outside with open country views. Find them at W1668 County Highway F, open Monday through Saturday from 8am to 5pm. Weekends get busy, so arrive early, and bring a cooler if you plan to load up