Heini's Cheese Chalet

Bunker Hill Cheese has been producing cheese on this County Road 77 property since 1935, and the Dauwalder family — now in its third generation — still runs the operation. The founding story is genuinely Swiss: the family patriarch trained as a master cheesemaker in Switzerland before bringing those skills to Holmes County, and the milk still comes from small local farms in the area. The retail side of that operation is what riders walk into at Heini's Cheese Chalet — a factory store where the production floor is visible through large windows, cheese varieties run well past two dozen, and the fudge (made with cream cheese, in flavors from chocolate peanut butter to more exotic combinations) draws nearly as much attention as the cheese itself. The shop also carries locally made jams, jellies, and other Holmes County food products, so it's easy to leave with a full saddlebag.

A practical note worth passing along: cheese-making runs on a production schedule, not a visitor schedule, and viewing opportunities depend on what's happening that day. The store is open Monday through Saturday; Sunday it's closed. If watching the actual process matters to you, it's worth a quick call ahead. Sampling availability has varied in recent years based on visitor accounts, so don't plan the stop around free samples alone — plan it around the cheese, which is made here and worth buying on its own terms. Parking is on-property and accommodates larger vehicles without much drama.