A cheese-championing organization has compiled a Route 66 Cheese Trail, where travelers can stop along or near the Mother Road during its centennial to sample cheese varieties.
CheeseTrail.org, a site for artisan cheese lovers and professionals, created a map.
A perusal of the site turns up these cheese makers or servers. You may notice a few are quite a few miles from Route 66, but cheese enthusiasts might consider a side trip. Cheeseheads in Missouri and Kansas also need to step up.
- All Together Now, Chicago
- Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery, Champaign, Illinois
- Engel Farms, Perkins, Oklahoma
- Watonga Cheese Factory, Perryton, Texas
- Picnic NM Cheese and Charcuterie, Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Brown’s Micro-Creamery, Corrales, New Mexico
- New Mexico Cheese Guild, Corrales
- Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, Albuquerque
- The Mouse Hole Cheese Shop, Albuquerque
- Americana Motor Hotel, Flagstaff, Arizona
- Agnes Restaurant and Cheesery, Pasadena, California
- Mountain Priory Cheese, Tehachapi, California
- Camino de Paz, Santa Cruz, California
- Gioia Cheese, South El Monte, California
It should also be noted that Hanna Lee of Albuquerque’s Mouse Hole Cheese Shop was named Best Cheesemonger in America at the 2026 Cheesemonger Invitational in New York.
According to The Paper in Albuquerque, competitors were tested in blind tastings, cheese knowledge, precision cutting, wrapping, aroma identification, salesmanship, food pairings and public presentations before a live audience.
(Image of the Cheese & Cured Meats Board from the Mouse Hole Cheese Shop in Albuquerque)