Cheese day in West Marin

Cowgirl Creamery, Point Reyes Farmstead, and a stop in Marshall. A day trip, not a dairy dump.

Cheese counter at Cowgirl Creamery, Point Reyes Station. Photo: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cheese counter at Cowgirl Creamery, Point Reyes Station. Photo: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0

This is a day. Drive out to Point Reyes, hit Cowgirl Creamery in the station, then down the road to Point Reyes Farmstead for the blue cheese made three hours after milking. On the way back, stop in Marshall for oysters at The Marshall Store — same bay, same drive, and you are already out there.

Oysters on Tomales Bay.

  1. Point Reyes Station

    Cowgirl Creamery

    Sue Conley and Peggy Smith started this in 1997, making cheese in a converted hay barn behind Tomales Bay Foods. Red Hawk is the washed-rind triple cream. Mt Tam is the one everyone knows. The Barn is at 80 Fourth Street in Point Reyes Station, open Thursday through Monday 10 to 5. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

  2. Point Reyes Station

    Tomales Bay Foods

    Same building as Cowgirl Creamery. This is the market side: local produce, pantry goods, sandwiches, and a cheese case if you want to take some home. Same hours as the creamery.

  3. Point Reyes Station

    Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese

    The Giacominis have been milking cows overlooking Tomales Bay since 1959. Original Blue is made on the farm, from their own cows, a few hours after milking. The marketplace is three miles north of town on Highway 1. Monday through Saturday, 11 to 4.

  4. Marshall

    The Marshall Store

    Oysters from Tomales Bay Oyster Company, grilled or raw, with a view of the bay. On Highway 1 south of Point Reyes Station, on the way back. Check the site before you go — hours change with the weather.