In North Carolina’s High Country, a thriving agricultural community provides fine artisanal products to residents and visitors alike. These are sold primarily at farmers markets, but farm tours can usually be arranged in advance. Here are some of our favorite finds.

Spinning Spider Creamery

This goat dairy, set on a five-acre family farm on Bailey Mountain, sells handcrafted cheese. Started in 1999 by husband-and-wife team Chris and Jeff Owen, Spinning Spider offers a variety of fresh chevre, including garlic, rosemary, fig and seasonal cranberry, as well as a number of aged cheeses, including a tomme, a bleu and a feta. I highly recommend the flavorful, milky Camille, Spinning Spider’s version of a Camembert. If you are a fan of Cowgirl Creamery’s Humboldt Fog, you’ll naturally gravitate toward the Stackhouse, a square loaf-shaped bloomy cheese with a layer of ash through its center.

Spinning Spider Creamery
4717 East Fork Road, Marshall, NC 28753. Tel. (828) 206-5509