Sight · Yorkshire Dales National Park
Watch Wensleydale cheese made by hand, then taste the full range
Overview
This is a working creamery in Hawes, not a gift shop with a cheese counter. Milk comes from local Dales farms, the cheese is made by hand using traditional recipes, and Yorkshire Wensleydale carries protected geographical status, granted in 2013. The Dale's cheesemaking story stretches back centuries to Cistercian monks who brought the skills from Normandy, and the creamery calls itself custodian of 875 years of that tradition. It is also the sensible move on a wet day, when the fells are socked in and you want something indoors.
Parkwolf’s verdictWhy stopMap
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yorkshire Dales Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yorkshire Dales National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Wensleydale Creamery“You're coming up on Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes, where the local cheese is still made by hand.”
Plays as you drive up to Wensleydale Creamery Visitor Centre in the Parkwolf Yorkshire Dales Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
The paid Cheese Experience starts with a cheesemaking demonstration, where experts talk through crafting Yorkshire Wensleydale by hand and making butter, then continues as a self-guided tour through exhibits on a thousand years of artisan cheesemaking in the Dales. It finishes with a guided tasting covering the range, flavour, texture and what to eat it with, which is the part most people remember. You watch and learn through the visitor areas rather than wandering the production floor.
It is an indoor, food-focused attraction, not a viewpoint or a walk. The cheese and gift shop, coffee shop and restaurant are free to browse if the ticketed experience is not your thing.
Wildlife
10 sightingsEurasian OtterMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
11 sightingsAtlantic SalmonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsShort-eared OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
22 sightingsWestern Barn OwlMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
27 sightingsTawny OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
34 sightingsCommon KingfisherMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yorkshire Dales. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyHawes Accessible Walk1.5 km · 45 min · 0.5 km awayCobbled climb, then stone flags along Gayle Beck toward pasture views
ModerateHawes and Aysgill Force6.4 km · 2.5 hr · 0.6 km awayCobbled lanes and steep steps to a gorge waterfall above GayleModerateHawes Mosaic Walk17.4 km · 4.8 hr · 0.6 km awayHunt 20 wall-set mosaics on a long Upper Wensleydale village loop
ModerateHawes to Sedbusk Circular5.6 km · 1.8 hr · 0.6 km awayHay meadows, field barns and a packhorse bridge on a short loop
ModerateGreat Shunner Fell14.8 km · 5.7 hr · 1.6 km awaySteady Pennine Way climb from Hardraw to an exposed summit shelter
EasyCotter Force Accessible Walk1 km · 30 min · 2.8 km awayHalf a mile of graded gravel to six gentle waterfall cascades
ModerateSnaizeholme Red Squirrel Trail4 km · 2 hr · 4.7 km awaySteep, muddy and worth it for a chance of red squirrels
ModerateSemerwater and Raydale Circular11.8 km · 4.5 hr · 5.6 km awayLakeside nature reserve first, then a steep climb to high views
Sight · 0.4 km awayHawesHawes: working Wensleydale market town, cheese and walkers' crossroads
Sight · 0.6 km awayDales Countryside Museum & Hawes National Park CentreA Victorian station turned museum of Dales life, farming and railways
Campground · 1 km awayHawes Caravan and Motorhome Club CampsiteMembers-only touring base a ten-minute walk from Hawes market town
Sight · 2 km awayHardraw ForceEngland's highest single-drop waterfall, a ten-minute walk from the gateSight · 3.2 km awayCotter ForceA stile-free woodland stroll to six gentle cascades on Cotterdale Beck
Campground · 4.9 km awayStablefell Holidays and CampsiteTent-only meadow pitches with firepits, no signal, walk to Semerwater
Sight · 5.4 km awaySemerwaterOne of only two natural lakes in the national park, glacier-made
Sight · 5.9 km awayButtertubs PassButtertubs Pass climbs between two dales past deep limestone potholesParkwolf’s Yorkshire Dales ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
