VERDICT: We gave 4 out of 5 tickets and here’s why!

This guide forms part of our complete USA Travel Guide, featuring scenic road trips, iconic destinations, practical travel advice and honest first-hand travel experiences from across the United States.

This article is part of our 🚗 5-Day Pacific Northwest USA Road Trip series, exploring Washington and Oregon. Beginning at the Sumas border crossing in British Columbia, our 1,397-kilometre adventure takes us through historic coastal towns, spectacular beaches, iconic cities and one of America’s most famous volcanoes.. Read the complete itinerary here.

Day 1: Historic Bridges, Sea Lions & Astoria’s Waterfront ✅
Day 2: Haystack Rock, Puffins & Oregon’s Most Beautiful Beach ✅
Day 3: Shipwrecks, Cheese & Portland’s Weird Side ✅
Day 4: Volcanoes, Forests & The Mountain That Changed America
Day 5: Small-Town Charm, Ferries & The Journey Home

Watch cheese being made, sample award-winning dairy products and enjoy one of Oregon’s most popular road trip stops

Tillamook Creamery, in Tillamook, Oregon, is right on US-101 along the Oregon Coast. It’s a very popular stop for people road-tripping down the coast from Seattle & the Pacific North West.

The Tillamook Creamery is a dairy-lover’s dream & a farmer-owned co-op that’s been around for generations. We were so surprised to see the size of this immaculate new, spacious visitor centre – it’s unbelievable. It’s free to enter & self-guided, although you can book tours.

You can look down into the cheese factory from the viewing gallery to watch cheddar being made, hit the sample table for cheese (it was delicious), and learn about the farmer-owners in the Farm Exhibit Hall.

Don’t skip the Dining Hall for a cheesy-twist menu from their Executive Chef, or the ice cream counter, Marionberry Pie and other ultra-creamy flavours were clearly a fan favourite, by the crowd. You can eat indoors but there’s also an outdoor patio.

The only issue we had was when we ordered our meal, it took forever to come, so we finally went to see what was happening & they’d mistakenly forgotten us. They did give us fresh food right away after that.

There’s also a big gift shop with cheese, yogourt, souvenirs, cookbooks, chocolate milk, even jerky. It’s family-friendly, wheelchair accessible, dog-friendly, and better yet… has free parking.

Know before you go: Tillamook Creamery’s hours are daily 10am – 6pm. It gets very busy on weekends with parking at a premium, so budget 30-60 minutes & go on a weekday if you want to see more activity on the production line.

Most items are sold at full retail pricing, and samples are pre-packaged snack sizes.

Tillamook Creamery Location

Address:
4165 N Highway 101, Tillamook, OR 97141, USA

Driving Distances

From Cannon Beach: 58 km (36 miles) — approximately 1 hour via US-101 South.
From Portland: 120 km (75 miles) — approximately 1 hour 45 minutes via US-26 West and OR-6 West.

Top 5 Things to See at Tillamook Creamery

1. Cheese Production Viewing Gallery

Watch skilled cheesemakers producing Tillamook’s famous cheddar through large viewing windows overlooking the working factory floor.

2. Free Cheese Sampling Station

Taste a variety of award-winning cheeses before deciding what to take home. It’s one of the visitor centre’s most popular attractions.

3. Dining Hall

Enjoy freshly prepared comfort food featuring Tillamook cheeses, burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, soups and seasonal specialties created by the Creamery’s Executive Chef.

4. Ice Cream Counter

Don’t leave without trying Tillamook’s famous extra-creamy ice cream. Marionberry Pie, Oregon Strawberry, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Mudslide are among the visitor favourites.

5. Farm Exhibit Hall & Gift Shop

Learn how the farmer-owned cooperative operates through interactive displays before browsing one of Oregon’s best food gift shops, stocked with cheeses, ice cream, yogurts, chocolate milk, souvenirs, cookbooks and locally inspired gifts.

Know Before You Go

Admission: Free
Hours: Daily 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Parking: Free (arrive early on weekends)
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible
Dog Friendly: Outdoor areas welcome leashed dogs
Recommended Visit: 45–90 minutes

Continue Exploring Portland and Oregon

Nearby Attractions

Checklist For Things to See in Portland

Powell’s City of Books The world’s largest independent bookstore covering an entire city block with over four million books spread across nine colour-coded rooms.
Voodoo Doughnut One of Portland’s most famous attractions, known worldwide for its quirky doughnuts, unusual flavours and long queues.
Mill Ends Park Officially recognized as the world’s smallest park, measuring just 61 cm (24 inches) across. It’s tiny, but surprisingly famous.
Washington Park Home to the International Rose Test Garden, Japanese Garden, Hoyt Arboretum and spectacular views across Portland and Mount Hood on clear days.
Portland Saturday Market (Weekends) The largest continuously operating outdoor arts and crafts market in the United States, featuring local artists, food vendors and live entertainment along the Willamette River.

Planning Your Trip?

Before you go, don’t forget to book the essentials:

With every trip, we offer feedback to travel companies along with honest views for you, the reader. We rate adventures on a scale of one to five tickets, judged on quality, service, memorability, and price. A perfect ‘Ticket Rating’ of a five-ticket score means the experience was flawless and we’d eagerly return. Your desire to go back is the ultimate measure of a trip’s worth. Exclusive to My Return Ticket.

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USA 5-Day Road Trip (Pacific Northwest)

USA Road Trip| Day 3: Tillamook Creamery⎮Oregon’s Ultimate Cheese & Ice Cream Experience