The Schopf's Hilltop Dairy Free, Self-guided Tour... Click on the picture above to hear Cookie... With a new state-of-the-art 400 cow freestall barn and double-ten milking parlor, Schopf's milking center is remarkable. Facilities include an employee lunchroom, his and her locker rooms, employee offices, a viewing room, an ice cream processing area, and a retail store. The general public is welcome to visit Cookie and her friends in dairy tours, which are available throughout the day. These special dairy tours start with a visit to Cookie's Classroom where children and adults learn interesting and fun facts about the dairy industry. Next, the tour takes you to Cookie's Barn where you can watch Cookie's friends through a 28-foot viewing window as they are milked in the parlor right before your eyes. The milking parlor is equipped with the latest technology available to dairys. It allows for the milking of 80 cows an hour, with the highest level of cow comfort available. Employees arrive at the facility in street clothes, change into uniforms, complete their shift, shower, and return to street clothes for the trip home. This is an unusual benefit that attracts and helps keep employees at the facility. In the main show room you can actually milk Cookie the Cow using a hands-on milking unit attached to our mechanical cow. Glass lines let visitors monitor the flow of milk from the parlor to the cooling and holding facility. Again, glass windows permit you to see the milk coolers holding 6,000 gallons of milk each, and the washing equipment. There is also an area where you will learn the life of a baby calf. The guided tour also includes a brief history of the Schopf farm and a history of the development of the technology being used in the dairy industry today. Tour the freestall barn (where the cows eat and sleep) via a live, moveable video camera to catch glimpses of the automatic cleaning system, drive through feeding, and the luxury cow mattresses. You'll see seed crop samples at the planting station that explain what we grow at Schopf's Hilltop Dairy. In the future a machinery pavilion will show farm equipment past and present. And, eventually a lookout tower will permit visitors to scan the horizon from the highest point in Door County. At the conclusion of the tour, you can try some of the homemade ice cream made right at Dairy View Ice Cream Parlor.. Sample and take home the ice cream flavor of your choice and shop in the Dairy View Country Store. The retail store area has a big screen TV showing videos of different areas of the dairy in action throughout the year. From tilling to planting crops it tells the story of the seasons.  SCHOOL and Bus TOURS Have your teacher call the Dairy View Country Store at 920.743.9779 to enjoy a day at Cookie's Farm! Learn how Cookie lives her life and meet all her friends. Play "Cookie's Trivia Game" and see how you and your friends score among Dairy Geniuses. See how you measure up on "Cookie's Height Chart." Learn dairy nutrition and watch the drive-through feeding. Milk "Cookie" in the same stall set up as the real cows! And watch the actual milking process through a 28 foot glass viewing window. School groups and bus tours are invited to call for volume discounts and other specials. Bus tours are $5 per person. School tours are $3 per person. All group tours must have a reservation... Call 920.743.9779 or e-mail to plan your school tour today!