Tucked into a large village of tall trees and at the foothills of the majestic Cascade Mountains, a vacation at Sleeping Lady Resort is more than a place to get a good night’s rest. From its picturesque mountain landscapes, cozy cabins, walking trails, restaurants, and family-friendly pool, the resort offers a pleasant escape. It’s so relaxing you’ll hardly notice that you’re just 10 minutes away from Leavenworth’s lively Bavarian Village.
The interior of the 59er Diner has nostalgic decor, delicious milkshakes, and classic diner meals.
Getting to Sleeping Lady and stops along the way
Pack snacks, car games, and audiobooks—you’ll need them if you have squirmy kids in the backseat. There are two ways to get to Leavenworth from Seattle. Drive east over the mountains and through the pass (Stevens or Snoqualmie), and you’ll reach Leavenworth in about 2 hours. We traveled through Stevens Pass and noted some interesting stops along the way.
Need to stretch your legs? If you’re traveling through Monroe, stop at the Reptile Zoo for a quick look at snakes, lizards, frogs, turtles and even an albino crocodile!
Traveler’s Park in Sultan is another excellent stop for stretching your legs. Use the restroom and check out an antique shop.
Fancy a coffee break while driving through Index? Stop at the famous Espresso Chalet. You can’t miss this kitschy spot with its statue of Big Foot in front, towering over visitors. Order your specialty coffees and grab a baked treat.
Kids in the back may notice a colorful pink and silver building as you approach Leavenworth. Stop in at the 59er Diner for its cool decor and amazing milkshakes.
View from the top of the loft. The steep stairs are difficult for small children.
Restful nights: Accommodations, cost
The Sleeping Lady offers a unique set of guest cabins, each a cluster of rooms arranged in a circle with a boardwalk that leads from one room to another. It’s a perfect set up for multiple families. Accommodations vary in size and configuration. We were in a treehouse (loft) room with a steep staircase leading to a bedroom at the top. This was comfortable for my family of four. My kids are 10 and 12 years old.
Two beds on the bottom floor provided plenty of room for our family of 4.
If you have young children, the stairs in the treehouse (loft) configuration may pose a problem, especially if you have kids who like to climb. To keep your sanity, the best option for families with toddlers is to stay in the one-story Alcove or Double Alcove room with enough space for three to four people. Other options include rooms with bunkbeds and kitchenettes. Nightly rates start at $185 during the off-peak season and $250 during peak season.
Park your car by reception and wheel your things to the room. You might need to make more than one trip.
Whatever room you choose as your accommodation, pack light. Parking is far and you’ll need a wagon, provided by Sleeping Lady Resort, to transport your things.
The breakfast burrito is an excellent choice at O’Grady’s Pantry
Dining in at the Sleeping Lady Resort
There are two places to dine at the Sleeping Lady Resort: O’Grady’s Pantry and the Grotto Bar. Located at the front of the property, O’Grady’s is a sit-down restaurant (seating is available outdoors during the spring and summer months) serving family-friendly meals that everyone will enjoy. From breakfast goodies to plates of eggs and toast to salads, burgers, and pizza, there’s something for every diner.
Ask for the daily special, and you may get a fancy and delicious pink drink.
The Grotto is also a sit-down restaurant and bar, but unsuitable for a hungry family. With their limited menu, dishes are run from O’Grady’s Pantry to the Grotto Bar via golf cart. If you’ve got hungry kiddos, it will take a little longer to get your food, so make your way to O’Grady’s Pantry for the entire dining menu and experience. However, if you want to indulge in a pretty cocktail or drink of choice, this is a perfect place to hang out and enjoy some time to yourself or another adult inside the restaurant or outside by a water fountain feature. Fire pits are also open to stay warm on cool nights.
Getting ready to strike on the antique pool table.
Activities at the resort: Play and swim
Sleeping Lady is not short on things to do for the family. There’s a beautiful outdoor pool (not open in the winter) and hot tub, a separate building called the Play Barn filled with games for young children, a full-size piano, billiards, and a ping-pong table for older kids. My kids loved this playroom, where we spent evenings at the billiards table (an antique), playing ping-pong and Connect Four.
The pool is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the summer. The water is cool and refreshing on a hot summer day. The hot tub is open in the winter.
Although small, the cool-temperature pool is the right size for a few families to enjoy at a time. The depth of the pool is 5 feet, which makes it easy for little swimmers to wear floaties or hop in with mom and dad. The best times to go to the pool are early morning or late at night. Afternoons can get crowded, so bring snacks and drinks as you lounge on the chairs, taking turns drifting in and out of the pool. A changing room and bathroom are available near the pool area. You must have your key to enter the gates. The hot tub is open year-round and can seat up to 10 comfortably.
Scoot or bike along the paths around the resort.
Wheel and walk around Sleeping Lady Resort
Whatever you do, don’t forget your child’s scooter or bike. The paths that wind around the property make for fun excursions, especially when your kiddo needs to expend some energy before bedtime. While wheeling around, admire the sculptures and various pieces of artwork that dot the resort’s campus.
A colorful salmon sculpture is located by the Icicle River.
Grab a brochure from the main office that will refer you to the Sleeping Lady Resort’s Art Walk. The brochure will lead you on a walk through the property and help identify various sculptures by local artists. There’s even a stunning piece by Dale Chihuly that leads to the back of the resort, where you can see Icicle River and Sleeping Lady Mountain, the resort’s namesake.
Sleeping Lady was named after Sleeping Lady Mountain. You can see this mountain at the back of the property as you look over Icicle River.
Fun fact: Look at Sleeping Lady Mountain. Follow the ridges (from the left) to the second small peak. That’s Sleeping Lady’s nose. Now follow that ridge down to the chin, where it dips down to her long neck, extending up and over to her bust. Her hair cascades down the mountain to the left of the first ridge (some of it is green in the photo). Once you see it, you won’t be able to unsee it!
Spend some time in the garden admiring plants, flowers, and the birds that fly around.
There’s a garden at the resort, too! It’s an excellent spot for bird-watching and is filled with beautiful flowers and trees. Follow the paths around the garden and admire the scenery. The garden will be renovated in the coming years to provide visitors with a more interactive space, but now, it’s a peaceful place to walk and take photos.
History
The Wenatchi tribe were the first inhabitants of the land where Sleeping Lady resides. In the 1930s and 40s, the site was home to the Civilian Conservation Corps, which housed 200 men in barracks and other buildings. Many of these buildings are there today, updated to modern cabins for resort visitors. The land was sold again to a private family in the early 1950s, who turned the acreage into a ranch. In 1957, the Roman Catholic Church bought the property and made it into a camp destination serving children eight years old and older. Finally, in 1991, the property was put up for sale again, and Harriet Bullitt, the longtime owner of the neighboring property, purchased all 67 acres. Bullitt named the property Sleeping Lady after the mountain profile above the narrow valley.
Who was Harriet Bullitt?
Harriet Stimson Bullitt was a northwest philanthropist and conservationist. Her family owned King Broadcasting Company, but Bullitt’s interests were not in media. She is known as an “environmental hero” whose mission was to protect Northwest old-growth forests, rivers, and green urban growth. She established the Bullitt Foundation with her siblings and provided over $200 million in grants to support environmental and conservation efforts around the Pacific Northwest. Bullitt also established the Icicle Fund, a non-profit organization that helps support organizations that focus on advancing the arts, protecting the environment, and promoting the natural and cultural history of North Central Washington. All proceeds from Sleeping Lady Resort go to fund this non-profit.
Special excursions: Horses
Giddy up and head over to Icicle Outfitters & Guides, next door to the resort, for a special outing. Children as young as six can ride a horse independently, while younger kids can ride with their parents on one saddle. Our excursion was an hour long as we headed onto the dusty trails behind their property. Wear comfortable clothes, shoes, and a hat. Bring lots of water and try to take an early ride due to high temperatures later in the day.
On our ride, the guide spoke about the history of the land and the plants that grew in the forest while also giving us a little background about each of our horses. Most of the horses are rescued, which made us love the excursion even more. My kids took command of their animals, whispering to slow down or speed up on the trail. It was a unique and memorable afternoon.
The reindeer are eager to nibble on the tasty branches of willow leaves
Reindeer
Nearby, there’s also the opportunity to visit the Leavenworth Reindeer Farm. A popular attraction in the winter (with Santa visiting and sleigh rides), these reindeer and their babies are adorable in the spring and summer months. Purchase a farm experience ticket to tour the facility. Learn more about where these reindeer come from, their life on the farm, and many other interesting facts. The tour includes feeding adult and baby reindeer fresh leaves from willow branches. Visitors can also pet these beautiful animals and take pictures with them. My kids carried reindeer antlers and felt their weight in their hands, and boy, were they heavy!
Note: Don’t be late for your tour. Due to the large group size, the tours cannot accommodate latecomers.
Face to face with an Eagle- a predator for the salmon held in tanks outside.
Easy hikes at the hatchery
If you don’t want to travel too far outside of Sleeping Lady Resort for hiking trails, there are plenty of short hikes near the property. Down the street is the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery. It is open year-round and offers a nature center and self-guided tours around the facility. Walk outside to the paved pathways that lead to large tanks and observe salmon swimming around. You may even get the chance to watch employees feed the fish. Thousands of salmon gather quickly to gobble up their feed.
Walk the gravel trail, searching for the next page in the story walk.
Trails behind the hatchery offer dirt and gravel pathways for walking over and around Icicle River. Head toward the metal gate and over the bridge. The water rushing down one side of the bridge is mesmerizing. On warm days, fisherman will be docked on wood platforms, casting their fishing poles into the river. The trail to the left of the bridge begins with a story walk, looping around the forest from the beginning to the end of the story. The walk is less than a mile, mostly flat, and an exciting way for young children to read a story while moving along the trail. There are several viewpoints from which you can veer off to see swampland, streams, and birds, too.
Two playgrounds are available for young children with seating around the structure’s perimeter.
Waterfront walks
Another family-friendly trail is the Blackbird Island Trail, located behind Enchantment Park. The park is worth checking out, with plenty of play structures, a pump track, a skate park, free parking, and bathrooms. Behind the park is a well-maintained network of 1-2 mile trails, all easy for young children to walk. The paths are wide enough for a stroller, and plenty of areas to stop at to play along the Wenatchee River when the water levels are low. Placards on the trail share information about the plants and animals that visitors may encounter on the trail.
When the water is shallow, you can walk across rocks and over sand to the middle of the river.
A not-so-secret watering hole
My family and I have visited Leavenworth for several years and love this little gem. It’s located behind the now permanently closed Upper Valley Museum at 735 Front Street. Paid parking is available for $5. Walk down the long and winding path to the sandy beach area (bring a wagon with all your supplies, plenty of water, and snacks). Along the way, look at the gardens–you’ll find Mirabel plum trees and a variety of other flowering plants. Get there early if you plan to spend the whole day by the water to snag a spot between the trees for shade.
The shallow entrance makes it easy for kids to play near the shore.
The watering hole has a shallow entrance to the river’s right. The depth in the middle is above 6 feet, so you’ll need to go in with young children and equip them with safety jackets. The water is cold but refreshing in hot summer weather. To the left of the watering hole is a rock area where you can sit and dip your feet. We’ve spent afternoons here swimming, snacking, and watching the river rafters float on by.
Leavenworth’s quaint Bavarian village invites visitors from all over to experience European charm.
The Bavarian Village
You can’t leave Leavenworth without visiting the Bavarian Village and Adventure Park (home to Washington’s first alpine coaster). Both are iconic establishments that add to the beauty that surrounds the town.
The Bavarian Village transports visitors to Europe with its old-world charm, architecture, authentic German cuisine, shops, and activities. There is an art festival and a wood carving demonstration in the summer. Both are fantastic events that allow you to speak with artists about their work and purchase something new for your home if desired. There are plenty of other places to take note of when visiting Leavenworth too, and here are some of our favorites:
Gingerbread cookies with just the right amount of YUM!
Gingerbread Factory: Skip the lunch menu at this location and go straight for dessert. Tender gingerbread cookies, handmade in the back kitchen, were all we wanted from this store. Be sure to check out the array of gingerbread houses as you enter the storefront.
Flight of ice cream- perfect for one hungry person or to share.
Whistlepunk Ice Cream Co.: Have a sweet treat at this artisanal ice cream shop. Established in 2016, this store has unique flavors like Alpine Licorice, Backyard Blueberry, and Coco Loco. Can’t decide what to get? Choose a flight of four large scoops of deliciousness.
Twinkling lights add holiday charm to this ski village.
Kris Kringl: Christmas year-round? Yes, please! Visit this winter wonderland-themed store and find your next ornament, holiday village, or other winter decorations.
Leavenworth is a beautiful, family-friendly destination that we think you’ll love. We highly recommend making Sleeping Lady Resort your home away from home while visiting. The resort’s location, things to do, and dining options will make your visit a breeze and give you plenty of time to explore the town and all that it has to offer.
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