Leavenworth Reindeer Farm — Attraction in Leavenworth

2024 visit: I came for the 6:30 pm tour. I was surprised there was no feeding the chickens but maybe they do not eat late at night. There was a good video explaining the interesting characteristics of the reindeer and introducing you to the family members. I thought it was a good upgrade. Instead of passing around reindeer antlers, there was a large rack on a picnic table you could touch. The daughter gave the safety briefing and handed out willow leafy branches. I had a lot of fun feeding a young reindeer, medium, and then a really big one. Keep your arm extended to avoid getting bumped by the antlers. We did not receive the cup of food, so I missed feeling their gentle lips taking the pellets from my hand.

2023 visit: A wonderful, special, bucket list experience to feed and pet big and baby reindeer, chickens, and turkeys for children and adults! This is a family owned reindeer farm and all the animals looked well cared for and healthy healthy.

There is a gentle hill down to the farm. Staff can take you down/up in a golf cart if you need it. The porta potty bathroom is located to the right of the food stand and to the left and side of the gift shop.

We could feed the chickens and turkeys from red bowls with a variety of food. Our tour started, and the young man said we could feed them when we got back.

We walked to a covered pavilion and sat on benches for the fun, educational reindeer talk. The farm was created by a family in 2016 with 6 Alaskan reindeer. The mother who usually gives the talk was away on a well deserved vacation with her husband, and her daughter did an excellent job being funny, enthusiastic, and teaching us about reindeer, caribou, and the farm. As an adult with no kids, I thoroughly enjoyed the talk and being able to hold and touch reindeer antlers from a one to three year old. "

There is a Cupid's Corner area for children (under a certain height) or anyone who does not feel comfortable in an open pen with the big reindeer. Smaller reindeer are inside and others can be fed through the wire mesh. We all went inside for reindeer pictures taken with our own cameras.

Before we entered the pen, we were given a branch with leaves (reindeer do love their leafy greens!) and a cup filled with food that we could pour in the palm of our hand for soft lip nuzzles and eating. The reindeer were more gentle eating from my hand than family dogs. You need to stretch your arm out to feed them, since both male and female reindeer have antlers that need space. You are not allowed to touch the antlers, but you can pet the reindeer.

I got to feed huge Sven, one of their original reindeer, and one of their newest, a 9 week old baby reindeer. It was a thoroughly fun experience, and I can't wait to do it again.

The gift shop has a lot of interesting items from reindeer antler keychains, bottle openers, and marshmallow roasting forks from antlers that were shed to a variety of gifts, including Christmas items. I went to feed the chickens after the shopping.

I stopped at the Blitzen Brew food stand and potato lefse (Norwegian flat bread made by the grandpa) available in an an Alaskan reindeer sausage form (The Hans) or vegetarian version (The Olaf). The reindeer sausage is from Alaska where reindeer are raised for meat, since cows don't do well there. I never would have ordered if it were made from the Leavenworth reindeer, but I felt like thoroughly experiencing reindeer inside and out that day. The reindeer sausage was juicy and surprisingly really good, like a fat beef sausage with some spices, but not hot. It was better than your normal bratwurst or hot dog; I will probably get it again when I come back. The Olaf was two small potato lefses with butter and cinnamon sugar inside.

All in all with the tour, shopping, and feeding the chickens, I was there from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm for the 10:30 am Friday tour. Once you go on the reindeer tour, you can receive a lifetime discount code (get a card in the gift shop) for 20% off future reindeer tours for...

One part farm, one part conservation, and actively run by a family three generations strong simultaneously, the Leavenworth Reindeer Farm is a pretty special place where you can interact with Santa's special sleigh-draggers on guided, supervised tours.

Reservation only, at the moment, and slots fill up fast, especially during the holiday season, so it is recommended to purchase your spot a week or two in advance. Prices run about $40/person during November and December; $25/person in the off-season. Littles under 12, or below a certain height, are not allowed into the main pen with the adult reindeer, but can observe them from "Cupid's Corner", a separate enclosure containing the youngest reindeer, usually those less than a year old.

During your visit, you are treated to a video presentation explaining various facts about reindeer, proper handling and safety techniques, conservation efforts, and the daily operations of the farm (and the family that runs it). You are also given a small cup of feed, guaranteed to draw the (sometimes relentless) attention of many a hungry reindeer! The whole experience lasts about 30 minutes, with half that time spent in direct interaction with the reindeer.

There's also a gift shop/barn, photos with Santa (during the Christmas season, of course), and a cart selling coffee and snacks, including potato lefse and reindeer sausage (imported! not from the farm itself!).

It may be a bit expensive, and the experience a bit shorter than most would like, both of these things are necessary to ensure that the maximum number of people can enjoy interacting with these wonderful creatures, and that conservation efforts of these endangered beasts can continue to succeed. It may be brief, but your time spent here at the Leavenworth Reindeer Farm can't help but be magical, and one you won't...

This was a cool place and I hate giving it three stars but for the price it just wasn't worth it for us. There is a pen with the reindeer freely roaming. The hosts were very funny when they gave us instructions and reindeer history. The staff was friendly at every point.

It's best to make reservations as they sell out quickly. With the snow it's easy to miss (not their fault it was record breaking snowfall) and GPS will take you past it. Someone right behind me had to turn around too.

You park and check-in at the front to get your bracelets. You take the bracelets to a second check-in where they ask if you have been around other farm animals. I would call if your answer is yes to avoid being turned away.

You enter a gift shop area with very nice set ups for photo opportunities while you wait for your tour. Once your tour starts you're given a very small cup of food and you're able to go into the pen and pet/feed the reindeer.

Back to the three stars, we were there for less than 20 minutes. To be fair I do have two teen boys and we were definitely outnumbered by small children. So perhaps if you have smaller children this would be an amazing experience.

I really enjoyed the reindeer just wish there was a few more things to do for us older folks. We ran out of food quickly because the cups were small. Which isn't really the hosts fault as they likely can't overfeed the reindeer.

Overall, if you have small kids this would be a cool place to visit while you're in Leavenworth. If your group is older then it wouldn't be my first choice of things to do. However, if you have some time to kill it could be something neat...