Mount Susitna

The Story of the "Sleeping Lady"

Often called “The Sleeping Lady,” if you look to the west, you will see the woman at rest across the inlet. Native stories say that the lady was engaged to a man who was off to protect their village before they wed. On the day her fiancé left, she promised to wait in the exact spot where he bade farewell.

After many nights, she fell into a deep sleep waiting for him. Word came back to the village that the men were killed. Seeing how peacefully she was sleeping, the villagers couldn’t bare to wake her up so she lay there, asleep and waiting for her love to return.

Where to See Mount Susitna

Mount Susitna can be seen across Knik Arm in downtown Anchorage, as well as points along the Parks Highway in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. From Downtown Anchorage, two particularly good viewpoints are from Elderberry Park or the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.