Hunt Trolls On These One-Of-A-Kind Whimsical Colorado Hikes

Whether it's the Manitou Incline, one of America's most difficult hikes, or the Blue Lakes Trail, Colorado has some legendary hiking. While you're out on the trail, you could spot all kinds of creatures, from mountain songbirds to majestic elk to alpine trolls. That's right, a couple of different hikes in Colorado will lead you to see larger-than-life trolls: one in Breckenridge and another in Victor. Of course, these trolls aren't alive, but they're definitely a magical sight.

Colorado's first troll was in Breckenridge, one of the best mountain destinations in the U.S. for non-skiers. He was created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo for the 2018 Breckenridge International Festival of Arts. Dambo used recycled scrap wood to make the 15-foot-tall sculpture, one of 100 Dambo trolls around the world. As Dambo was working on the installation, some young girls came by with a heart-shaped stone for the troll, and the artist made it a permanent part of the sculpture. This helped inspire the troll's name: Isak Heartstone. In 2019 after the festival, Isak found a new, permanent home in Breckenridge, and you can see him there by following the Trollstigen Trail in the White River National Forest on the south side of the city.

There are some things to note about visiting Isak. First, it's an easy hike to get to the troll, measuring just about a quarter mile; however, the trail isn't maintained during the winter, so tread carefully. Additionally, nearby parking is hard to come by. Skip the hassle of parking by taking the free Breckenridge shuttle bus service. There's a stop near the trailhead.

Thomas Dambo also built the troll in Victor, Colorado, a little over an hour from Colorado Springs, America's Olympic City. Victor was a gold rush town in the late 1890s, and there was extensive mining in the area. The Victor troll's name is Rita the Rock Planter, and she does indeed look as though she's planting something in the ground. The sculpture was built in 2023 and stands 21 feet tall.

On Dambo's artist website, there's a poem that encapsulates the idea behind Rita's design, tying into the area's history and helping make her seem delightfully real: "A hundred suns is how long a nap takes for the trolls / When Rita woke again, her mountainside was full of holes / The humans must have dug them in their search for shiny rock / But someone could fall in, so Rita went to tidy up."

To see Rita, hike the Little Grouse Mountain Trail. It's a roughly 2-mile loop trail from the bottom parking lot, and it can be steep. If you don't want to hike that far, there's an upper parking lot off of Overlook Road that makes it easier to reach her. Once you're at the top, you may get fantastic views of more than just Rita — on a clear day, you can see for miles out over the surrounding mountains. Keep in mind that you'll be above 10,000 feet of elevation when you visit Rita, so take it slow if you haven't acclimated to the altitude yet. And when visiting both trolls, remember to leave no trace.