After finishing up at Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge, we headed to our other destination for the day - the city of Detroit Lakes Minnesota. I’ll admit, I hadn’t heard of this place previously but several people had recommended coming here to see the trolls. What are the trolls? Well they are large art installations created by Thomas Dambo from Denmark. He is very much into recycling, upcycling and reuse and has tied this mindset into his passion for art. He has made over 150 of these trolls and placed them all around the world with most of them being in USA and Europe but a few others are scattered in other countries. We had actually seen some of his trolls back in 2017 when we were visiting Seattle Washington but hadn't realized what they represented. The installations here were placed in 2024 so they are all quite new. While Detroit Lakes is about 60 miles from our campground, from our known plans, this stop was going to be the closest we would get so it made sense to base the trip out of Itasca SP.
 |
| Our Winning Troll - Ronny Funny Face |
We hadn’t spent a lot of time studying where the 6 trolls were located around town. I think if we had, we wouldn’t have stopped at the wildlife refuge first and just planned to spend the full day in Detroit Lakes. The total driving distance between the trolls is around 30 miles if you pick the optimal route. That isn’t terribly far but it turns out that all but one of the trolls is a fairly decent walk from the closest parking area - usually around a half mile each way. And then there is the added distance that we will have since we will likely feel obligated to find some of the geocaches hidden along the trails whether they are associated with the trolls or not.
Based on the direction we are coming from, we make our first stop at Detroit Mountain Recreation Area on the northeast side of town. This looks to be a very nice place. It wasn’t too crowded but it was a Thursday. From what we could tell, they offer lots of winter sports with tubing, skiing and snowboarding. Obviously on a hot August day, none of that was taking place but it does appear that they have lots of mountain biking trails.
 |
| Entrance to Detroit Mountain Rec Area |
We eat our lunch in the parking lot prior to heading out for the first troll. The hike to the Golden Rabbit might be the most difficult of all the hikes. It’s a half mile from the parking lot but is near the tubing hill so you must first walk down the hill, cross the bottom of the run then hike up a very steep hill.
 |
| Colorful Birdhouses Lead the Way |
 |
| Down The Tubing Hill |
 |
| Line of Clouds |
Even after all of that you’re just over halfway there. Another downhill walk is required before you come upon the rabbit. It looks to be about 25 feet tall and made of discarded plastic trays. It’s rather unusual and will be a hint of what is in store for the rest of the day. Then it is back up the hill to the parking lot to a different trailhead for the second troll in this park.
 |
| The Golden Rabbit |
 |
| Rabbit Head Shot |
The hike to Long Leif is about another half mile each way but not quite as hilly but definitely not flat. This one is even taller - about 36 feet tall.
 |
| Long Leif |
We had noticed another unusual thing as we were walking through the park and decided to check it out even though it isn’t a troll. Mashaal the Mammoth is a 20 foot tall woolly mammoth with sticks for its “skin”. If that isn’t unique enough, as we approached the to get a better look at the thing, we realize that there is actually a ladder of sorts that gets you into the belly of the beast. Inside is a large deck with a few chairs. It’s not perfectly clear the intended purpose but cool nonetheless.
 |
| Mashaal the Mammoth |
 |
| In the Belly of the Beast |
 |
| Chair Lift at Detroit Mountain |
Next we drive to the far western troll which is along a trail in Denton Locks County Park. The walk to Ronny Funny Face was pretty easy since it was along a relatively flat paved trail. This troll has an even more whimsical look to it and was probably our favorite one.
 |
| Ronny Funny Face |
 |
| Sail Art at Denton Locks County Park |
The next troll was definitely the easiest to get to because it was in a city park near downtown and only a few hundred feet from the parking spaces. Alexa, as this troll is called, is a potion maker. She has a large spoon in one hand and a book with potions. This was the most crowed of the troll locations simply because it was so close to town and can easily be walked to.
 |
| Alexa Casting a Spell |
Our next stop on the tour was to Ortenstone Gardens on the east side of town. Based on the name of the place, I initially assumed this was some sort of commercial garden center but as we pulled in, it was clear it was more like a park and less like a business. The field of zinnias was quite pretty near the entrance. The old barn was in good shape with a grain silo next to it.
 |
| Colorful Zinnias |
 |
| Old Barn and Silo |
As we started to walk the trails which lead back to our troll, we realized that there are more sculptures here than what we expected. We checked out a few of the sculptures on the way to the troll and looked over the hill to see the trail continuing on. It looked like a really cool place to explore but it was already late afternoon and we didn’t have the time to see it all. The reclining female figure that was emerging from the hill was quite unusual.
 |
| Metal Horse Sculpture |
 |
| Heads Will Roll |
 |
| Woman in Profile |
We worked our way over to the troll. This one is called Barefoot Frida. The troll is sitting in a small hill under some trees and is probably 15 feet tall. When we first arrived there were a fair number of visitors but we were able to get some free time with Frida.
 |
| Barefoot Frida |
The last of the six trolls is actually well south of Detroit Lakes in the town of Frazee. As we made our way into town, we passed a huge farm with many large buildings - 600 feet long. As we were pondering what they might be used for and started to think (smell) chickens, we drove past a huge turkey statue. We’d like to modify our answer from chickens to turkeys. Of course we had to make a quick stop to check it out and discovered “Big Tom” - a 22 foot tall statue of a male turkey. While we were looking him over, we figured there might be a geocache hidden here. Sure enough when we pulled up the app, there was one less than 50 feet away.
 |
| Big Tom Greets Visitors to Frazee |
We drive to Wannigan Park for the trailhead to the last troll - Jacob Everear. We were surprised when we saw signs for the NCT - North Country Trail. This is another one of those long trails like the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail that we will never actually complete a through hike on, but now we have done another short section of the NCT in the state of Minnesota. It’s a scenic area with an old covered bridge over a small creek.
 |
| Covered Bridge in Wannigan Park |
 |
| Scenic View from Bridge |
This troll was laying down, leaning against a large tree. Unlike all the other trolls, this one has a sign which states visitors are permitted to climb on him as long as you are careful and gentle. We weren’t inclined to actually climb him but after a few minutes another family arrived and the kids had a ball. We really enjoyed spending the day checking out the trolls in Detroit Lakes. It would have been better if we had been camping closer to town so we could spend a couple days exploring some of the other interesting places we saw along the way. It was nearing dinner time and we still had an hours drive back to Itasca.
 |
| Jacob Everear |
Since we have an annual Minnesota state park pass, we decide to head up to the LaSalle Lake State Recreation Area about 15 miles north of Itasca for a hike. There is a 7.5 mile trail around the lake but fortunately we read reviews in AllTrails beforehand to find out that a bridge is out on the south end of the lake and some serious wading would be required. We decide to treat the hike as an out and back and will just stick to the east side of the lake. It’s a nice setting and the parking area on the north side had only a few cars parked.
 |
| Large Picnic Shelter at LaSalle Lake |
 |
| LaSalle Lake |
It was a nice hike in the woods with some spots along the way to check out the lake. Not too far along the trail is a boat launch and fishing pier and a few people with kayaks were preparing to head out. As we made our way further from the camping area, the trail got a bit more overgrown. A large storm had come through the area and it was clear that some big trees had been blown over. It looked like an initial clearing pass had been made by the park crew, but as we headed south, conditions got to the point that the hike wasn’t all that fun plus we knew there was going to be a bridge out somewhere not too far. We found a trail that turned down to the lake and after checking out the view, we proceeded to backtrack.
 |
| Fishing Pier |
 |
| Trail Cleared of Fallen Trees |
We had seen an intersecting trail called the Campground Trail and from our maps, it appeared this would allow us to make the rest of the return leg be a different view and also permit us to check out the campground. Being a Friday afternoon, some campers were already getting set up and from the looks of things, it was a nice camping area and with sites big enough to fit us. In fact the sites here appeared to be much more level than those in Itasca. We made it back to the car after covering just over 4 miles. Too bad the bridge is out since it likely would be a nice loop trail.
 |
| Tree Eats Trail Marker |
 |
| Another Lake View |
We had enjoyed the bike ride on the Heartland Trail the other day and decide to head back to do a different section of it. If we start in the town of Park Rapids and head east it would be 12 miles to get to the town of Nevis where we had turned around the last time. We figured this would be a good distance and let us see completely new scenery. We stopped in town check out the morning farmers market and then pick up a sub to bring along for lunch and set off on the trail. This part of the trail was much busier. Likely because we were in a big town and it was a Saturday. This section of trail also has lots of geocaches hidden along it - over 40 between Park Rapids and Nevis. There is less of an elevation difference along this part so effort in either direction will be similar.
 |
| Near Heartland Trailhead in Park Rapids |
We ended up stopping for 10 or so geocaches for the day, so the travel was a bit slower. After 6 miles we were in the little town of Dorset. It looked to be a very popular destination for both cyclists and other travelers. There were numerous dining establishments on either side of the main road just off the trail. Had we known, we likely could have found a place to eat here although there may have been a wait for a table. We sat at the picnic tables in the park along the trail and had our subs.
 |
| Art? in Dorset |
There is a large sign along the trail advertising the town. Besides being the restaurant capital of the world, they also seem to have a famous mayoral race each year. I had to investigate the phrase “vote early, vote often”. It turns out that each year the town holds a festival where they elect an honorary mayor. To “vote” for a candidate, you simply buy a $1 ticket, write in a name of your choice and place it in the box. At the end of the festival, a name is randomly drawn and that person is the honorary mayor for the year. Currently a 3 year old holds the job!
 |
| Vote Early, Vote Often |
While eating, we got alerts about rain starting shortly in our area. A quick look at the radar showed there was indeed a line of rain heading our way and it wasn’t looking to be a short lived event. Instead of continuing to Nevis, we decided to head back to the car. We did get a little wet but the rain did stop by the time we made it to Park Rapids. It turned out to be a 14 mile bike ride. Chris had brought along laundry and stopped at a nearby laundromat while I walked around downtown working on an Adventure Lab. It worked out as a nice day even if it didn’t go quite as planned.
The next day, we drive to the trailhead at the southern entrance to the state park. Our plan was to hike a portion of the North Country Trail (NCT) since it comes through the south side of the park on its path through Minnesota. We had mapped out a route that included the NCT to Ozawindib Trail to Red Pine Trail and back out to the park road where we will need to walk for a mile or so. On paper it looked to be a nice hike of just over 5 miles.
 |
| NCT Trailhead in Itasca SP |
The NCT portion of the hike was quite nice and while we would have loved to hike more of it, we hadn’t been able to come up with a route that would permit that to work out easily or at least with a reasonable distance. At the intersection with the Ozawindib Trail we hang a right and head north. This trail was a wider skiing trail and had some large ruts from time to time. There is a bit of a shelter at a major trail intersection about 2 miles into the hike that worked well for us to have lunch.
 |
| Mud Puddle Ahead |
 |
| Shelter at Trail Intersection |
The Red Pine Trail comes into this intersection from the west but also comes off the other trail about 2/3 mile further north. We had decided that we would head to that northern point first and work our way back. The trail was fine and we spotted the sign for the Red Pine Trail but the trail was completely obscured by brush. It seemed strange that there is a trail marker but not much of a trail. We decide to follow the very faint trail with the hope that it would open up after a short distance.
 |
| Nice Trail |
 |
| The Nonexistent Red Pine Trail |
We bushwhacked through the woods for almost a half mile and conditions only got worse. Near the edge of a small lake, we ran into extremely wet conditions, with water almost over our hiking boots and it wasn’t looking any more promising even though my Garmin map showed us as being on the trail.
 |
| Our Turn Around Point |
We decided that this wasn’t much fun and was only getting worse so we backtracked until we made it to the Ozawindib Trail again. Just as we came out of the brush, another hiker was walking by and gave us that look of “what were you doing back in there?” We wondered the same thing. We made it back to the shelter and decided to try the Red Pine Trail heading the other direction since this portion of the trail was in great shape.
Of course with our luck, that only lasted for a tenth mile before the trail completely petered out and we were on more of a deer trail which was still an improvement over the other end. As we came around a bend in the path, we spotted what appeared to be some sort of campsite or at least the remnants of one. We approached cautiously since it at first looked like someone might be in the vicinity but as we got to the spot, we found a small wheeled cart with some sticks of firewood, a tent, sleeping bag and a cardboard box. Based on its condition, it hadn’t been used in months but was all fairly new looking. In fact the label on the box had a persons name and address.
 |
| Abandoned Camping Gear |
By now we were tired of our hiking adventures and head back past the shelter and over to the road and then to the car. We ended up with an even longer hike than we had planned - 6.2 miles. We were concerned about whether the items we found were from some missing hiker that the park might have been looking for. When we got back in cell service, I looked up the name on the box and tried to find if this person had been reported missing. Surprisingly, there was some Facebook post from the Bemidji police department looking for a this 15 year old boy from about a year earlier but they had safely found him. We did stop at the main park visitor center to report our findings if for no other reason than having someone remove all the items from the woods.
 |
| Vibrant Mushroom |
That evening there was another concert in the park. This one was held in a beautiful stone building not far from the Douglas Lodge. A group of four woodwind instrument players performed a wide variety of songs with the clarinets and such. We had a decent sunset that evening over the lake near our campsite.
 |
| Woodwind Quartet |
 |
| Sunset Over Lake Itasca |
On our travel day, we normally need to pack up and move on to our next destination before lunch. But this time we were only heading 45 miles to another state park just to the north and since Minnesota state park campgrounds have late check out and check in times, we actually have time to spend doing one last hike. The one we plan can be taken right from our campground. The Brower Trail follows the eastern side of Lake Itasca to the south of camp.
 |
| Nice View Along Brower Trail |
 |
| Boardwalk Over Wet Area |
It’s a pretty hike with nice views of the water. It takes us past a couple of the viewpoints we had checked out earlier in our stay - Peace Pipe Vista and Preacher Grove. A bit further down the trail are a few cabins the park rents out to visitors without RVs.
 |
| Cabin |
At the far south end of the trail is the boat launch and old tour boat that doesn’t appear to have been used in many years.
 |
| Kayak Launch |
 |
| Old Tour Boat |
 |
| Stained Glass on Boat |
We still had time and energy so we tried out the Dr Robert’s self guided loop trail. It’s about a 1.5 mile hike. Along this loop was a really neat cabin called the Old Timers Cabin. It is constructed with just a few huge logs. Each side only has four logs but it is a normal size cabin. There was a more normal cabin that looks to be rented out to visitors that is kind of fancy.
 |
| Old Timers Cabin |
 |
| Huge Logs! |
 |
| Large Cabin |
After completing the loop we head back up the trail to camp. We have been seeing lots of pines that were damaged in the recent storm. It seems like these trees tend to snap off mid trunk as opposed to near the ground or uprooting themselves. Our 9 days went by pretty quickly and we enjoyed the park. Next stop Bemidji State Park.
 |
| Gentian Along Trail |
 |
| Snapped Pine Tree |
No comments:
Post a Comment