A bike ride to find Big Rusty and 7 other trolls in Burlington County

Burlington County, NJ, has come up with one of the coolest ideas: 18 new troll sculptures scattered around the county inspired by the OG, Thomas Danbo’s Big Rusty.

Could there be a better reason to go bike exploring?

So off a friend and I went. We found seven — plus Big Rusty — on a 40-mile ride on an unseasonably warm October afternoon.

So fun! All the trolls are different, and of course you love some more than others. But how they all reuse wood from pallets and other items plus bottle caps, old electronics cables and more …. amazing. And then the little details.

I went kind of crazy taking photos.

Big Rusty is the biggest — just look how my bike seems puny! He lives next to an abandoned ceramics factory down an unmarked dirt road next to Pandora’s Diner (Pandora 4 on Google Maps) on Route 38 in Hainesport. Not the most bike-friendly road, but there’s a a wide shoulder. And a sidewalk from Bancroft Lane to maybe the final 50 feet if you want to minimize your time on Route 38.

And we weren’t the only ones taking a look.

Then we found Bucket Head Bobby and Retlaw in Mount Holly.

Look at Retlaw’s beard:

Next we headed to Historic Smithville Park. This was once home a bicycle manufacturer, so of course I loved that Troll on a Stroll was made of bike parts!

Nearby was Gracie the Gardener. The orange dress? Made of Gatorade bottle caps. Again, the extras! Can you spot the snake?

We backtracked a bit to reach Weft at the Rancocas Regional High School Annex. This one pays homage to the Lenni Lenape Indians that were once here and looks to be made out unspun wool kept in place with chicken wire. We wondered how it will cope when it finally rains — could it stay upright?

Now we went off to find Melinda, tucked off in a neighborhood park. Park, what park, said the man we asked for directions. Oh you mean the PLAYGROUND! (Actually it’s a park. And the idea of a troll there went right over his head.)

This is another one with a cute but small detail that’s easy to overlook, so take a few extra minutes with each troll.

And our last one, Sally McScraps, along the walking trail on an easier-to-find park:

How to get to the trolls

Don’t ask me for our route; my friend is challenged when it comes to mapping out a route on Ride With GPS, and I need to figure out the whole synching with Garmin Connect thing so I can transfer what I tracked to my Ride With GPS account.

BUT I can offer this map from Burlington County that shows where the trolls are and this 26-mile loop ride to Big Rusty that I was given before the Troll Trek was announced.

Two of the trolls we saw are where the ride starts, one is an easy detour in Lumberton and two others are a few blocks off the route in downtown Mount Holly. And one more is two miles away from Smithville. Adjust as you like, and plan on some out-and-backs so you stay off some less-pleasant options like Monmouth Road.

We didn’t ride trails on this route, but another troll is somewhere on the stunning Arney’s Mount Trail. Weather permitting, I’ll be on another troll hunt soon.

While Big Rusty is permanent, the other trolls remain only through Dec. 31, says Burlington County. (Rethink that!) So don’t delay your own troll hunt.