My second Troll Trek: 7 trolls and 1 slice of pie

Another sunny, unseasonably warm day, so a good time to hunt for more of those trolls in Burlington County. This is a cool art project using recycled materials that was inspired by Danish artist Thomas Danbo’s Big Rusty, who moved into the county several years ago.

I already did one bike ride to find the trolls generally between Mount Laurel and Mount Holly. This time I mostly looked along the Delaware River and found 5 along the developing Delaware River Heritage Trail and the East Coast Greenway‘s alternative New Jersey route that runs between Trenton and Camden.

First up: this guy in Bordentown City, on Farnsworth Avenue, the city’s main drag, and just a couple of blocks from the RiverLine station (and free parking for those who drive). I like how Bordentown officials and business leaders used Edward as a way to promote the city.

Take a closer look at his face:

Then it was off to Burlington City, which has 3 trolls. You’ve got two options for getting there: the gorgeous path from Crystal Lake Park to Roebling and then roads along the river or peeling off at one point to stay inland using Old York Road and Bustleton Road. That’s what we did.

Visser was our first troll, hanging out along the Delaware River near the southern end of the city. He’s described as a Dutch fisherman, so no surprise he’s got a fishing pole, made of bamboo. But look what’s at the end of it — a bird house. And his back is covered with bird houses too.

He’s one of my favorites. Maybe we inspired the kindergartner we talked to there to create her own troll?

Downtown we found Rily next to an alleyway honoring Burlington’s Underground Railroad.

As always, so much is in the details. Look at the feet!

The map says two trolls are supposed to be at 351 High Street, but the second one was down a block, just before the Lyceum Hall Center for the Arts (look for the Greek columns). Fittingly, this one is the Art Troll:

Check out the paint palette. And the face!

Then we headed inland, over I-295 and the New Jersey Turnpike and then relying largely on Irick Road to find Pipsqueak, near the Burlington County library and Burlington County amphitheater. He’s made of papercrete, a type of building material that involves shredded paper mixed with cement. Who knew?

After cutting through a neighborhood, we discovered Woody, hiding in the woods of the Rancocas Nature Center. Clearly there’s a reference to the woods there, but I think there’s also a hat tip to Woody Guthrie.

This was supposed to be the end of the ride, with us backtracking to Burlington City and the RiverLine station (29-mile route here). But when we looked at the map … we changed our minds. On to Delanco, another Delaware River town. It ended up being just a bit longer.

Not far from the RiverLine, in a small corner park, was our final troll: Hagatha. Is there a bit of Martian in her? Look behind her, though, and there’s a tail. Swamp lizard?

Just up the street is Pied Out, where we shared a slice of dulce de leche banana pie before heading for our trains home.

This is pretty much the route we followed, for a total of about 32 miles. (We spent more time on Veterans Parkway and ended up on Delanco Road, but Ride With GPS may know best.)

If you want to skip the two trolls in Westampton, follow this 18-mile route from Bordentown to Delanco. It will be longer if you stick to the East Coast Greenway route along the river.

The 18 trolls that were created for Burlington County’s Troll Trek may only stay up through the end of the year (crazy!), though the OG, Big Rusty, is living permanently off Route 38 in Mount Holly. You can read about my bike ride to find Big Rusty and 7 other trolls here. Now to plan a ride to find the final four.

UPDATE: An out-and-back 40-mile route mostly along the river for 5 trolls.