Meet Rita the Rock Planter. She lives on a hill near Victor, Colorado.
Thomas Dambo, a Danish artist, uses recycled wood to build these trolls. In 2010 he began a “Trail of a Thousand Trolls’. The aim of the project is to build a thousand trolls from recycled, wasted material. Beauty from waste.
Rita is in an active mining district and rests overlooking the mine on one in the Cripple Creek and Victor Mining district. It took 8 days to put Rita together thanks to the help of 50 volunteers. Pallet wood waste was used and repurposed for this project.
Artist Thomas Dambo says in an article on CBS, “She took a nap back in the late 1800s and when she woke up here again, like a couple of weeks ago, she noticed a few small holes in the mountain.” The article states that he smiled big before continuing, “and she said, ‘Oh! That’s dangerous, maybe a squirrel or a human or somebody would fall into the hole and get hurt,’ So that is why Rita is now covering up the holes.”
His first troll “Hector the Protector” was destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017. He created another in 2019 to commemorate the first. So far he and his team have created 170 trolls total. There are two in Colorado, one in Victor and one in Breckenridge.
Often he will enlist the help of locals to install the art. These larger than life creations are absolutely stunning. Rita stands, or I should say, crawls at 21 feet tall. She is astounding to walk up too and really examine. If you haven’t seen her yet, I recommend at least viewing from up top with binoculars. The hike down is a little bit of an incline, but should be rated fairly easy.
There is much more to see and do in the area. The trailhead it’s self to go down and see her is an interactive relic site of mining equipment and old buildings. I am always in love with things-to-do-that only cost gas money and food. Most of the things I post are free, but they will only remain free if respected. Rita is free to see. Vindicator Mine in Victor is also a great trail to visit, I will be doing a little video on it very soon also.
There is an interactive Troll map available online when I searched for more information on her. Also a book of his projects. Carry on Thomas, this is outstanding!
This is my kind of creativity. I love this project! I highly recommend viewing one of these today!
*Disclaimer – I’m not a historian, scholar or writer. I aim to honor and remember all the souls and landmarks I encounter in my explorations. Sharing these helps to keep their memory from fading away. I do my best to find information and I’m always open to edits and corrections when needed. I would never post anything incorrectly with harmful intent. Cemeteries are full of stories, sometimes I can find them, sometimes I can’t.
Be respectful if visiting any of the places I share. These places won’t be around forever, especially if not treated with the utmost in respect. Other than picking up obvious trash, we do not alter any of the gravesites we visit. Please keep in mind that some trinkets are left as honor, not disrespect.
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