You may have come across Danish artist Thomas Dambo’s massive troll sculptures—which he makes from reclaimed wood and hides in nature to encourage people to get out and enjoy the outdoors—on Instagram. But you don’t need to book a trip to Denmark to see the gentle giants. The 87 acres of Palos Verdes’s South Coast Botanic Garden are currently home to 12 of the whimsical figures, and you can glimpse them all with your general admission ticket. For $33, you can take a guided walking tour of the Twelvelings on weekend afternoons.
According to the lore, the trolls have ventured to SoCal to “observe humankind’s delightful quirks.” Some are hidden in plain sight, others you have to search for; one you stumble upon napping, others invite you to climb under their butterfly net or wriggle into their grip for fun photo ops. If you’re so inclined, you can scan a QR code at each stop to mark off which trolls you’ve spotted on an interactive Trollmap and learn more about each character. Mostly, though, the sculptures add a touch of whimsy and a storybook feel to an already pretty magical botanical garden.
