Teller County Troll
How to Find Rita the Rock Planter, The Teller County Troll
Rita the Rock Planter is Colorado’s second troll sculpture by Danish artist, Thomas Dambo. Installed in August of 2023, Rita isn’t hiding in plain sight. She’s a little off the beaten path, located in one of our favorite towns in Colorado, but she’s well worth the trek to go see her.
There are 119 other trolls created by Dambo all across the world. The other Colorado-based troll is located in the popular ski town Breckenridge. It draws visitors from all over the state, so naturally the residents of Teller County are pretty excited to have Rita to draw more people to its already amazing (yet lesser-known) scenery and attractions.
Whether she’ll become better known as the Teller County Troll or the Victor Troll, named after the town she’s closest to, remains to be seen.
Either way, she’s very memorable and fairly easy to get to if you follow our insider tips. By the way, seeing Rita is entirely free, but you’ll have do at least a small amount of walking over a fairly flat yet rocky trail at high altitude.
The Easy Way to See Rita the Rock Planter
➞ Rita is located perched atop the Little Grouse Mountain Trail. Instead of parking at the trailhead parking, there’s actually an uphill road (Overlook Rd seen on the map below) that can be easily driven up to a smaller parking area.
This is by far the easiest way to visit Rita, and the directions for the trailhead from AllTrails are indeed accurate.
➞ If you’d like a longer hike, simply park at the trailhead off of Highway 67 and take the 1.9-mile loop that ascends approximately 288 feet in elevation.
Important Tips
➞ Bring water and sunscreen! There is zero shade on this trail, and you’ll be walking to see Rita at 9,600 ft above sea level.
Cool Things to Do Near Rita the Rock Planter
➞ Visiting both the historic mining towns of Cripple Creek and Victor is a must!
➞ Hungry? Need your coffee fix? We absolutely LOVE the Gold Camp Cafe in Cripple Creek. Best white chocolate mocha ever!
➞ Looking for a cool and unique place to stay nearby? You can’t get much more unique than an overnight at The Black Monarch Hotel with rooms inspired by dark and mysterious legends such as Nikola Tesla who is rumored to have wired the historic hotel. Plus, there is a super cool oddities and curiosities gift shop right next store.
➞ Haven’t gotten your fill of hiking just yet? Head over to the ultra-unique Pancake Rocks Trail and ascend to absolutely gorgeous views and curious flapjack-shaped rock formations.
➞ Do you love history and geology? Even if you don’t, we highly recommend checking out the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, only about a 30-45 minute drive away. Here you can see 34 million-year-old petrified redwood tree stumps and fossils leftover from when the Florissant Valley was a volatile volanic basin.
