Long Leif

Long Leif is a giant who seems to have grown out of the woods, and he is worth the walk to find. At 36 feet he stands at the end of a wooded trail on Detroit Mountain, one of five trolls, a golden rabbit and three “portals” that Danish recycling artist Thomas Dambo created around Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, for the Trolls in DL installation, whose story is called Alexa’s Elixir. The commissioning group, Project 412, is a local nonprofit named for the 412 lakes within 25 miles of town. According to CBS Minnesota, the heads, hands and feet of each troll were built in Denmark and shipped over, while the bodies were built locally by volunteers in May and June 2024, with discarded telephone poles helping Leif stand. Project 412’s executive director told MPR News in 2026 that the trolls opened on June 10, 2024.

KAXE reported in 2024 that Long Leif is the largest of Dambo’s nearly 140 troll sculptures around the world, and CBS Minnesota called him the tallest troll in the world that year. In the installation’s story Leif is a friend of trees who loved them so much he wanted to be one; he plants small trees in spring and autumn, and visitors are asked whether they can plant one too.