Hunting For Forest Giants In A Giant Forest At Bernheim Forest, Kentucky

Last year there were trolls. This year there were giants.

One of our favorite activities last year was going on a Troll Hunt at The Morton Arboretum just outside of Chicago. The trolls were incredible sculptures designed and created by artist Thomas Dambo, plus he made an elaborate troll hideout where the trolls briefly captured us and almost turned us into stew.

We thankfully managed to escape their lair and lived to see another day.

While staying in Lexington, Kentucky on our 5 year, 50 state road trip, we discovered that there were some new Thomas Dambo creations only 1.5 hours away at Bernheim Forest in Clermont.

Despite how narrowly we’d escaped with our lives the first time we’d encountered his creations, we decided to be brave and risk hunting down these new ones. The thing is, this time we had a secret weapon with us to keep us protected.

And what was that secret weapon?

Why, Truffles of course! She’d missed out on our adventures at The Morton Arboretum as it’s not pet-friendly, but Bernheim Forest allows dogs and so she came along to protect us from Forest Giants.

It wasn’t long before she’d picked up their scent.

As we made our way past Olmsted Ponds, we caught sight of the first of the Forest Giants In A Giant Forest.

We approached cautiously lest he spot us, but he was too busy gazing at his reflection in the pond.

His name is Little Nis and, to be fair, he is a handsome fellow. I therefore can’t blame him for being more interested in staring at himself rather than us.

Last year, we tried keeping the trolls at The Morton Arboretum happy by imitating their actions. Even though those efforts clearly weren’t too successful in keeping us safe, Shae and I tried to do the same again.

We knelt and gazed at our reflections…

…then tried to mirror his facial expression.

Despite our best efforts, Little Nis blanked us and continued acting like we weren’t even there. Saying our farewells, we continued our hunt for his mom and sister.

We were fortunate that intrepid explorers who ventured these lands before us had set out flags and footprints to warn us that here be dragons giants.

I’m not sure if they were trying to scare off other giants, but someone had stuck a baby Forest Giant foot on a stick.

This warning had clearly not scared off every giant though, as through the trees we happened upon a new troll hideout.

Hanging outside their home was either a wind chime or a musical instrument which proved popular with human children.

You know you’re in a Forest Giant lair when they randomly have a unicorn horn and dragon’s head laying around.

Fun fact – the unicorn horn and dragon’s head are made from wood that Louisville Slugger baseball bats were due to be made from.

Hanging out at the lair was our second Forest Giant – Mama Loumari. It wasn’t surprising that Mama Loumari was just sitting there as she had her own surprise – she’s pregnant!

These Forest Giants are truly giants.

We decided to show solidarity with Mama Loumari by imitating her posture. It looked remarkably like my ‘I’ve eaten far too much BBQ’ stance.

She must’ve been sitting there for some time as her hair clearly hadn’t been washed recently – it looked really sticky 😉

Another fun fact – the skeleton of Mama Loumari was made from wide oak railings from a bourbon warehouse in Boston, Kentucky. A cooperage also provided 13 pallets worth of bourbon barrels for her fur that they broke down for the Arboretum so that they could be used for the Forest Giants In A Giant Forest display.

As a result, you can see dates when whiskey was barreled…

…and even barrel bungs.

I have to admit, I don’t envy the OB/GYN who has to assist Mama Loumari when she’s giving birth. Bernheim Forest will be flooded when her water breaks.

The Forest Giants’ lair is also home to a special story written by Thomas Dambo called The Great Story Of The Little People & The Giant Trolls.

Here’s what it says:

It was a cold winter, but the snow felt warm
He woke up with eyes closed and heard himself yawn
His name was Isak Heartstone, on mountain top of them all
A name they gave him as small, now he was 36 feet tall

Still a young giant, only 700,051 years
Already a father to two, full of eyes, full of tears
Full of love he was, but felt alone on the mountain
So he walked down to the forest, in the forest he found them

His two beautiful children, little Elina and Nis
And their mama Loumari, a big hug and a kiss
They spend the winter together while the weather got better
Elina looked at the sky, from the sky fell a feather

It was a sign of good luck, and a fertile forest
Where every being had a place from the smallest to the tallest
They made a circle of life, they would soon have a brother
It’s good luck for a baby, when it sleeps in the mother

Some of wood, some of stone, some of sun, some of seeds
Some of quarts, some of leaves and what fell from the trees
A dragon skull be found 200,000 years ago
It was a symbol of strength, so the baby would grow

But now the ice was melted and Isak looked to the mountain
He knew he had to go back and put his big arms around them
A hug and a kiss, Nis, Elina, Loumari
I will be back again soon, he yelled, walking the prairie

After reading the story, it was time to find the final Forest Giant – Mama Loumari’s daughter and Little Nis’s sister.

We found Little Elina in a clearing playing with rocks. She was fairly docile though, as it was safe for children to get close without her dropping the rocks on them.

She therefore didn’t mind us assuming her posture either.

Little Elina had collected a bunch of colorful items throughout Bernheim Forest and fashioned herself a bracelet fit for a giant.

She’d also created a fan made of stones to keep her cool in the heat of Kentucky.

Final Thoughts

While we’d love to have seen even more Forest Giants than just three, Shae, Truffles and I had a great time hunting for them. As always, they’re incredibly well constructed and even though they’re made of similar materials and in a similar way, they all look different and have their own personalities.

Bernheim Forest commissioned Thomas Dambo to create the Forest Giants In A Giant Forest exhibit after learning that his Troll Hunt exhibit at The Morton Arboretum resulted in a 35% increase in visitors. Forest Giants In A Giant Forest has apparently been even more successful than that, leading to an increase in visitors of 350% at Bernheim Forest. I’m glad we had the opportunity to contribute to that increase.

If you decide to visit Bernheim Forest in Clermont, you might also be interested in visiting the Jim Beam American Stillhouse which is just a couple of minutes up the road.

Address

Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest, 2075 Clermont Rd, Clermont, KY 40110