When I first heard of the Portland Troll Bridge, the troll bridge of my childhood sprang to life in my memory. As kids, we’d climb all over the huge cement behemoth under Seattle’s Fremont Bridge. It turns out the Portland Troll Bridge is not at all similar—and it’s definitely weirder.
In today’s post, I’ll share all about trolls in Portland: how to visit the Portland Troll Bridge and also Portland’s own resident enormous troll, the Ole Bolle troll.
The Portland Troll Bridge in a Nutshell
As we wound along a road through fern-draped forest, a rickety old railroad trestle materialized before us in the fog. While probably a logging railroad in its heyday, it looked like the forest was beginning to reclaim it. Swaths of pale green lichen bloomed over the weathered surface. But mostly the underside was covered in…little plastic trolls.
The trolls living under the Portland Troll Bridge are the kind we played with as kids—grinning plastic figures with shocks of bright-colored hair sticking straight up. Dozens and dozens of them are nailed to the bridge. Have an extra plastic troll or two? Bring them with you to add to the strange menagerie under the Portland Troll Bridge.
Portland Troll Bridge History
There’s nothing official about the Portland Troll Bridge, so its history is shrouded in myth. But rumor has it that its origin dates back 20 years or so, to the early 2000s, when a mom nailed the first plastic trolls to the underside of the bridge as a surprise for her children. That spark soon ignited an outpouring of trolls from the community, and now the Portland Troll Bridge has a life of its own.
How to Find the Portland Troll Bridge
I found that typing “Portland Troll Bridge” into Google Maps weirdly pulls up Seattle’s Fremont Troll. While I’ve been known to follow my phone into unlikely places, I do know the Portland Troll Bridge is not in Seattle. Your best bet for finding the Portland Troll Bridge is to navigate by address: 16498 NW McNamee Road, Portland, OR. There are roadside pullouts for parking just before and just after the bridge.
What about the Giant Portland Troll?
There’s been a lot of press over the last year about a new troll in Portland, and that Portland troll doesn’t live under the Portland Troll Bridge with the others. The new troll in town, named Ole Bolle, in fact has his own little red house…but since he’s bigger than the house, he just sits outside it.
While the origins of the Portland Troll Bridge are shrouded in mystery, the origins of the giant Portland troll are not. The giant Ole Bolle troll is part of a global troll movement led by Danish artist Thomas Dambo. He’s designed more than a hundred giant troll sculptures worldwide. In summer 2023, six of them made their way to the Pacific Northwest. The Ole Bolle troll in Portland is one of those six northwest trolls, with the other five in the greater Seattle area.
While the Ole Bolle troll sculpture was designed by an artist, it’s no less a community project than the Portland Troll Bridge. Thomas Dambo designs his trolls and makes key features himself, but teams of local volunteers pitch in for on-the-ground construction to bring each troll to life. The trolls are largely made from recycled materials, and their stories are steeped in sustainability and community.
Where is the Giant Portland Troll?
The Ole Bolle troll lives on the SW Portland campus of Nordic Northwest, a nonprofit focused on Scandinavian culture. Unlike navigating to the Portland Troll Bridge, you can get to the Nordic Northwest campus by typing it directly into Google Maps. It’s at 8800 SW Oleson Rd in Portland. Once on campus, you can easily follow signs to the Ole Bolle troll.
Visiting the Ole Bolle troll is free to the public, but go during daylight hours (it’s closed after dark). The day we visited happened to be the day of a major NW Danish Association anniversary celebration, so Nordic Northwest was packed with kids sporting fabulous paper Viking hats and festivalgoers picking apart delectable Danish pastries. To see more of the Ole Bolle troll and festival highlights, check out our video below.
If you don’t happen to visit the Ole Bolle troll in the middle of a festival, you can still find delicious Scandinavian food at the Broder Söder cafe on site, and you’ll likely find a lot more parking.
Parking for the Ole Bolle Troll
Parking (and visiting the Ole Bolle troll) are free of charge, but parking is a bit limited right at Nordic Northwest. When we visited, everyone who didn’t fit in the main lot was parking on the adjacent street (SW Taylors Ferry Road) next to a row of townhouses. I’m not totally sure this is allowed, but I didn’t see any signs expressly forbidding it.
If you find yourself without parking and are willing to take the risk, consider parking on the street circled below. A footpath easily connects this further parking area back to the Nordic Northwest campus.
Know any more troll hideouts in Portland? Let us know in the comments!
Leave a Reply