A 65-foot wooden troll arrived in Charlotte to watch over the River District
Sprawled atop a West Charlotte hill surrounded by the autumn sea of red, gold and green leaves lies Big Pete. From his perch, he gazes out on the changing earth. Laid on his side, head in hand, he ponders what the humans have planned.
And man, Big Pete will have much to think about because every day his view will change, at least for the next two decades.
Alright, so who’s Big Pete? Well, his full name is Big Pete with the Big Feet, and he’s a 65-foot tall wooden troll. And where’s he lying? Right above the 1,200 acre River District development in West Charlotte.
Big Pete with the Big Feet and Charlotte are the newest sculpture and city to join the “Trail of a Thousand Trolls” project from renowned recycling artist Thomas Dambo.
Big Pete marks Dambo’s 173rd troll, which he makes from salvaged material from wood, to bourbon barrels to random nearby branches. It’s also Dambo’s seventh troll in North Carolina.
In late October, five gentle giants sprouted in Raleigh’s Dorothea Dix Park: Mother Strong Tail, Dix, Dax, Dux and Daddy Bird Eye. Big Pete’s sister, Little Sally, is going up in High Point.
The seven are part of a story and a treasure hunt unique to North Carolina, but they are also part of Dambo’s larger story of promoting sustainability and environmental protection through art.
Dambo’s sustainability ideology is what drew River District developer, Crescent Communities, to invite the Denmark-based artist to Charlotte.
The budding new neighborhood has had a focus on sustainability, said Rainer Ficken, senior managing director of the River District.
So much so, the development earned the One Plant Living designation, from Bioregional, a U.K.-based charity and social enterprise. The title stems from supporting social, economic and environmental sustainability.
The River District is only the third North American development to receive the designation and the first in the South.
So when thinking about art choices for the development, Ficken said Dambo’s trolls made sense.
“We have so much forest, over 500 acres of forest, and we wanted to find [art] that would really fit in well with the River District,” Ficken said. “Big Pete belongs in the forest and now he’s watching over the community.”
Dambo’s trollin’ around the world
Dambo didn’t start sharing his sustainability sentiments via trolls. He started as a rapper in Denmark. Instead of rhyming about cars and riches, he rapped about recycling and the earth’s longevity.
As another form of expression, he became a graffiti artist. And to escape the law, he started building birdhouses and spreading them across the world.
The birdhouses then turned into trolls.
A troll may have a negative connotation, like weirdos on the internet or massive monsters patrolling the forest.
Dambo’s trolls are forest protectors but in a far more tender way. Each troll has a name and a story that encourages nature exploration and ultimately finding ways to protect the earth.
Big Pete and the North Carolina hunt for the grandmother tree
Big Pete has two stories. In the grander scheme, Big Pete joins his family across North Carolina to protect the grandmother tree.
The grandmother tree is the biggest and most ancient tree in the land, Dambo said. And because it’s the biggest, humans want to cut it down. “To turn it into a big table probably,” Dambo said.
So, the trolls have enchanted the grandmother tree to make it look like every other little tree around.
And to find the tree, participants have to go on a scavenger hunt. The hunt is all about nature exploration and a recurring theme for Dambo’s trolls.
Each troll in North Carolina has a secret marking on a necklace. Participants can input the markings on Dambo’s troll map to get the location of the grandmother tree.
Big Pete and Charlotte’s footprint
Big Pete’s more personal story is one that resonates with Charlotte’s growth.
Since Pete was 3 years old, he walked on his two big feet. He leaped and frolicked through the trees, enjoying the roses and daisies surrounding his feet.
But every time Pete took a step, he’d crush the flowers beneath him.
“He wondered, ‘Should I take a step and slowly fall asleep? Or should I keep on walking in the hopes to spread the seed,’ ” Dambo said.
Big Pete’s story centers on the idea that every thing we do leaves a mark, Dambo said. And for Charlotte and the River District, that mark is growth and development.
One of the biggest concerns surrounding the River District was the environmental impact.
To add 5,000 homes, millions of square feet of office space, half a million square feet of retail and 1,000 hotel rooms, developers cut down 1,400 acres of forest in a city where the tree canopy is steadily shrinking.
With the development’s proximity to the Catawba River, maintaining water quality was also an issue. But in a city that nearing a population of a million people, do you leave the forest alone or build housing?
That’s what Pete is wondering.
“Should I just sit down and fall asleep and go away because that’s the most sustainable thing I could do as a troll? Or should I be allowed to go around and enjoy what I love the most and spread the seeds of the flowers,” Dambo said. “That is the balance that we all have to try and walk, and I think we can only do our best.”
Charlotte’s River District and environmental sustainability
Dambo said he believes the River District is trying its best to balance sustainability.
He noted the River District’s One Plant Living designation as showing of proof that the development is looking for balance.
“We all need housing, and we all need food, but how can we do it in a good way,” Dambo said. “I know Crescent is trying to be good, and I hope that they will hold themselves responsible.”
Crescent has previously said that it isn’t shying away from environmental concerns. Some of the ways the developer is thinking about sustainability includes:
- 500 acres of green space will be preserved and concentrated.
- A 2-acre urban farm, Forge Village, will sit against the preserved green space and will be managed by an onsite farmer. That’s under construction now. The crops will be sold at a local market and to future restaurants.
- Thousands of trees will be planted, increasing the tree canopy for health and beautification. Many of the cut-down trees were harvested for timber and used throughout the development. Some of that material was used to build Big Pete.
- And as the development continues to come to fruition, walkability will be a major aspect for residents, Ficken said. A neighborhood retailer is in the works and that can be anything from a coffee shop to a dry cleaner. Those plans could be finalized by the end of the year, Ficken said.
Residents already live in the single-family homes in the development, and by the end of the year, some residents will be moving into the apartments.
Big Pete will be watching over the whole thing.
What’s next for the trolls?
Big Pete and his six friends will live in North Carolina for as long as the environment will have them.
The trolls in Raleigh are already open to the public. Big Pete and Little Sally will open in Charlotte and High Point on Saturday, Nov. 8.
Dambo is also hosting a traveling exhibit in Asheville.
“Trolls: A Field Study by Thomas Dambo,” will be at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville from Nov. 15 to Feb 17, 2026. The exhibit features 12 trolls who are traveling the world conducting a study on humans.
As folks visit the trolls in North Carolina or maybe in the other locations, Dambo likes to tell people to be mindful of the environment. Try not to litter or disrupt nature too much.
The trolls are watching.
“If you clean a little bit after yourself and a little bit after somebody else, then there will be no litter,” Dambo said. “And we can continue to enjoy the forest.”
Meet Big Pete
Interested in meeting Big Pete and his big feet? Visiting is free and open to the public beginning Nov. 8. Visitors should be aware that the River District is under construction. Big Pete is near the intersection of River District Drive and Crescent River Road. West Boulevard turns into River District Drive once it enters the development. Visitors should use on-street parking.
This story was originally published November 7, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "A 65-foot wooden troll arrived in Charlotte to watch over the River District."
