Clermont – Bernheim Forest
Little Nis is a troll made of wood that spends its days peering into a pond at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in Clermont. Unpainted angular planks from the troll’s head to its toes blend into nature like camouflage. But Little Nis is still easy to spot.
That’s because Little Nis isn’t little, at all. It’s a giant.
A Forest Giant, to be precise, which stands about 20 feet tall. And there is more than one among the trees of Bernheim.
A family of these giants – three in all – were built at Bernheim in 2019 by Danish artist Thomas Dambo to celebrate the arboretum’s 90th anniversary. Sibling Little Elina and mother Mama Loumari are there with Little Nis, ready to greet visitors along the forest floor.
All three are expected to stay at Bernheim through at least 2022. Where they go after that, who knows. Maybe to Breckenridge, Colorado, where the children’s father Isak Heartstone (according to legend that Dambo penned himself – you can read it here) lives on the Trollstigen Trail.
Dambo has also “birthed,” as he says, trolls in Maine, Wyoming, and spots throughout the world, so it’s a real treat to be able to check them out in Clermont, not far from Bardstown.
Giants Along The Trail
The Forest Giants have been one of the biggest draws for visitors to Bernheim in years. So it stands to reason that the arboretum and Dambo wanted to make the giants as accessible as possible.
Trekkers will find all three giants on the Forest Giants Trail, a two-mile out-and-back trail leading to all of the “Forest Giants in a Giant Forest”– the official name of the exhibit. Parking is available for a shorter trek.
The most accessible Forest Giants are Little Nis and Mama Loumari. Both are close to the arboretum roadway. Little Nis is visible from the road. Mama Loumari – reclining on the ground, her belly round with her third giant baby – is a short walk from the roadside, with tree-stump chairs beside her for her visitors to rest.
It’s a bit farther out to Little Elina – an artistic troll who makes outlines of flowers with rocks stacked by large wooden hands. Parking closer to Little Elina is advisable for those who need better accessibility, or who don’t want to hike the full trail.
A visit to the Forest Giants in a Giant Forest is free to anyone visiting Bernheim. Still, it’s nice for non–members to leave a $10 suggested donation per car at the gate.
Super-enthusiastic visitors can support the organization with a membership of only $50 per household ($35 for senior citizens and military) for an entire year. Check it out.
Bigger than Manhattan
Bernheim is a perfect place for the Forest Giants in a Giant Forest because it’s so, well, big!
Altogether the forest encompasses an astounding 16,140 acres of land. Visitors have access to 40 miles of hiking trails, surrounded by no fewer than three million trees (including a world-class collection of holly trees) and over 2,000 wildlife species.
In case the scale eludes you (as it did me), 16,000 acres is larger than Manhattan in New York City. That makes Bernheim the largest privately-held contiguous forest block in the eastern U.S.
Bernheim calls itself a “living legacy” to its founder Isaac W. Bernheim, a philanthropist who bought and endowed the land for the forest and arboretum in 1929. No doubt his contribution continues to leverage conservation and education efforts in Kentucky, and beyond.
Other Reasons To Visit
My first visit to Bernheim was in the early 1990s, and I’ve made several trips there since. The place is ever-evolving. It was a delight to see how much the Bernheim holly tree collection had grown on my most recent visit this month.
A view of the Bernheim “Big Prairie” down aways from the hollies — with its winding cut-through path to Mama Loumari — was familiar but also new. Even the arboretum ponds, designed in 1939 by the Olmsted Brothers, looked fresh with Little Nis watching over them. I guess the best word to describe it all is timeless.
No wonder this Kentucky gem attracts half a million visitors from across the world every year.
Please make a trip to Bernheim if you get the chance. Check out the Forest Giants or other special events, from festivals to guided hikes. Everything is easy to find on the Bernheim website. There’s always something to explore.
Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest is located at 2075 Clermont Road in Clermont, KY. Visitors are welcome from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year Day – although schedules can change. Always be sure to call before you travel.
