(gentle accordion music) And now we're back at Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh where five larger than life trolls are helping visitors explore the park in a whole new way.

Our guide on our troll hunt was park employee Nick Smith.

Nick, first troll, where are we?

- We are here at Baby Dix named after Dix Park.

She is the youngest of the three triplets of the family of trolls we have.

She's holding onto her mother's tail.

So if you follow the tail, you make it all the way to her mother who's resting in the heart of the forest.

- That is so cute.

Why don't we follow the tail?

- Let's do it.

♪ - [Deb] What's this made out of?

- Yes, so these are whiskey barrels that were donated into the project, taken apart and then reconstructed to be segments of the tail.

The tail is 650 feet long, which makes it the longest troll tail in the world.

- Oh my gosh, we get a distinction here in North Carolina.

(laughs) ♪ - Nick, where are we now?

- So we are in the pine grove.

We follow the mother's tail all the way to Mother Strong Tail who's resting in the heart of the forest and she's right behind us.

- Oh, she looks so peaceful.

So here at Dix Park, how many trolls are there and how long is the trail?

- So we have a family of five.

We have three triplets that are the kids, Dix, Dax and Dukes.

And then we have Mother Strong Tail behind us and Daddy Birds Eye.

So it's a family of five.

Each has its own role, each has its own personality and you need to visit each one.

Mother Strong Tail, she protects the family nest.

She's resting now knowing that her youngest baby Dix is on the edge still holding onto her tail and still in close contact.

Dix is other triplets, the older brothers, Dax and Dukes, they're more playful and mysterious.

They're playing hide and seek across the park and another section of woods.

And then the father, Daddy Birds Eye, is sitting looking out over downtown making sure there are no threats to warn against for the family that's here at the park.

- What did you think of the trolls?

- I think they're really, really cool and it was worth coming to Raleigh.

- What do you think about maybe bringing some friends back?

- I think I would love to do that to show them the experience.

[whimsical music] - For people who have no idea what the trolls are, what are they?

- So Thomas Dambo is a Danish artist.

He's an environmental artist that often works with trash or discarded materials.

And the purpose and the vision of the meshes is that discarded materials, materials that are thrown away and thought to be trash can actually make something artistic and special and that's what he's done with his trolls.

- He definitely has.

How do these come together?

- The artist works by asking the community to participate in the build.

So he arrives on site, we select the location for the troll.

They bring in portions of the troll that are made in his workshop in Denmark, but the remaining portions of the troll, the body and the tail is all built on site.

So we put a public call out for volunteers.

We have 350 volunteers over three weeks who put in every screw that brought these trolls to life and so it was a full community experience.

- This trail is very interactive.

How much a part of the builder's vision was that?

- Oh, the whole thing.

These sculptures are never intended to be just looked at.

They're intended to be loved and interacted with.

Since we have five, they spread out across the park.

So it's not as intuitive to find them.

It is a real hunt to find the trolls.

So when you arrive here, you often find a map and start looking and exploring.

- Of course we're talking about the trolls, but what else is here at Dix?

- Yes, so we just opened last year, the Gibson Play Plaza.

It's a destination play area, 20 acres of adventure world class play.

We're opening up a new amenity to the park just outside the woods here.

It's called Flowers Cottage, Cottage Coffee and Park Bar.

It's a coffee shop and it's an amenity with restrooms and drinks and snacks.

It's a great place to start an in-your-troll trek.

We also host major festivals.

We have smaller programs and events that's offered on almost a daily basis.

So between that and the open spaces, the big field, the groves that we have, the hammocks, there's always something for everyone here at the park.

And the park is always free and open to the public.

- Dix Park is located at 2105 Umstead Drive in Raleigh.

The park is open seven days a week from dawn until dusk.

And it's Family of Five Giant Trolls is free to explore.

To download a troll map and find out more information about the park's offerings visit dortheadixpark.org/visit.