"You have a cool forest, big mountains and a lot of stones," Thomas Dambo told the Adirondack Explorer this September. "It just feels like a place where one of my trolls would feel at home."
He was explaining why he built one to stay. The six traveling trolls of TROLLS: Save the Humans have been at The Wild Center since June 1 and leave after October 31, 2026. The one staying behind is Patrick Sapling, unveiled on Saturday, September 12. He is the first permanent Dambo troll in New York State. He kneels in a clearing near the Fen Trail and the Raquette River Roll, inside a ring of glacial boulders, holding a sugar maple sapling toward the sky. He is also larger than any of the six touring trolls.
The exhibition was borrowed, and the troll staying behind is the first piece of that summer the Wild Center gets to keep. A good share of it came from around here.
Built from a North Country woodpile
Dambo builds his trolls from reclaimed material, and Patrick Sapling is mostly salvaged lumber, sawmill offcuts, locally sourced branches and donated hardwood. The Wild Center's announcement credits these suppliers:
- Haselton Lumber
- Jefford's Steel
- Kentile Excavating
- Martin's Lumber
- Votra's Sawmill
- North Country School
- Specialty Wood Products
The stones took the most work. Dambo wanted erratics, the boulders glaciers dragged across the region and dropped, and the search ran past 150 of them. Nick Gunn, The Wild Center's marketing director, remembered asking Dambo how many he wanted. The answer was to "go find somebody who's got 200 boulders." That turned out to be Adam Boudreau of Kentile Excavating. He had the stones, donated them and moved them to the site.
The schedule was tight. Dambo's crew arrived in late August to prepare the site, and Dambo himself arrived September 7 to assemble the troll. Some of the work was done in his workshop near Copenhagen. He was unveiled five days after Dambo arrived.
The effort had started long before that. Gunn began trying to bring Dambo's work to Tupper Lake in 2019. The earliest open slot for a traveling exhibition was more than a decade away, and the Wild Center moved up only after another venue canceled. When Dambo said a permanent troll could be ready as soon as fall 2026, fundraising began right away for a $500,000 project, with matching gifts from several donors and in-kind help like the boulders.
Named for a sculptor already on campus
The name has a local link too. Patrick Sapling honors Patrick Dougherty, the American sculptor who builds large works from living tree saplings. The Wild Center has Hopscotch, one of Dougherty's few remaining permanent installations. Dambo met Dougherty in North Carolina the day before he visited the Wild Center last fall, and that meeting gave him the name and the story. Dambo told the Explorer that for years, every park he went to install a troll, Dougherty "had just been there."
So the campus now holds two large outdoor works by artists who answer each other. One is a troll of salvaged wood lifting a young maple. The other is a stickwork built from saplings. Dambo also wrote a poem for the sculpture, and you can read it at the site.
What the visit looks like once the six trolls leave
This summer was the busiest the Wild Center has had. The exhibition drove the highest attendance in the museum's 20-year history. The two-millionth visitor came through on September 7. On non-school days, cars have overflowed past the main and meadow lots to LP Quinn Elementary School at 294 Hosley Avenue.
That pressure came with the borrowed exhibition, and the calendar changes on November 1.
| Period | Days | Hours | What's on campus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Through Oct. 31 | Daily | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Six traveling trolls plus Patrick Sapling |
| November–March | Fridays–Sundays | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Patrick Sapling, trails, snowshoe and kicksled loans |
| Wild Lights, Nov. 27–Feb. 27 | Fridays and Saturdays | 5–8 p.m. | Lighted trails, Wild Walk after dark, Forest Music, Stickwork |
| Holiday Week, Dec. 26–31 | Nightly | 5–8 p.m. | Wild Lights |
| Winter Week, Feb. 12–20 | Nightly | 5–8 p.m. | Wild Lights |
The Wild Center is closed December 25 and January 1, and Wild Lights is closed on New Year's Day as well.
Daytime prices stay the same: $28 for adults 18 to 64, $26 for seniors and military, $15 for ages 5 to 17, and free for children 4 and under and for members. General admission covers Patrick Sapling, and there is no separate troll ticket. For a household that expects several winter weekends there, it comes down to adding up daytime visits against a membership.
Getting to him, and what's still unsettled
The walk is the Fen Trail, which was built to accessibility standards and can handle wheelchairs. Expect some exposed roots, uneven ground and gentle grades. You get a good view of the troll a short way down the trail, but for now the base of the sculpture is closed off. Motorized scooters and wheelchairs are lent first-come, first-served at visitor services.
A few rules from the Wild Center's FAQ:
- Touching or hugging the troll is allowed. Climbing is discouraged to protect visitors and the sculpture.
- Dogs aren't allowed on campus during open hours, except service dogs.
- He stands about 30 feet tall.
Winter access hasn't been decided. Asked whether the troll will be reachable in the cold months, the Wild Center answers, "We're working toward making this happen!" If the Fen Trail view is the reason for a January trip, check with the Wild Center before you drive over. Snowshoe and kicksled rentals are free with general admission, and there are dedicated winter trails across campus. The center suggests traction or walking sticks in winter and says trail access during Wild Lights isn't guaranteed in heavy snow or ice.
After dark, starting November 27
Wild Lights begins the Friday after Thanksgiving and runs through February 27, 2027. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for ages 5 to 17, and children 4 and under get in free. Members pay $10 and $5. As of early October, the Wild Center lists tickets as "opening soon." The route includes Wild Walk after dark and the looped Forest Music trail, plus hot cocoa and s'mores by the fire. The soundtrack is Watershed, a set of five jazz sketches by Eric Sturr & Co., returning from last season. Sturr wrote it partly as a tribute to Vince Guaraldi and Bill Evans.
The Wild Center lists Stickwork on the night route, in the same area as Wild Walk. Stickwork is the Wild Center's name for Dougherty's Hopscotch. Tupper Lake's tourism listing says Hopscotch glows during Wild Lights. The Wild Lights page doesn't mention Patrick Sapling. Since his base isn't open and winter access is still in progress, assume for now that the troll is a daytime visit.
One more thing to check: Tupper Lake's tourism listing for Wild Lights still says to check back for fall 2026 dates. The dates and prices above come from the Wild Center's own Wild Lights page.
The four weeks before October 31
The six traveling trolls are open daily until Halloween. To avoid lines, the Wild Center suggests weekdays or afternoons, since weekend mornings have had the longest waits at admissions and the most crowded trails. The Wild Center also recommends buying tickets online ahead of time because days can sell out.
October 31 is also the deadline for one more effort. The Wild Center is still raising money to maintain Patrick Sapling, and donors have offered to match new gifts dollar for dollar, up to $100,000, through that date. A sculpture of salvaged wood in Adirondack weather needs regular upkeep. Gunn calls Patrick Sapling "a sculpture about planting things," and the match is how the Wild Center is paying for that upkeep.
When the exhibition leaves, Tupper Lake keeps a 30-foot troll built partly from local wood and boulders from Kentile Excavating. From November through March, the Wild Center is open Fridays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Winter access to the troll is still being worked out. If you missed the summer crowds, our August post on Tupper Lake's troll season covers how they shaped the town's calendar. Our Tupper Lake neighborhood page covers the rest of the year.
At Bob Miller Real Estate, we follow how places like The Wild Center change the Tupper Lake calendar from season to season. If you're wondering how a weekend winter schedule and a new year-round attraction will play out in your part of town, contact Bob for a local market consult.
