Lost Creek Reserve--Knoop Agricultural Heritage Center

Lost Creek Reserve--Knoop Agricultural Heritage Center

Troy, Ohio 45373

Lost Creek Reserve Official Website
Lost Creek Reserve map

About this Location

The Knoop Agricultural Heritage Center is on the west side of the Lost Creek Reserve and is under development. Recently, the park district added a small parking lot. A trail leads from the lot back along the old farm lane. To the west is an agricultural field, east of the lane is a prairie and meadow, and east of that is an alfalfa field. The Knoop family, which donated the land, still farm the land. The trail leads back to a small woodlot, in which I have located Red-headed Woodpeckers and warblers. The trail goes around the woods with meadow to the east and prairie to the north. A section of trail leads back to a wet area, while the main trail travels east to connect to the trail system of the original parkland. The park map does not yet show the west side of the reserve. Upon entering the park, take the left fork which leads to the west lot. There are no restroom facilities. I have found there Red-headed Woodpeckers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Orchard Orioles, Dickcissels, Indigo Buntings, Red-tailed Hawks, Grasshopper Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Field Sparrows, and American Tree Sparrows.

About Lost Creek Reserve

See all hotspots at Lost Creek Reserve

Lost Creek is the largest park with 457 acres of landscape. It has 3.4 miles of trail that takes you past farm fields, through wooded areas, and along Lost Creek making this Reserve a great place for hiking, cross-country skiing, and viewing wildlife.

Lost Creek Reserve is the site of the Historic Knoop Homestead whose rich history encompasses over 200 years and five generations of Knoops. The Victorian Era farmhouse and historic barns still decorate the landscape.

In 1997, Mark D. and Dorothy Knoop set up a private trust to benefit the Miami County Park District. The Park District purchased 173 acres, which is contiguous to the 239 acres held in the Trust. This purchase included the Knoop Homestead, the ancestral Knoop cemetery, and several barns. In purchasing this property from the family of Mark D. and Dorothy Knoop, the Park District has recognized the influence of the Knoop ancestors on the development of Miami County by naming the new park, Lost Creek Reserve, and Knoop Agricultural Heritage Center. The original 239 acres in the Trust were given to the Park District to continue as “tillable land for agriculture as well as preserving for posterity some beautiful pastoral area that will never be built over with housing as commercial development has happened in so much of Ohio. “This gift is also a legacy of my ancestors who developed this land” – Mark D. Knoop.

Features

  • Restrooms on site

  • Wheelchair accessible trail

  • Entrance fee

  • Roadside viewing

Content from Lost Creek Reserve Official Website and Michael Brush

Last updated February 15, 2023