Field Notes Ohio

Ohio's parks, forests and wildlife areas with camping, the ancient mounds beside them, and the Buckeye Trail that links them. Stories, trails, wildlife, and where to eat and fuel up nearby. Book campsites on ReserveOhio.
Try:
The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile blue-blazed loop around Ohio, with all 26 sections.
›
Mounds & Earthworks43 ancient sites, including the Great Serpent Mound and the Newark Earthworks.
›
Historic Sites39 places, from Fort Steuben and Zoar to Camp Chase and the Rankin House, from the frontier to the Civil War.
›
Road Trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail.
›
Lake Erie Beaches20 public beaches from Conneaut to Toledo and the islands, with a map.
›
Oddities & Roadside Attractions19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops, plus a Mothman just over the line.
›
Caves & Caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters, with a map.
›
Waterfalls34 falls from the Cuyahoga Valley to the Hocking Hills, with trail notes and a map.
›

Explore Ohio

One map for every park, mound, historic site, beach, cave, waterfall and oddity in the app.

Lake ErieWest Virginia27 places277 places77 places73 places35 places519 places1913 places1319 places1916 places168 places810 places1010 places109 places98 places820 places204 places43 places3Barkcamp State Park4 places47 places77 places76 places69 places917 places173 places3Harrison Lake State Park2 places2Forked Run State Park3 places32 places26 places610 places103 places32 places2

Tap a symbol for a preview, or search for a place. Open the key to show or hide categories.

117 parks in 7 regions

Johnston Farm and Indian Agency

Piqua · Miami County · Western Ohio
A federal Indian agent's farm on the Miami & Erie Canal
Canal boat ridesOhio History Connection

Visiting information you can trust

Check before driving — this site is seasonal, approximate, privately run, or otherwise uncertain. Confirm hours and access with the official source above.
Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source
Official page
Location confidence
Verified entrance or visitor center
Johnston Farm and Indian Agency, 9845 N Hardin Rd, Piqua
Seasonal access
June to August: Thursday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with guided house tours at 11:30 and canal boat rides at 12:30 and 2:30. April, May, September and October: by appointment for groups, Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed holidays; other sources list different hours.
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
Tickets or admission info

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

A restored farm, a museum of Ohio's Native peoples and a mule-drawn canal boat ride, all on the site of the old Piqua Indian agency.

Agent
John Johnston, U.S. Indian agent for western Ohio from 1812 to 1829
Also
One of Ohio's seven original canal commissioners
Farm
A restored house and farm as they were about 1829, with the oldest log barn in Ohio
Canal
A restored mile of the Miami & Erie Canal with the General Harrison, a 70-foot mule-drawn replica boat
Museum
Exhibits on the Woodland Indians and the Pickawillany village of 1747, and an Eastern Shawnee exhibit
Buckeye Trail
Piqua is a Buckeye Trail Town on the Troy Section

The story

John Johnston settled here in 1811 as the federal Indian agent for the Piqua region, working with the Shawnee, Wyandot, Seneca and Delaware nations until 1829. He was also a farmer, a public official and one of the seven original canal commissioners who planned Ohio's 'Big Ditch,' the canals built between 1825 and 1845, dug by thousands of laborers, many of them immigrants, in dangerous conditions and across land that had been Native homeland a generation before. His restored house and farm show the frontier as it looked around 1829, and the museum, built to resemble the blockhouse of Fort Piqua, follows 2,000 years of Ohio history, from the Pickawillany village of 1747 to Camp Piqua in 1862.

The agency was an instrument of American expansion, and the policies it served ended with the removal of the Shawnee, Wyandot and other nations of western Ohio to lands west of the Mississippi in the 1830s and 1840s. An exhibit by the Eastern Shawnee traces their story from removal to the present. Visitors ride the General Harrison, a replica canal boat pulled by mules along a restored mile of the Miami & Erie Canal, at about four miles an hour.

Related sites

The Agent and the Big Ditch

John Johnston spent seventeen years as the government's man among the nations of western Ohio, and then he spent more years helping dig the canal that carried their old country's grain to market. He was, by most accounts, respected by everyone.

His house on the Miami River is a good place to hear the story from more than one side.

Behind the legend

Johnston's dates, his roles as Indian agent and canal commissioner and the restored farm are from the Ohio History Connection and Wikipedia. Sources give different acreages (200 or 250) and different hours. The removal of the nations of western Ohio in the 1830s is documented history, and the Eastern Shawnee exhibit tells it from the Shawnee side.

If you go

Ride the canal boat, see the Eastern Shawnee exhibit and walk the farm. Piqua is also on the Buckeye Trail.

Visiting

Status
Open seasonally
Managed by
Ohio History Connection
Hours
June to August: Thursday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with guided house tours at 11:30 and canal boat rides at 12:30 and 2:30. April, May, September and October: by appointment for groups, Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed holidays; other sources list different hours.
Admission
Adults $10, seniors, military and AAA members $9, children 6 to 12 $5; members free. Boat rides are included.
Phone
937-773-2522
Please note
Boat rides depend on the weather; call ahead.
Address
9845 N Hardin Rd, Piqua, OH 45356
Official information →DirectionsFind trails nearby on AllTrails →

Hours and prices change. Confirm with the site before you go.

Parks nearby

Lake Loramie State Park
About 25 miles · A lake and canal park with camping.
Open
Grand Lake St. Marys State Park
About 35 miles · Ohio's largest inland lake.
Open

Buckeye Trail

Troy Section
52 miles · on or near the Buckeye Trail
Open
St. Marys Section
48 miles · on or near the Buckeye Trail
Open

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.