Featured Destination Story

Brukner Nature Center

Troy, OH

Brukner Nature Center is a non-profit, privately funded organization promoting the appreciation and understanding of wildlife conservation through preservation, education, and rehabilitation. The purpose of our wildlife rehabilitation program is to educate people regarding the natural history of Ohio’s wildlife, to offer help and advice when wildlife and people conflict, and to care for, rehabilitate, and release native Ohio wildlife expected to survive in their natural environment.

Brukner Nature Center opened to the public in 1974 and is the vision of Clayton J. Brukner, a local inventor and philanthropist. The 165-acre preserve is traversed by 6 miles of hiking trails and visitors can enjoy an Interpretive Building, Wildlife Ambassadors on display, and the 1804 Iddings Log House.

Clayton J. Brukner was born December 18, 1896, in Ravenna, Nebraska. In 1923 with high school chum and business partner, E.J. "Sam" Junkin, he brought the Weaver Aircraft Company to Troy, Ohio. The company name was eventually changed to the WACO Aircraft Company, which soon became the most successful civil aircraft manufacturer of the pre-World War II era. Brukner also had a great love for nature and in 1933 bought 146 acres of land along the Stillwater River, not known for its productivity, but rather for its natural beauty. He unveiled his plans to build a nature center on this site and in May 1974, Brukner Nature Center opened to the public.