Living in Floyds Knobs, Indiana: A Local's Guide to the Knobs

Take State Street north out of New Albany and keep going. The road climbs, the houses thin out, and before long you're looking back over the river valley toward Louisville. That ridge, and the hilly country behind it, is Floyds Knobs.

It's the place people search for on our site more than anywhere else, so here's our local's guide: where it is, what "the Knobs" actually means, how getting around works, and a few spots worth knowing before you move up the hill.

Where Floyds Knobs is (and why it's called "the Knobs")

Floyds Knobs is an unincorporated community in Lafayette Township, Floyd County. There's no town hall and no city limits. It's a ZIP code (47119), a township and a shared sense of place, and you'll hear locals just call it "the Knobs."

It sits about four miles northwest of the Ohio River and downtown New Albany. The name comes from the land itself. Coming in from the southeast, the Knobstone Escarpment rises 400 to 850 feet above the Ohio River floodplain along New Albany's northwestern edge. The eroded hills along that edge are the "knobs." The "Floyds" part honors Col. Davis Floyd, and the area's first gristmill was built by James Moore in 1815.

For most of its history this was farm country on the outskirts of New Albany. Today it's a mix of subdivisions, working farms, small shopping centers and churches, and it's also where many of the area's TV and radio transmitters sit. The Census Bureau only started tracking Floyds Knobs as its own census-designated place in the 2022 American Community Survey, and recent estimates put the population at a little over 11,000.

A quick note on spelling: Floyds Knobs, Floyd Knobs and Floyd's Knobs all mean the same place. The official version has no apostrophe.

Getting up and down the hill

The Knobs really has two centers. The historic one is the crossroads of Scottsville Road and Paoli Pike, which was Old U.S. 150 and the main route from New Albany to Paoli. The newer one is around Interstate 64's exit 119 (U.S. 150), where most of the commercial growth has happened, west of the old center.

Paoli Pike follows the old Buffalo Trail along the bluff, a route buffalo once used to move through the area. (If that name sounds familiar, yes, one of the neighborhoods up here is called Buffalo Trail.) There are several ways up the bluff from New Albany, and you'll find your own favorite pretty quickly.

Some honest commute advice:

• Drive it at rush hour before you commit. Your trip to Louisville, Jeffersonville or downtown New Albany depends a lot on which part of the Knobs you're in and how close you are to I-64. A house near exit 119 and one out on a winding back road can feel very different on a Tuesday morning.
• Look at the hills, not just the miles. Some of the prettiest roads up here are also the steepest and curviest. Check the route in bad weather if you can.
• Unincorporated means county. Since there's no town government, local services and rules come through Floyd County and Lafayette Township rather than a city hall.

The views are the point

Ask anyone why they live up here and the views will come up fast. Southern Indiana's tourism bureau calls out the Knobs for views over both Southern Indiana and Louisville, and suggests driving up State Street to see it for yourself. It also points to the neighborhoods at the top of Spickert Knob Road and along Skyline Drive for some of the best looks across the region.

Our tip: go in late fall or winter, once the leaves are down and the sightlines open up, then go again at sunset. Most of the best vantage points are along residential roads, so pull off somewhere safe and be a good neighbor about driveways.

The same guide pairs the Knobs drive with a country-roads loop out to Joe Huber's Family Farm & Restaurant and Huber's Orchard & Winery, which makes a good Saturday if you're showing visitors around.

Valley View Golf Club

Valley View Golf Club is at 3748 Lawrence Banet Road, and it's listed with the City of New Albany's parks and recreation pages. It's an 18-hole course on more than 200 acres, with a golf shop and clubhouse, and it draws golfers from about an hour around.

The course dates to 1963, and public listings show it open year-round, weather permitting. In the colder months, call the pro shop at (812) 923-9280 before you load the clubs.

The Sunday farmers market (and where it actually is)

You may have seen the Floyds Knobs farmers market listed at Letty Walter Park. Per the market's own website, that's not where it sets up. The Floyds Knobs Farmers & Market uses the parking area at 411 Lafollette Station, next to Landmark Dental Care, on Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The 2026 season ran May 10 through Aug. 30, so it's finished for the year. Dates have shifted from season to season (older listings say Mother's Day through October), so check the market's Facebook page in spring for 2027 dates.

What you'll find: local meat, produce, eggs, jams and jellies, honey and crafts. This year's vendor list included Hammack Farm, Karst Kreek Farm, Kruer Farm and New Albany Honey, among others, and opening day came with live music.

In the off-season: New Albany's market at 202 E. Market St. runs Saturdays year-round. According to Louisville Public Media, winter hours are 10 a.m. to noon from Oct. 17 through April 10. That's a short drive down the hill.

Letty Walter Park

Letty Walter Park is a Floyd County park at 5345 St. Marys Road. It's a handy spot to know about if you live on that side of the Knobs. Amenities and seasonal hours can change, so check with Floyd County Parks before planning a visit around something specific.

Floyds Knobs neighborhoods we've written up

Floyds Knobs isn't one neighborhood. It's a spread of subdivisions, larger lots and farmland, and two addresses a few miles apart can feel very different. Our neighborhood guides get down to street level:

• Bent Creek
• Buffalo Trail
• Chambord
• Crestwood
• Crestwood Manor
• Fairway Estates
• Plum Hill
• Shadow Lake
• The Highlands
• Woods of Lafayette

A few practical notes before you move up the hill

• Schools: The area is served by the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corporation. Assignments go by address, so confirm with the district for any specific home.
• Prices and inventory: We won't guess at numbers here. Our market reports are updated with current local data, and you can browse homes for sale in Floyds Knobs to see what's out there right now.
• Spend a Sunday up here. Drive the back roads, find a view, and in season, stop by the market. You'll know pretty quickly whether the Knobs feels like home.

If you have questions about a particular corner of the Knobs, we're always glad to talk it through. That's what neighbors are for.