Trip 2 · Estill & Lee counties
The Furnace & the Woolly Worm
HistoryOdditiesLittle kids OKGrade-school sweet spot
A lost-castle iron furnace standing alone in the woods, Kentucky's official state-rock country, and the town that crowns a caterpillar its winter meteorologist every October.
The route
KY 52 through Richmond → Irvine → Ravenna → Fitchburg Furnace → KY 11 to Beattyville → KY 11 north through Zoe → Slade → home
Stops
Irvine & agate country
Estill County creeks hide Kentucky agate, the official state rock. The Mountain Mushroom Festival each late April is the easy, legal way in — morels plus a serious rock show.
Ravenna
A whole town built by a railroad; the yard still rumbles and the veterans' park makes a fine leg-stretch.
Fitchburg Furnace
A colossal twin-stack 1869 iron furnace in the middle of the forest, like a castle everyone forgot. Short walk, huge wow-per-effort ratio.
Beattyville
Three forks of the Kentucky River meet here — and every last-full-weekend of October the Woolly Worm Festival races caterpillars to forecast winter (Oct 23–25, 2026, verified).
If the day runs long: Finish at Slade for reptile-zoo mop-up or Miguel's if Trip 1 left debts unpaid.
File a field report
Found a new dairy bar? Bridge out? Dog mayor re-elected? Email a field report and the best dispatches get published (first names only) on the Field Notes page.