As I was riding along Pennsylvania 562 I saw a sign leading the way to the Daniel Boone Homestead. My initial thought was, so this is going to be some little shack by the side of the road with a bronze plaque next to it. I was wrong. As I followed the blazes toward the homestead I came upon a substantial concrete sign indicating that I have reached the birthplace of one Daniel Boone. This was clearly too big a place just to take a quick look at from the road, so I headed up the road into the park. W hat I found, after a trip to the visitor's center, was that the park had 579 acres of land with seven eighteenth century buildings including the house, or at least the house as it stood in about 1799 after some renovation, that Mr. Boone was born in. The re are a number of buildings that are typical of the period located in the park. These include a blacksmith's shop, sawmill, barns and a bakehouse. Admission to the park is free and guided tours are provided for a small fee. Call them at (610) 582-4900 to check their hours of operation and to see if anything special is happening.
After looking around the homestead I got back on the road. I still thought that I had time to make it down to Paradise until a bit of construction side tracked me. I had intended to head down PA 82 south from Birdsboro. PA 82 looked interesting on the map and it went in just about the perfect direction. This plan didn't last very long. As I turned onto PA 82 in Birdsboro I was met with a 'Detour' sign. The detour took me onto PA 724 and then PA 345. Ahead on 354 was a sign for the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. I've always been interested in the production of iron and steel so once again I decided to wander in and take a look. So much for trying to get to Paradise.
Hopewell Furnace is a restored 'iron plantation' that dates back to before the Revolutionary War. Its been restored to the way it might have looked in the 1820's. The exhibits at the site take you through all of the steps of making iron in the days befo re it became a massive industrial process. You can see where they turned huge amounts of wood into charcoal, which was loaded along with iron ore and limestone into the furnace to be heated and turned into iron. The iron flowed from the bottom of the f urnace where it was cast into useful forms. Also on the grounds are some of the houses that workers lived in as well as the ironmaster's mansion. A few times each year there are demonstrations of charcoal making and the casting process. The last one th is year is on September 28th, right about the time that this issue of Backroads will be coming out. Admission to the park is two dollars per person. You can reach them at (610) 582-8773.
Since I knew there was no chance of getting to Paradise, I decided to find my way home, avoid as many towns as possible and stay off the numbered state highways. Because of this the route home is a bit complex, but you'll get to see all sorts of great country roads.
Mileage Total Leg 0.0 0.0 LEFT I78 Exit 15 onto 513 South 4.2 4.2 RIGHT Follow 513 11.7 7.5 STRAIGHT Join NJ 12 11.9 0.2 STRAIGHT Cross the bridge 12.1 0.2 LEFT STOP - T - PA 32 South 13.9 1.8 RIGHT Headquarters Rd. 14.2 0.3 BEAR RIGHT Geigle Hill Rd. - Follow yellow line 20.6 6.4 STRAIGHT STOP 21.6 1.0 LEFT Creamery Rd. 22.1 0.5 BEAR LEFT Y - Fretz Valley Rd. 24.1 2.0 RIGHT Kellers Church Rd. - 2nd Stop Sign 26.0 1.9 LEFT STOP - Ridge Rd. 29.8 3.8 STRAIGHT LIGHT - Join PA 563 South - Follow 563 42.1 12.3 RIGHT STOP - T - PA 63 West 44.1 2.0 LEFT T - STOP - PA295 44.9 0.8 RIGHT Snyders Rd. - One Way - Across Bridge 45.3 0.4 STRAIGHT STOP 48.6 3.3 RIGHT STOP - T - PA73 West - Follow PA73 55.0 6.4 LEFT LIGHT - PA562 South - Follow PA562 64.1 9.1 LEFT Old Tulpenhoeken Rd. - To: Daniel Boone Homestead 64.8 0.7 RIGHT STOP 66.3 1.5 RIGHT Into Daniel Boone Homestead 67.2 0.9 PARK Visitors Center Parking Lot 67.7 0.5 RIGHT Out of the Park - To: US422 68.4 0.7 RIGHT STOP - US422 West 68.7 0.3 LEFT PA82 South 70.0 1.3 LEFT LIGHT - PA724 East 70.6 0.6 RIGHT PA345 South - Follow PA345 75.6 5.0 RIGHT Hopewell Furnace National Historic Sight 76.3 0.7 STRAIGHT Exit Park - Cross PA345 78.5 2.2 BEAR LEFT SR 4018 79.2 0.7 STRAIGHT STOP 83.2 4.0 BEAR LEFT STOP - Lauralwood Rd. 84.7 1.5 LEFT LIGHT - PA 724 West 88.0 3.3 RIGHT Cross the river - TO: Douglassville 88.5 0.5 RIGHT then BEAR LEFT TO: Stowe - Don't follow US422 89.1 0.6 LEFT Old Douglas Rd. - Mt. View Chapel 89.6 0.5 STRAIGHT STOP - Join Douglas Rd. 94.7 5.1 STRAIGHT STOP - Cross 562 96.2 1.5 RIGHT STOP - Powder Mill Rd. 96.9 0.7 LEFT-RIGHT Ironstone Rd. 97.0 0.1 LEFT STOP - PA 73 102.6 5.6 RIGHT LIGHT - Oysterdale Rd. 103.4 0.8 BEAR RIGHT Y - Oysterdale Rd. Cont'. 108.0 4.6 RIGHT - BEAR LEFT STOP - Forgedale Rd. 112.2 4.2 LEFT STOP - Old Route 100 113.3 1.1 LEFT STOP - PA 100N 117.4 4.1 RIGHT PA 29 South 117.9 0.5 LEFT SR1010 Schuller Rd. 118.9 1.0 LEFT George Rd. - 2nd Left after underpass 119.6 0.7 STRAIGHT STOP - Join Schultz Bridge Rd. 121.1 1.5 RIGHT-LEFT STOP - Onto Limeport Pike 129.4 8.3 RIGHT Saucon Valley Rd. - To: Friendsville 129.7 0.3 STRAIGHT STOP 130.1 0.4 STRAIGHT LIGHT - Cross PA 309 132.1 2.0 STRAIGHT STOP - Cross PA 378 133.5 1.4 RIGHT STOP - T - Bengen Rd. 135.2 1.7 LEFT Apple Church Rd. 135.5 0.3 LEFT PA 412 136.1 0.6 RIGHT Springtown Hill Rd. 138.8 2.7 STRAIGHT STOP 138.9 0.1 STRAIGHT STOP - Join PA 212 144.5 5.6 LEFT STOP - T - PA 611 North 145.6 1.1 RIGHT LIGHT - Delaware Rd. 145.9 0.3 STRAIGHT Join Warren County 627 150.0 4.1 STRAIGHT Join WC 519 North 150.4 0.4 BEAR RIGHT WC 639 153.2 2.8 STRAIGHT STOP - NJ 173 154.4 1.2 RIGHT Onto I-78 East