Boone's Lick is reached by descending a trail to the site of the spring, where the quiet basin today contrasts with the activity that took place here from 1805 until 1900. After the virgin forest was cut down to provide firewood for the salt furnaces, trees grew back, and much of the salt works was buried by time. Still visible is the spring box, built so saline water could be lifted by a large human-powered wheel, and its wood has been partially preserved by the saline water. Around the spring basin, the concentrated work of salt production once involved many men, animals, and structures that enabled early settlers to make a living in a harsh and challenging wilderness. The salt produced here was vital to the area's economic growth and to settlers' daily lives, especially for food preservation and for curing and tanning animal hides, and hundreds of people made a living at this place.