LEBANON, Pa. -- Pioneers in Daniel Boone's day built log cabins in the woods using little more than an ax.

For modern-day Daniel Boones trying not to leave civilization too far behind when they trek into the woods, Conestoga Log Cabins Inc. has the answer.

The 7-year-old company produces prefabricated log cabin kits in part of the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Lebanon.

Conestoga, according to the owners, is moving successfully into a niche in recreational lodging somewhere between families getting rained on in tents and those making huge investments in recreational vehicles.

Co-owner Bill Keller Jr. said the company's cabins are turning up everywhere, from Germany to Oregon and from Greenland to the Bahamas, with as many as 200 expected eventually at the newly renovated Twin Grove Park in northern Lebanon County.

Keller said the company is one of two major suppliers of cabins for KOA campgrounds and also supplies cabins for state parks in several states, for resorts and for the U.S. military.

Daniel Boone would have a hard time recognizing the building of 21st-century log cabins. There is nary a tree in sight in the cavernous old brick building where Conestoga has operated for two years.

Computerized machines cut notches in the ends of laminated "logs" to provide a weather-tight fit in the cabins and also shape trim for windows, railing for porches and a variety of rustic furniture. A machine purchased recently from a German company can do several operations on the same piece of wood.

The power saw Bill Keller Sr. used to fabricate log cabins in his garage 18 years ago would be unfamiliar to Boone. But Keller had little else.

Bill Keller Jr. said his father, a salesman at the time, had seen a prefabricated log cabin built by a Swedish company and signed up to sell the cabins in the United States.

But when the company stopped exporting any more cabins, the elder Keller decided to make them himself.

"After a couple of years, he put it aside," said Bill Jr. "It was too much."

But seven years ago, the father and son started Conestoga Log Cabins in Ephrata along with John Sensenig. The business soon moved to Leola, then back to Ephrata, and two years ago to the old Bethlehem Steel plant in Lebanon.

Keller said he likes the old steel mill because, compared to buildings Conestoga had used earlier, the mill is open and has fewer columns.

Since moving to Lebanon, the company has expanded. Conestoga occupied 50,000 square feet when it first arrived, but later expanded to its current 93,000 square feet.

The company shares space in the old steel plant with Everlast Roofing, another company Sensenig owns.

It also has acquired more and more sophisticated machinery.

"One thing we do a lot of is change," Keller noted.

Conestoga makes camping cabins ranging from a simple "sleeper" kit for $5,000 to a 720-square-foot housekeeping cabin complete with kitchen and bathroom for $28,000.

It also makes several styles of garden cabins and a line of rustic furniture that can be purchased separately from the cabins.

The company produces a 20-minute instructional video that provides directions for putting the kits together.