Thanks to some posts on other forums, I started looking a little bit further west at some hinted at lost ski areas. One that jumped out at me was "Lakewood Village" near Ashland, KY. According to most of what I found through my google-fu, it was a late 70's/early 80's ski area. I found the village, and looked for likely spots for a slope. With Bing bird's eye view, I found
Lakewood Village ski slope. The top of the hill is at the bottom of the photo. You can see the remains of a bullwheel at the top, some possible unloading station remains, fotters for the base at the bottom of the hill, and 2 base lodge building remains across a small ditch. Does not appear on skilifts.org survey.
I would consider stopping that way to explore the next time I go to visit the wife's family, but that area is pretty much "Copperhead Rd" territory.