The mouth of the Licking River, where it joins the Ohio River

The Licking River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 320 mi (515 km) long in northeastern Kentucky in the United States. The river and its tributaries drain much of the region of northeastern Kentucky between the watersheds of the Kentucky River to the west and the Big Sandy River to the east. The name of the river derives the many saline springs near the river that attracted animals to its salt licks.

Description

It rises in the Cumberland Plateau of eastern Kentucky, in southeastern Magoffin County. It flows northwest in a highly meandering course past Salyersville and West Liberty. In Rowan County in the Daniel Boone National Forest it is impounded to form the large Cave Run Lake reservoir. Northwest of the reservoir it receives Fleming Creek approximately 8 mi (13 km) northwest of Carlisle and flows across the Bluegrass region of northern Kentucky. It receives the North Fork from the east approximately 10 mi (16 km) northwest of Mount Olivet and the South Fork from the south at Falmouth. It joins the Ohio opposite Cincinnati, Ohio, where it separates the cities of Covington and Newport.

The river served as an important transportation route for Native Americans and early European pioneers. In the 19th century, it was an important trade route. In 1780, during the American Revolutionary War, a group of American frontiersmen under George Rogers Clark gathered at the river's mouth for their march up the valley of the Little Miami River. In 1782 the river was the site of the Battle of Blue Licks.

The river is considered by environmentalists to provide a unique ecosystem in the region. The lower river is considered to be a rare example of a native muskie stream. The river basin also supports several unique fish species including: redside dace, mimic shiner, streamline chub, slender madtom, blue sucker, paddlefish, and eastern sand. There are also more than 50 species of mussels, of which 11 are endangered. The watershed provides wetland stopover habitats for about 250 species of migratory birds, which is considered to be an unusually high number. Several state and federal agencies, as well as private organizations such as The Nature Conservancy have sought to protect the diversity of habitat in the region.

External links

• Nature Conservancy: Licking River (http://nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/kentucky/preserves/art10920.html)
• Pre-Wisconsin Spillways along the Licking River (http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2003SC/finalprogram/abstract_49396.htm)
• Scenes along the Licking River (http://www.nkyviews.com/campbell/newport_licking_scenes.htm)