Banklick Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed June 13, 2011 tributary of the Licking River in northern

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. By the Licking River and the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

, it is part of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

watershed. Banklick Creek rises in rural areas near the Boone-

Kenton County Kenton County is a county located in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 169,064, making it the third most populous county in Kentucky (behind Jefferson County and Fayette County). Its ...

line near the city of Walton then flows northeasterly through Kenton County and empties into the Licking River near Latonia in a highly urbanized area, less than from the Licking's confluence with the Ohio River. Covering more than , the topography of the Banklick's watershed ranges from steep to gently sloping. Throughout most of its length, Banklick Creek is shallow and flows over a narrow, gravelly, and sometimes rocky streambed. However, approximately ¾ mi. upstream from its mouth, it becomes wider and deep. The upper half of Banklick Creek is home to many species of fish including smallmouth bass, sunfish, suckers, carp, and catfish, as well as crayfish, turtles, snakes, and frogs. The lower half, beyond the inflow of Bullock Pen Creek from Doe Run Lake, the Banklick is seriously impaired and suffers from suburban lawn runoff, siltation due to overdevelopment, and fecal coliforms due to sewer overflows. Pioneer Park, established by the Kenton County Parks Board in 1976, is situated along the banks of the creek, near the community of Taylor Mill. In the 1970s, the creek, as it bordered the park, was unintentionally contaminated by a local manufacturing concern, with a number of

toxic substances Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

that found their way into the streambed. This led to an extensive clean-up effort by both private and public sources, including the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

. No deaths were linked directly to the 1970s pollution. Though Banklick Creek is home to numerous species of flora and fauna, it is seldom fished or used for recreation, save at its most western reaches. Banklick Creek was once slightly deeper and more navigable than is the case today, and human village sites which date to the archaic period (some 8000 BC in some cases) are numerous along its length. A

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers. Eur ...

that was built by the region's earliest white settlers still stands near the midpoint of Banklick Creek. The creek is popular with both

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

and artifact seekers, and in 2001 a flint paleo spear point dating to c. 11,000 BC was discovered in a silty gravel outcropping, near Latonia.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Kenton County, Kentucky Rivers of Kentucky

See also

References