Little Sandy River (Kentucky)
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The Little Sandy River is a
tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
of 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 ...
in northeastern
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 ...
. It is longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 26, 2011
drains an area of .U.S. Geological Survey.
National Hydrography Dataset The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) is a digital database of surface water features used to make maps. It contains features such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, canals, dams and stream gages for the United States. Description Cartographers ...
, area data covering Little Sandy River watershed, 8-digit
Hydrologic Unit Code A hydrological code or hydrologic unit code is a sequence of numbers or letters (a '' geocode'') that identify a hydrological unit or feature, such as a river, river reach, lake, or area like a drainage basin (also called watershed in North Ameri ...
05090104
The National Map
, retrieved 2015-10-27
Via the Ohio, 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.


Course

The Little Sandy rises in southern Elliott County and flows generally north-northeastwardly in a
meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...
ing course through Elliott,
Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter ...
and Greenup counties, through the towns of
Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern ...
and Grayson. It joins the Ohio River at Greenup. At its mouth, the Little Sandy River's mean annual discharge is .


Dams

A
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
in Carter County causes the river to widen as
Grayson Lake Grayson Lake is a reservoir in Carter and Elliott counties in Kentucky. It was created by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1968 by impounding the Little Sandy River with the Grayson Dam, an earthen structure 120 feet high, creating a ...
in southern Carter and northern Elliott Counties.
Grayson Lake State Park Grayson Lake State Park is a Kentucky state park located in Carter and Elliott counties, near the city of Grayson, Kentucky. The park has an area of . It has facilities for boating, water skiing, swimming, fishing and golfing. It is served by K ...
is located along this impoundment.


East Fork Little Sandy River

The East Fork Little Sandy River, long, joins the main stream in Greenup County. It rises in northern Lawrence County and initially flows eastwardly before turning north-northwestwardly through
Boyd Boyd may refer to: Places Canada * Boyd Conservation Area, a conservation area located northwest of Toronto, Ontario * Boyd Lake (disambiguation) United States * Boyd County (disambiguation) * Boyd, Indiana * Boyd, Iowa * Boyd, Kansas * B ...
and Greenup Counties. It flows past the Ashland
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
of Cannonsburg.


See also

* Big Sandy River *
List of Kentucky rivers List of rivers in Kentucky (U.S. state). By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. All rivers in Kentucky flow to the Mississippi River, nearly all by virtue o ...


References


Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry


External links


Grayson Lake website
{{authority control Rivers of Kentucky Tributaries of the Ohio River Rivers of Carter County, Kentucky Rivers of Elliott County, Kentucky Rivers of Greenup County, Kentucky Rivers of Lawrence County, Kentucky Rivers of Boyd County, Kentucky