List of

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

( U.S. state).

By
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

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 The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, nearly all by virtue of flowing to its major tributary, the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

. Also listed are some important tributaries to the few Kentucky rivers that originate in, or flow through, other states. *

** Obion Creek ** Mayfield Creek **

*** Goose Creek *** Massac Creek ***

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

**** Clarks River **** Blood River *** Cumberland River **** Little River **** Red River **** Obey River (Tennessee) ***** Wolf River **** Big South Fork of the Cumberland River **** Rockcastle River **** Laurel River **** Clear Fork *** Tradewater River *** Green River **** Panther Creek **** Pond River **** Rough River **** Mud River **** Barren River ***** Gasper River **** Little Reedy Creek **** Big Reedy Creek **** Bear Creek **** Nolin River **** Little Barren River **** Russell Creek *** Salt River **** Rolling Fork ***** Beech Fork ****** Chaplin River **** Floyds Fork *** Beargrass Creek *** Little Kentucky River *** Kentucky River **** Eagle Creek **** Elkhorn Creek **** Benson Creek **** Dix River ***** Cedar Creek **** Hickman Creek **** Silver Creek **** Red River **** North Fork Kentucky River ***** Troublesome Creek ****** Lost Creek ****** Buckhorn Creek ****** Balls Fork ****** The Forks of Troublesome ***** Willard Creek ***** North Fork tributaries at Hazard, Kentucky ****** Lotts Creek ******* Trace Fork ****** Big Creek ***** Carr Fork ***** Macies Creek ***** Leatherwood Creek **** Middle Fork Kentucky River ***** Cutshin Creek ***** Greasy Creek ***** Beech Fork **** South Fork Kentucky River ***** Sextons Creek ***** Goose Creek ****** Little Goose Creek ****** Horse Creek ****** Laurel Creek ****** Collins Creek ****** Martins Creek ****** Beech Creek ***** Red Bird River ****** Big Creek ****** Bear Creek *** Taylors Creek *** Licking River **** Banklick Creek **** South Fork Licking River ***** Townsend Creek **** North Fork Licking River *** Kinniconick Creek *** Tygarts Creek *** Little Sandy River *** Big Sandy River **** Blaine Creek **** Levisa Fork ***** Paint Creek ***** Russell Fork **** Tug Fork ***** Blackberry Creek

Alphabetically

* Banklick Creek * Barren River * Beargrass Creek * Beaver Creek (Kentucky) * Beech Fork of the Salt River * Betty Troublesome Creek * Big Sandy River * Blackberry Creek * Blood River * Cassidy Creek * Cedar Creek * Chaplin River * Clarks River * Clear Creek (Kentucky) * Clear Fork * Cruises Creek * Cumberland River * Defeated Creek (Knott County, Kentucky) * Defeated Creek (Letcher County, Kentucky) * Dix River * Dreaming Creek * Dry Creek (Kentucky) * Drennon Creek * Eddy Creek * Elkhorn Creek * Floyds Fork of the Salt River * Gasper River * Green River * Hickman Creek * Kentucky River * Laurel River * Lawrence Creek (Kentucky) * Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River * Licking River * Little Barren River * Little Kentucky River * Little River * Little Sandy River * Lynn Camp Creek * Massac Creek * Middle Fork Kentucky River *

* Mistaken Creek * Mud River * Nolin River * North Fork Kentucky River *

* Paint Creek * Pond River * Red Bird River * Red River (eastern Kentucky) * Red River (western Kentucky) * Rockcastle River * Rolling Fork of the Salt River * Rough River * Russell Fork of the Big Sandy River * Salt Lick Creek (Kentucky) * Salt River * Sap Branch * Silver Creek * Sinking Creek (Breckinridge County, Kentucky) * Sinking Creek (Jessamine County, Kentucky) * South Fork Kentucky River * Squabble Creek * Tearcoat Creek *

* Tradewater River * Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River * Tygarts Creek * Wolf River

References

USGS Geographic Names Information Service
*USGS Hydrologic Unit Map – State of Kentucky (1974)

By drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

Alphabetically

References

See also

By
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...