Red River (Kentucky River tributary)

This article is about the river in eastern Kentucky. For the tributary to the Cumberland River, see Red River (Tennessee-Kentucky). For other uses, see Red River (disambiguation).

The Red River is a 97.2-mile-long (156.4 km)^[2] tributary of the Kentucky River in east-central Kentucky in the United States. Via the Kentucky and Ohio rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.

Red River
Red River in the Red River Gorge Geological Area
Location
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
Physical characteristics
Length	97.2 mi (156.4 km)
Discharge
• location	Clay City, Kentucky
• average	507 cu/ft. per sec.[1]
National Wild and Scenic River
Type	Wild, Recreational
Designated	December 2, 1993

Wild and Scenic Red River in Wolfe County

Autumn river landscape on the lower Red River

It rises in the mountainous region of the Cumberland Plateau, in eastern Wolfe County, approximately 15 miles (24 km) east of Campton. It flows generally west, through Red River Gorge in the Daniel Boone National Forest, then past Stanton and Clay City. It joins the Kentucky approximately 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Winchester.

In 1993, a 20-mile (32 km) stretch of the river in the Red River Gorge was designated by the federal government as a National Wild and Scenic River.

The book The Unforeseen Wilderness by Wendell Berry was written to deter the Army Corps of Engineers from damming the Red River Gorge in 1971.

Recreation

The largest golden redhorse ever taken in Kentucky (4 lbs., 5 oz.) was taken in the Red River.^[3]

See also

• Clifty Wilderness
• List of rivers of Kentucky