LICKING RIVER

river, rising in Magoffin County, east Kentucky, U.S., and flowing about 320 mi (515 km) generally northwest to enter the Ohio River at Covington, Ky., opposite Cincinnati, Ohio. It is joined by north and south forks near Falmouth in Pendleton County. The Licking River, partly navigable and an early trade route, courses through an area of numerous saline springs, where animals went for salt licks. By the river, in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky 40 mi northeast of Lexington, stands the Blue Licks Battlefield State Park, commemorating a Revolutionary skirmish (Aug. 19, 1782) in which Kentucky pioneers were defeated by a British-Indian force.