Olive Hill to Cave Run

Tygarts Creek flows from the west but turns north at Olive Hill, Ky. West of Olive Hill, the northerly fork is called Upper Tygart, the southerly is the Soldier Fork. To a walker or horseback rider traveling from east to west, it is not readily apparent which fork is the more efficient route to or from the west.

The Upper Tygart branch carries a bit more water flow, and the valley it has created is somewhat wider than the valley created by the Soldier Fork to the south. In contrast, the traveler who has followed Triplett Creek upstream to its headwaters has a somewhat easier choice. One branch of Triplett Creek flows from the base of a substantial ridgeline that geologically separates it from the easterly flowing waters of the Upper Tygart branch of Tygarts Creek.

The second branch of Triplett Creek emanates from a narrow east-west hollow that points directly at the headwaters of the Soldier Branch. There is no substantial-high ground to impede easterly travel from Triplett Creek into the Soldier Fork valley. Once the traveler has tried both paths, the logical choice becomes obvious.

The distinct advantages of one trail over the other are somewhat masked by the routing of modern highways. Route 60 climbs the north-south ridgeline at a moderate grade throughout about two miles. The traveler must make a conscious effort to appreciate the significant change in altitude as the ridgeline is traversed. On foot, the change is more apparent.

The advantage that the Soldier Branch has is not immediately apparent because Rt. 174 also climbs a grade between the Soldier Branch valley and the Triplett Creek valley. But one has only to glance to the north of the highway to see that there is a narrow east-west valley below the highway which the road builders did not take advantage of. Why they did not is unknown, but it may have had something to do with the sitting of the railroad that was surveyed through this section in the 1880s. The original wagon road/trail may have been displaced by the railroad right-of-way.

Trail Access

Although road berms are narrow on Rt. 174, traffic is light and generally travels at a moderate speed, so this is a good biking area. The abandoned CSX railroad right-of-way closely follows the course of Tygart's Creek. Portions of it are privately owned, but I have never heard of a hiker's access being questioned. We're certain of the routing of the trail through this area because contemporaneous reports of the party pursuing the raiders states that they followed a path that paralleled Triplett Creek.

Triplett Creek flows down from the east fairly directly through a valley that passes Morehead, Ky. There are virtually no alternative routes to or from the east through the hills in this area. Topographic maps show that the hills east of Morehead lay densely on the land, valleys are narrower, and few hollows extend in any direction for any significant distance, the Triplett Creek valley being the notable exception. There is limited access to Triplett Creek, but a hiker or biker who follows US Rt. 60 is not far from the original trail. This is not the ideal biking area, but it is safe for an experienced rider. There is some limited hiking close to Triplett Creek in the area of an old golf course, but most of the bottomland is occupied by commercial and residential properties.