The Little Sandy River

East from Olive Hill following the Big Sinking Creek and then north on the Little Sandy River to the Ohio River.

From the Ohio River, Route 2 closely follows the Little Sandy for the first few miles south of Greenup, but the Little Sandy meanders away from it to the east, so drivers and bikers must divert to Route 1459 and then to Route 1 to follow the river's path.

Little Sandy River access, Moderate but speeding traffic. Fultz Road is good for biking as well as Big Sinking Creek Road and Cory Road. The three tressel bridges on EK Railroad Drive are currently closed to traffic.

The trail linking Tygarts Creek and the Little Sandy is no doubt a very ancient one, and was used by one band of the Morgan's Station raiders and their hostages. While there is no known precisely described routing of this trail, we can reasonably guess that it followed the east-west route of Little Sinking Creek. From the west, Corey Road (via Route 3298) links Olive Hill with Grahn. From the east, Fultz road follows the old CSX Railroad right-of-way to Fultz Fork, but dead ends there. Although many maps indicate that there is a road between Fultz Fork and Aden Road, none actually exists. The old CSX right-of-way is still there and is a great hiking trail, but it is now privately owned and is not accessible by bicycle or on foot... (trespassers may be chided, but it's really worth the gamble.

The foregoing serves to explain why our driving/biking route diverts away from Fultz Road about half way to Fultz Fork and uses Big Sinkng Creek Road to bring us into the Grahn area, where we link up with Corey Road. About 60 percent of Big Sinking Road is unpaved, but it is well maintained and the natural beauty of the surrounding area justifies the detour and the slow driving required. One can proceed on this road at 20-25 mph with little fear of damage by the loose material of the road surface. Similarly, the road leading into Leon, Ky. from the east is unpaved for less than two miles. More interestingly, the road passes over three narrow railroad tressel bridges. Little has been done to the bridges to adapt them to automobile or bicycle use, other than to secure wide planks to the bed of the bridges where railroad tracks once laid. The bridges are blocked to vehicular access now, but the more adventurist hiker or biker can give this trail a try. It's quite nice.