Lotts Creek (Kentucky)

Lotts Creek
Lotts Creek
Physical characteristics
SourceYoung's Fork headwaters
  coordinates37°16′55″N 83°01′53″W / 37.28191°N 83.03141°W / 37.28191; -83.03141 (Young's Fork headwaters)
2nd sourceKelly/Big Fork headwaters
  coordinates37°16′20″N 83°00′53″W / 37.27225°N 83.01484°W / 37.27225; -83.01484 (Kelly/Big Fork headwaters)
3rd sourceClear Fork headwaters
  coordinates37°16′55″N 83°05′19″W / 37.28198°N 83.08853°W / 37.28198; -83.08853 (Clear Fork headwaters)
4th sourceGrigsby Creek headwaters
  coordinates37°17′40″N 83°07′57″W / 37.29453°N 83.13238°W / 37.29453; -83.13238 (Grigsby Creek headwaters)
MouthNorth Fork Kentucky River
  location
North Fork tributaries at Hazard, Kentucky
  coordinates
37°16′57″N 83°11′32″W / 37.28260°N 83.19234°W / 37.28260; -83.19234 (mouth of Lotts Creek)
  elevation
820 feet (250 m)
Width 
  minimum6 feet (1.8 m)
  maximum25 feet (7.6 m)

Lotts Creek is a creek in Perry County and Knott County, Kentucky in the United States. It is a tributary of the North Fork Kentucky River that joins it at Darfork 3 miles (4.8 km) downstream of Hazard at an altitude of 820 feet (250 m). It is 8.5 miles (13.7 km) long from its mouth to where it splits into the Young's (a.k.a. Young) and Kelly (a.k.a. Big) Forks.

The most likely source of the name "Lotts" is a William Harrison Lott of Clark County, however there is contradictory evidence on various historical maps, including a spelling "Lots" that is used after 1850, where before 1850 it was regularly spelled "Lotts". The "Lots" spelling, according to one story, comes from when landowner "Danger Nick" Combs fenced off his land into lots; but in 1939 the U.S. Board on Geographic Names settled on the "Lotts" spelling.