The River Dee is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

running through the extreme south east of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, a part of the Craven region traditionally part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. Its name possibly derives from Brythonic ''deva'' meaning ''goddess'', or from Dent or

Dentdale Dentdale is a Dale (landform), dale or valley in the north-west of the Yorkshire Dales National Park in Cumbria, England. It is the valley of the River Dee (Lune), River Dee, but takes its name from the village of Dent, South Lakeland, Dent. Th ...

, through which the river flows. The river rises above Dent Head Farm (on the

Dales Way The Dales Way is an long-distance footpath in Northern England, from (south-east to north-west) Ilkley, West Yorkshire, to Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria. This walk was initially devised by the West Riding Ramblers' Association with the 'lea ...

), formed from several smaller

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s emanating from Blea Moor Moss, the River Dee makes its way northward past Stone House, where it is joined by Arten Gill, to Cowgill, where it turns left into Dentdale. In Dentdale, it picks up the waters of Deepdale Beck (travelling north from

Whernside Whernside is a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales in Northern England. It is the highest of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, the other two being Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent. It is the highest point in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire Mickle F ...

) before passing Dent and Gawthrop. The river later passes Lenacre and Rash on its way to meeting the

River Rawthey The River Rawthey is a river in Cumbria in northwest England. The headwaters of the Rawthey are at Rawthey Gill Foot, where Rawthey Gill meets Haskhaw Gill. The source of Rawthey Gill is unclear, but is either on Knoutberry Haw or near to the ...

at Catholes, near the town of

Sedbergh Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. It falls within the historic boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Since April 2023, it has been administered by Westmorland and Furness local authority. Th ...

. The old water mill at Rash Bridge is thought to have been an inspiration for the folk song "The Jolly Miller of Dee". The Rawthey goes on to join the

River Lune The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England. Etymology Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic languages, Brittonic ...

References

Dee 2Dee {{England-river-stub