It gives its name to a hamlet and civil parish in the upper part of the dale, about 7 miles (11 km) west of Masham.

[1] The lower part of the dale around the hamlet of Gollinglith Foot is in the civil parish of Healey.

[2] Colsterdale was historically divided between the parishes of East Witton and Masham in the North Riding of Yorkshire.

[5] In 1934 2,915 acres (1,180 ha) of the uninhabited Masham Moor (including the uninhabited part of Colsterdale), an area common to the parishes of Masham and East Witton, was added to the civil parish of Colsterdale.

During the First World War Colsterdale was the site of a training camp for the Leeds Pals.