The beck is 14 miles (23 km) long and has a total catchment area of 58 square kilometres (22 sq mi).

[3] It continues south to meet Ouse Gill, another tributary before it flows through Sleightholme Dale and Kirkdale where it is forded by a minor road.

[3] The beck often runs dry at this point as it disappears into the local limestone bedrock in the summer months.

The upper gauge at Bransdale recorded an average flow of 0.35 cubic metres per second (12 cu ft/s) but was closed in the 1970s.

[6] The catchment upstream of the station has an average annual rainfall of 947 millimetres (37.3 in) and a maximum altitude of 451 metres (1,480 ft) on Round Hill at the beck's source.