First recorded in 1280, the name "Lathkill" possibly has Scandinavian roots, the old Norse hlada-kill translating as "narrow valley with a barn".

[1] The Lathkill Dale starts just to the east of the small village of Monyash, to the west of Bakewell, and is dry initially.

[4] To the south of Haddon Grove Farm, an early 19th century farmhouse[5] there are a series of weirs and sluices, at the start of a long section where the river and its banks are a scheduled monument.

[9] At this point, the river is heading to the south-east, and is crossed by Coal Pit Bridge, a mid-18th century footbridge which is just 3 feet (0.9 m) wide.

The land on the right bank is a scheduled monument, the site of Alport Smelt Mill, associated with the lead mining industry.

[15] A small bridge carries the access road to Bower Hall, a late 17th century house to the south of the river.

The water in the river is often clear, and Charles Cotton wrote in The Compleat Angler that it is: ... by many degrees, the purest and most transparent stream that I ever saw, either at home or abroad, and breeds, it is said, the reddest and best Trouts in England.

The river valley, known as Lathkill Dale, is popular with tourists who visit for its natural environment and wildlife.

Through the use of Bluetooth, it is now possible at particular locations in the nature reserve for visitors to download pictures of flowers and birds, and also examples of birdsong, onto their mobile phones.

Like most rivers in the UK, in 2019 the chemical status was also affected by the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), which had not previously been included in the assessment.