In Tudor times, antiquarians John Leland and William Camden used the modern form of the name.

[1] The source of the river is Ure Head on Abbotside Common, where it flows west-southwest to the valley floor and then turns south.

Upper Wensleydale is a high, open, and remote, U-shaped valley overlying Yoredale Beds.

Examples of earthworks and other artifacts from the Bronze and Iron Ages can be seen in the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes, and the Romans built a fort at Bainbridge.

Place names in the valley denote the different types of settlers, such as Angles and Norse with typical suffixes such as "ton" and "sett".

During medieval times, much of the upper dale was sheep country belonging to Middleham Castle and Jervaulx Abbey.

[9] Farming (including dairying), tourism, and quarrying are the mainstays of the modern economy of the valley.

The differing habitats of the area have their own populations of flora such as cranesbill, bistort, pignut, and buttercup.

Other species that can be seen in the area are wood anemones, violets, primroses, purple orchids, cowslips, and herb paris.

Some plants, such as spring sandwort, have managed to grow where lead mining took place.

Large populations of badgers, roe deer, red foxes and rabbits occur in the valley.

[6] Fish populations along the river include[14] brown trout, grayling, barbel, chub, roach, and perch.