It flows north in a series of meanders to East Rounton where it turns north-westerly and then westerly past Appleton Wiske.

It enables water to be transferred from the Tyne and Wear into the Tees and then to the Wiske for pumping out from the River Ouse at York.

[9] Flooding of villages on its route and its tributaries (such as Brompton near Northallerton) is a problem because of limited availability of land upstream to store water in times of high flow.

[13] There are four non-statutory Nature Conservation Sites along the river: Middlebrough plantation just outside Newby Wiske; Stony Lane Pond near the confluence of Stony Lane Beck and Carr Beck; Pepper Arden Bottoms near East Cowton and Pheasantry Wood and Fox Covert near Danby Wiske.

[13] Biodiversity audits carried out in 2010 found European water vole on the river between Danby Wiske and Brompton Beck.