The River Rye in the English county of North Yorkshire rises just south of the Cleveland Hills, east of Osmotherley, and flows through Hawnby, Rievaulx, Helmsley, Nunnington, West and East Ness, Butterwick, Brawby, and Ryton, before joining the River Derwent at 54°10′N 00°44′W / 54.167°N 0.733°W / 54.167; -0.733 near Malton.

In its eastward course from Helmsley, the Rye receives the River Dove from Farndale which has previously added the Hodge Beck from Bransdale.

[1] For management purposes the River Rye is divided into two units, Ness and Howe Bridge.

In the lower part, land use is a mixture of managed grassland and arable farming with pockets of forestry and woodland close to the river.

[2] At source the River Rye and its tributaries run over Corallian limestone which outcrops on the hills surrounding the Vale of Pickering.

Beneath the course of the Rye and its tributaries in the Vale of Pickering lie the lacustrine deposits from the last ice age.

Newtondale was a melt water channel draining the North York Moors at the end of the ice age and its valley is much more deeply incised than the flow of the present Pickering Beck would suggest.

[5][6] The main economic value of the River Rye lies in its use as a water source for agriculture, domestic supply, fisheries and leisure pursuits.

North York Moors are designated as a Special Protection Area, providing protection to birds, their nests, eggs and habitats and a Special Area of Conservation, contributug to biodiversity by maintaining and restoring habitats and species other than birds.