The River Rye is a beautiful, small, fast-flowing stream in North Yorkshire, rising in the Cleveland Hills just south of the Cleveland Hills near Osmotherley at an elevation of around 660 feet (200 metres). It flows southward through the scenic Ryedale landscape, passing through Hawnby, Rievaulx, Helmsley, Nunnington, and a series of villages before joining the River Derwent near Malton. The river drains a basin of approximately 330 square miles (850 km²) and is a tributary of the River Derwent within the Humber River Basin District. The upper catchment geology is rooted in the southwestern edge of the North York Moors, giving the river a freestone character with varied features including bends, overhanging bushes, pools, glides, and streamy water. The Rye is a genuinely wild fishery, supporting healthy populations of brown trout and grayling alongside a range of coarse species, and it flows through some of the most picturesque countryside in northern England, including the grounds of Duncombe Park — a National Nature Reserve and the landscaped estate of the Duncombe family.