River Esk, Yorkshire

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River Esk
The River Esk near its mouth at Whitby
Origin	Westerdale Moor
Mouth	Whitby
Basin countries	England
Length	45 km

The River Esk is a river in Yorkshire, England that empties into the North Sea at Whitby after a course of around 45km through the valley of Eskdale, named after the river itself.

The river rises on Westerdale Moor in the North York Moors, flowing through Westerdale before merging with a large number of becks from the surrounding hills, including Tower, Baysdale, Sleddale, Danby, Great Fryup, Stonegate, Glaisdale and Murk becks. Running east through the valley known as Esk Dale it leaves the moors at the town of Sleights, reaching the North Sea three miles later by bisecting the resort of Whitby.

The small towns along the river were at one time of great industrial importance to the north east, with coal mined in the valleys, and iron ore dug from quarries on the surrounding moors. Today, all that remains are the deserted mine shafts, though potash is mined, near Boulby, with tunnels running six miles beneath the sea, some of the deepest in Europe.