Where Does the River Ouse Begin?

The River Ouse (Yorkshire, England) does not originate in a mountain range. Its source is in the Upper Ouse Valley near Brackley, Northamptonshire — a lowland area of the English Midlands.

It flows northeast ~84 km (52 mi) through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk to the Wash (North Sea). The "Great Ouse" is the principal branch; tributaries include the Cam, Lark, Little Ouse, and Wissey.

Unlike rivers fed by alpine snowmelt (Rhine, Rhône, Colorado), the Ouse is a lowland, groundwater-fed river with gentle gradients.