54°33′00″N 1°58′26″W / 54.550°N 1.974°W
Startforth Rural District was a rural district in the North Riding of the historic county of Yorkshire in the Pennines of northern England.
It was formed in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894. It constituted the part of the Teesdale Rural Sanitary District that was in the North Riding (the rest being in County Durham).
In 1974, the district was abolished and became, for administrative purposes, part of the Teesdale district of the non-metropolitan county of County Durham.
It comprised the area south of the River Tees between Cow Green Reservoir and Gainford, and north of the modern administrative border between County Durham and North Yorkshire.
The area is hilly and fairly sparsely populated. Places within it included;
Reservoirs and lakes
The Pennine Way also passes through the area.
