Lodge with paths ultimately leading to river (4)
I believe the answer is:
stay
'lodge' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'paths ultimately leading to river' is the wordplay.
'ultimately' suggests the final letters.
'leading to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (some letters go before or lead others).
'river' becomes 'tay' (Scottish river**).
The last letter of 'paths' is 's'.
's'+'tay'='STAY'
'with' is the link.
(Other definitions for stay that I've seen before include "Guy rope" , "Stanchion" , "Thin strip used to stiffen a garment" , "Supporting rope or wire" , "control" .)