Hanging Flume, Historic mining flume in Dolores Canyon, Colorado.
The Hanging Flume is a historic water channel stretching several miles along the steep walls of Dolores Canyon. Wooden sections are supported by metal brackets anchored into the rock face, creating a remarkable engineering feat that clings to the canyon.
The structure was built between 1889 and 1891 to supply water for gold mining operations. After 1900 the system was no longer used, but the surviving sections remain visible evidence of this mining era.
Workers from different backgrounds labored together on these precarious cliff edges to build something remarkable. Their combined effort created a visible testament to human determination that still stands in the canyon today.
The best views are from pullouts along Colorado Route 141 northwest of Uravan, where the remaining sections are clearly visible. The angle of light changes throughout the day, so morning or late afternoon often provides the clearest views of the structure against the canyon walls.
The project required creative construction methods to secure wooden channels to vertical rock faces, showcasing the ingenuity of workers in that era. Those solutions reveal how builders of that time tackled complex engineering challenges without modern equipment.
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