Hydraulic mining, a popular method of exploiting placer deposits, required water to be efficiently transported, often using wooden flumes to maintain the necessary volume and pressure.

[2] The flume connected with a six-mile (10 km) long ditch, both designed to provide water for miners in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

The completed flume was approximately 12 miles (19 km) long and up to 75 feet (23 m) above the river.

The flume's opening (the headgate) no longer exists, and the connecting ditch has been filled.

[3] The Hanging Flume is in poor condition: it has been vandalized in places, some of its wood has been removed, and what remains has deteriorated, particularly where directly exposed to weather.