Halted Stream Camp is a bandit stronghold built against a cliff northwest of Whitewatch Tower and east of Silent Moons Camp, out on the northern plains of Whiterun Hold. The bandits here poach mammoths for tusks and snouts, and they had bigger ambitions too: a plan to turn the mine’s iron into gold with the Transmute Mineral Ore spell. It’s a popular bounty target and one of the best iron mining spots in the region.
What you’ll find
- The camp: a log palisade with two gates, a bone rattle-trap at the east entrance and a raised walkway along the west and north sides. Look for a woodchopping block, a tanning rack under a pole shed, and a grindstone above the mine entrance.
- Chests outside: an apprentice-locked chest under the southeast lookout, and a trapped chest under the north ramp – opening it carelessly earns you a swinging spiked ball.
- The mine: the bandits’ living quarters. A boulder trap waits just inside, along with mushrooms to pick and a novice-locked gate. The bandit outlaw behind it carries the key.
- Main chamber: two bandits and a bandit chief, bear traps, a swinging trap, hanging fire lamps over an oil pool, plus a forge, grindstone, tanning rack, potions and a hidden novice-locked chest under the main stairs.
- Spike pit: the back exit leads to the mammoth trap the bandits dug, with a dead Altmer and several animals lying on the spikes.
- Mining: sixteen iron ore veins, one corundum vein near a bed past the dead mammoth, and at least three pickaxes lying around.
Quests
- Trouble in Skyrim – this can be the target of the first job Farkas gives you after joining the Companions.
- Amren’s Sword – Amren’s family sword may be stashed here.
- Fetch Me That Book! – Remanada and/or Chimarvamidium can turn up here.
- Bounty quests, and a possible spot for Shalidor’s Insights.
Tips
The fire lamps and oil pool in the main chamber are your best friend at low levels: shoot the lamps down or hit the oil with a flame spell and let the bandits roast. You can also skip the front door entirely by dropping into the spike pit from outside, but the spikes can hurt or kill you, so only try it with plenty of health. If you come in that way, there’s a gate key on the table next to the forge. Bring an empty bag – between the sixteen iron veins and the forge on site, you can mine ore and work the forge without leaving the cave. Very convenient, very bandit-friendly real estate.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Silent Moons Camp, Whitewatch Tower, Bleakwind Basin, Battle-Born Farm, Whiterun Stables.
Location data (hold, map position, editor ID) read from the Skyrim game files; details checked against community wiki articles and summarised in our own words.