Red Road Pass

Giant camp on the main road south of Dawnstar where a giant and his mammoth make short work of over-confident bandits and unwary travellers.

Red Road Pass is a giant camp beside the main road that runs south from Dawnstar, squeezed between the mountains to the east and west. A lone giant has set up home here with his mammoth, and because the camp sits right next to the road, plenty of travellers find it the hard way.

What you’ll find

  • One giant and one mammoth guarding the camp.
  • A bonfire with three charred skeevers cooking on it.
  • An unlocked chest tucked inside a large hollow tree facing the fire.
  • On your first visit, a party of four bandits launching an attack on the camp that goes about as well as you’d expect – the giant and mammoth flatten them without breaking a sweat.

Quests

  • Kill the Giant – the local Jarl may post a bounty on this troublesome giant.
  • It’s also a possible location for Shalidor’s Insights, a radiant quest from the College of Winterhold.

Notable items

  • The hollow-tree chest by the fire.

Tips

Let the bandits go first. They’ll soak up the giant’s attention (and his club) and may even take a little health off him and his mammoth before they’re sent flying. Once the dust settles, pick off whoever is left from range – a giant at full swing is not something low-level characters should meet face to face. If you’re just passing through, keep to the far side of the road and give the camp a wide berth; giants don’t like visitors who come too close.

Good to know

Hold guards sometimes mention that giants have been seen up near Red Road Pass and advise keeping well away, and hearing it is enough to put the camp on your map. Advice worth taking, or at least worth noting before you go anyway.

Nearby

Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Hall of the Vigilant, Windward Ruins, Frostmere Crypt, Great Lift at Mzinchaleft, Mzinchaleft.

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.

Characters found here

Quests that lead here

Creatures you will meet

Giants in Skyrim are peaceful herders – until you get too close. Where giant camps are, why they launch you into orbit and how to beat them.
Mammoths roam Skyrim’s tundra under the watch of giants. Where to find them, how dangerous they are and why hunters want their tusks.

Weapons found here

Armor found here

Items found here

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Sources checked: Skyrim game files (map markers, location records, read 2026-10-11); Elder Scrolls Fandom location articles (export 2026-10-11)