Like its predecessor, Sons of the Forest is an intense horror survival game that asks you to use every resource at your disposal in order to stay alive. One of the most valuable resources in the game is actually a basic shovel, which is a shame considering that it is surprisingly difficult to find the shovel in the first place.
If you’re breaking your brain looking for one of the most essential items in the game, here’s how you find the shovel in Sons of the Forest.
Where To Find the Shovel in Sons of the Forest
The Shovel can be found in a cave near the center of the Sons of the Forest map. Specifically, you’ll find it on the left side of the snow-covered mountain at the dead center of the map. It’s kind of tough to spot, so here’s the exact spot on the map you’ll find the entrance to the cave (map image courtesy of MMO-Wiki):
The cave is easy enough to spot once you bump into it, but you’ll soon find that the real problem is reaching the shovel once you find the cave. Thankfully, we can help with that as well.
How to Reach the Shovel In Sons of the Forest
In order to acquire the shovel in Sons of the Forest, you’ll need to dive deeply into the cave that I marked above. However, before you can reach the shovel, you’ll need to grab the Rebreather and the Rope Gun. The Rebreather will help you navigate the underwater portions of the cave, while the rope gun allows you to create the zip lines needed to reach the deepest portions of that cave. Here’s where you can find both items (the Rebreather is marked in blue and the Rope Gun is marked in green):
Once you have both of those items, head back to the cave’s entrance. It’s quite dark inside, so you’ll want to break out your lighter or craft a torch in order to make things easier on yourself.
Near the cave’s entrance, you should see a shallow pool of water that you’ll need to walk through. On the other side of that water is a very sharp drop. It may look like the other path forward, but do not fall down that drop. Instead, look up for a nearby zip line point. Fire your Rope Gun to create a zip line and proceed to the other side of the chasm.
There, you’ll find another pool of water. You’ll need to equip the Rebreather, dive into that pool, and swim through to the other side. I don’t believe you can really get lost in this part of the map, but you’ll want to keep swimming so you don’t get stuck.
When you’re on the other side of the water, just keep following the only available path. There are a couple of mutants along this path, though you should be able to fend them off with relatively little trouble. Eventually, you’ll run into a very steep slope. Slide down that slope, wade through the water, and reach the dry land on the other side. There you should see a mysterious light source. Head to that light source for some supplies.
You should see another path ahead of you at this point, though you’ll want to walk down it as slowly as you can. This linear path is crawling with mutants, and they will make your life miserable if you try to fight too many at once. Just keep working your way down that path until you reach another body of water. Dive into the water, swim through until you hit dry land, and climb out of the water. There you should see a corpse near the edge of a cliff. Interact with that corpse, and you’ll find the shovel you so desperately crave.