Key Highlights:
- The Shovel is found near the end of Shovel Cave, at the river confluence below the central snowy mountain.
- The normal route requires the Rope Gun to cross the opening zipline and the Rebreather for the flooded passages.
- Getting the Shovel lets you excavate buried Maintenance bunkers, graves and other dig sites across the island.
Quick Links:
The Shovel is a progression tool in Sons of the Forest used to uncover buried bunker entrances, graves and other dig sites.
Unlike most equipment pickups, you cannot simply travel to its location and collect it. Shovel Cave contains two traversal barriers that require equipment obtained earlier in the game.
What You Need Before Entering Shovel Cave
You need two items to complete the normal Shovel Cave route:
- The Rope Gun lets you use the existing zipline near the beginning of the cave.
- The Rebreather is required for the long flooded sections deeper underground.
You do not need to repeat either cave immediately before going for the Shovel if those items are already in your inventory.
I recommend bringing a light source, healing supplies, a spare Air Tank and at least one explosive. The cave contains supplies of its own, but keeping an explosive available makes the return route much simpler.
Where Is Shovel Cave?
Shovel Cave is on the western side of the central snowy mountain, at the point where two rivers meet below the mountain crash site.
Three dead operatives are positioned outside the entrance, making the cave easier to recognise once you reach the correct river junction. The middle body also holds the Slingshot.
Enter the cave and continue until the route is blocked by the large gap near the beginning.
How to Reach the Shovel
Use the Rope Gun on the existing zipline to cross the first major obstacle.
Continue through the cave until you reach the flooded route. Equip the Rebreather, enter the water and follow the underwater passage until you surface deeper inside Shovel Cave.
From here, continue through the main cavern route. There are numerous mutants inside, but the route itself remains largely linear. Eventually you will descend further into the cave and reach another flooded section.
Use the Rebreather again and swim through the underwater passage. Once you surface, continue towards the far end of the cave.
The Shovel is beside a dead maintenance worker in the final area. Interact with it to add the tool to your inventory.
How to Exit Shovel Cave
After collecting the Shovel, turn around and begin backtracking through the cave.
You will eventually hear and see part of a rock wall break open, revealing a new passage blocked by a Sluggy. This route provides the way back towards the surface because you cannot simply reverse every section of the original journey.
Use a grenade, Time Bomb or another explosive against the Sluggy, then move through the opening it was blocking.
Follow the new passage until you reach the cave exit.
What Does the Shovel Unlock?
The Shovel opens several important progression routes that are inaccessible when you first explore the island.
Most notably, it can uncover the buried entrances to Maintenance A, Maintenance B and Maintenance C. Our Sons of the Forest Bunker Locations guide covers where each buried hatch leads and the equipment found inside.
Maintenance A is usually the strongest next progression stop because it contains the Maintenance Keycard. That card begins the wider Sons of the Forest keycard progression through the underground bunker network.
The Shovel can also excavate graves, including the burial site containing the Shotgun and one of the original GPS Locators.
For more equipment routes, caves and story progression, continue with the Ultimate Sons of the Forest Walkthrough.
