How to unlock the Old Woods routes

  1. Travel through the northern Town Outskirts toward Tanner's Cabin and the Old Woods.
  2. Reach the Campsite and speak with Michelle.
  3. Speak with Barry at the Jogger's Club after Michelle directs you there.
  4. Find the Mill Key in the Old Woods and enter the Mill.
  5. Defeat the six Fingerlings inside to obtain the Lost Mirror.
  6. Return the Lost Mirror to Barry, then speak with Michelle to learn the first secret route.
  7. Retrieve one Verdite Ore east of the Old Woods Bus Stop.
  8. Return to Michelle to learn the second secret route.

What the secret routes open

Completing the Local Jogger's Club sequence grants access east of the Old Woods Bus Stop and west of the Mill. This is why wandering the visible paths alone can feel like a dead end: the task explicitly teaches routes that are not available at the start.

Keep the Mill Key, Lost Mirror objective, and Verdite Ore step in order. Skipping the return conversations can leave the route lesson incomplete even after the item is collected.

Tree Branch Cleanup and the Ancient Tree

  1. Start Adrian's Tree Branch Cleanup task.
  2. Reach the Campsite and speak to Michelle.
  3. Complete the Local Jogger's Club task to open the western Old Woods.
  4. Travel deep into the newly accessible area and defeat the Ancient Tree.
  5. Complete the task to receive the Catacombs F2 Key.

Resources and side objectives

  • Old Woods and its mine provide wood and mining progression materials, including Hardwood, Spiritwood, and Verdite Ore.
  • Living Stumps can drop the Giant Mushroom required for The Mycologist.
  • Wild Deer supply the Deer Claw for Deer Season.
  • Honey Trees can provide Honey for Sweet and Sour, while Golden Mushrooms are random foliage drops.
  • The Pale Empress Moth and Golden Beetle are rare bug objectives documented in Old Woods tasks.

Bus stop notes

The Campsite includes an Old Woods bus stop that can be unlocked for 3,000g. A later Old Woods 2 stop has a different progression requirement, so do not treat the first fare as universal access to every sub-area.

Unlocking the bus stop is a convenience, not a substitute for the secret-route task. Complete Michelle and Barry's progression to open the actual blocked regions.