Cindersap Forest
| Cindersap Forest | |
|---|---|
| Type | Location |
Cindersap Forest is the big outdoor map in the southwest of the valley, directly south of the Farm, and it carries more on it than any other screen in the game. Marnie's Ranch, Leah's Cottage, the Wizard's Tower, the Hat Mouse's ruin, the Giant Stump, the Mastery Cave and the entrance to the Secret Woods all sit inside it, the Traveling Cart parks along its northern edge twice a week, and the Sewers open out of its southern corner. It is the only place in the valley where Spring Onions grow, the only map whose river and pond hold different fish, and the winter home of the Glacierfish. Three festivals are held here. For most saves the forest is the first place the farmer walks to, and it stays useful right through to the last day.
Area
The forest is entered from the Farm to the north, from Pelican Town to the east, and from the Sewers to the south, with the Secret Woods tucked against its northwest corner behind a Large Log that needs a steel axe or better to clear.
Marnie's Ranch stands in the northeast corner, where Marnie sells animals and animal supplies and lives with Jas and Shane. Leah's Cottage sits south of the path to town. The Wizard's Tower is on the western side, and it opens once the Meet The Wizard quest has fired. The Hat Mouse's Abandoned House is southwest of the pond. Between the lake and the ranch stands the Big Tree, which a windstorm eventually fells and turns into the Giant Stump. North of the sewer grate is the Mastery Cave, with a plaque reading that only a master of the five ways may enter.
The Traveling Cart is the forest's best reason for a regular walk. It appears along the northern edge every Friday and Sunday from early morning until eight in the evening, and the Traveling Merchant sells a random handful of goods that can include items turning up nowhere else.
Debris matters here too. The map starts covered in twigs, stones and weeds, and all of it comes back every spring, which makes the forest a yearly supply of free Wood, Stone and Fiber.
Three festivals take over parts of the map: the Flower Dance on Spring 24, the Trout Derby on the twentieth and twenty-first of summer, and the Festival of Ice on Winter 8.
Foraging
Forage spawns here more thickly than anywhere else nearby. Spring gives Wild Horseradish and Dandelions, summer Sweet Peas and Spice Berries, fall Common Mushrooms and Blackberries, and winter Crocuses, Crystal Fruit and Holly.
Spring Onions work differently and are the forest's speciality. They grow on the tillable soil of the large southeastern island during spring, and every night the old ones are cleared and new ones appear, which means the patch can be stripped daily without exhausting it. They also sit outside the usual cap on forage items per map, so they never crowd out the rest.
The trees are worth as much as the forage. The forest holds a wide spread of species, and like all pre-existing trees outside the Farm they grow back as long as the stump is cleared, so it can be logged year after year.
Artifact spots here cover an unusually wide list, including the Palm Fossil, the Prehistoric Scapula, the Ancient Sword, Elvish Jewelry, the Bone Flute and the Ornamental Fan, along with the usual Clay and Lost Books. Spots are scarce for three seasons and then appear all over the map in winter.
Fishing
This is the only map with two separate bodies of water holding different fish. The river running through it is an extension of the Pelican Town river and carries mostly the same species, with two exceptions: Chub and Dorado live here but not in town, while the Smallmouth Bass is found in the forest pond rather than the river. The river is also where the Glacierfish lurks in winter, along with the Glacierfish Jr.
The pond in the northwest corner has a shorter list of its own: Carp, Catfish, Midnight Carp, Perch, Pike, Smallmouth Bass and Walleye, depending on the season.
The waterfalls near the Abandoned House are the third spot, and the most generous. They hold everything the forest river holds plus the Goby at any season and hour, and Salmon in fall at any time of day, which makes this the one place a farmer can land Salmon after seven in the evening.
The ocean borders the forest to the south. A line cast from the cliffs down to the water near the bridge to the Flower Dance field still pulls up river fish rather than ocean fish, so the sea view is misleading.
Notes
The Trash Bear takes up residence at the bottom of the map, by the Spring Onion patch and the sewer entrance, from a third year onward on dry days outside festivals. It asks for two seasonal fish or forage items and then two cooked dishes, and the fourth delivery sends it flying off on a leaf umbrella, clearing the litter from the forest shoreline, from Pam's yard in town and rebuilding Dusty's pen beside the saloon.
On Spring 17 a pot of gold appears at the end of a rainbow by the waterfall near the Abandoned House. Clicking it hands over the Leprechaun Hat and a purse of gold, and it comes back every year with a slightly larger purse.
The water holds one more secret. Fishing from the southernmost point of the forest, by the sewer entrance and out towards the ocean, with a fishing level pushed above its normal ceiling by buffs, lands an iridium statue of Krobus.
All Locations
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
