Cauldron Lake may be the first area you explore in Alan Wake 2, but trying to find every Cult Stash in Cauldron Lake will mean returning to the area several times later on in the game with new tools and tricks up your sleeves.
Finding every Cult Stash in this game isn’t just a task for completionists—solving all the hidden puzzles will grant you a unique insight into the Cult of the Tree as well as some invaluable upgrades. Because there are so many Cult Stashes in each of the game’s three locations, they are easier tracked when split into groups. This guide will walk you through finding and solving every Cult Stash in Cauldron Lake.
All Alan Wake 2 Cult Stash locations in Cauldron Lake
Because you can freely explore the open world of Alan Wake 2, knowing which Cult Stashes you still need to find can be difficult. A guide may refer to a Cult Stash as the “last” of a given region, but it’s possible that you found that Stash first. To avoid any confusion and make your life as easy as possible, I’m going to be listing and numbering the five Cult Stashes in Cauldron Lake as they appear in the photographs on the Case Board.
The order of the photos doesn’t change on the Case Board regardless of how many you’ve found, so it is the perfect way to track Cult Stashes. I am assigning a number from one to five for each Stash in Cauldron Lake based on the Case Board—so if you see that the third photo spot has a question mark instead of a photo, you need to find Cult Stash number three. Here is’s photo to make sure we’re on the same page.
We will call the Cult Stashes:
- 1) Mobile Home Cult Stash
- 2) Shore Cult Stash
- 3) Bridge Cult Stash
- 4) Creek Cult Stash
- 5) Rental Cabin Cult Stash
Now, I will indicate where each of the five Cult Stashes is on the map by using the same number assigned based on their order on the Case Board. This way, all you have to do is bring up your Case Board to immediately see where you need to go to find whichever Cult Stashes you’re missing. Then, you can jump down in this guide for a summary of how to solve each Cult Stash in Cauldron Lake.
I’ve set the guide up in this way to make things as streamlined as possible—I know from experience \there’s nothing more annoying than scrolling through page after page on a guide in an attempt to pinpoint which collectibles are which and what you still need. Now that you’ve used the Case Board number system to learn which Cult Stashes you’re missing and where they’re located, jump down to the corresponding number in the next section to learn how to solve them.
Alan Wake 2: How to solve every Cult Stash in Cauldron Lake
In this section, I am going to give the solution to each of the five Cult Stashes in Cauldron Lake while trying to keep things as brief as possible. But have full guides for each Cult Stash, and those guides will be linked in the section on each one. That way, you can keep things quick and efficient here but keep easy access to a more in-depth analysis of each Cult Stash if you’re still having trouble or are simply curious.
1) Mobile Home Cult Stash
This will likely be the first Cult Stash you encounter and solve in Alan Wake 2, although you theoretically can complete them in any order. This Stash has a little riddle about washing your hands and prepping the chicken and yada yada—here are the three triangular symbols you need to input to complete it:
- Two intersecting triangles forming a line from top left to bottom right
- Two stacked triangles forming an hourglass shape
- Side-by-side triangles pointing away from one another
If you’re curious about how to get the answer to this Cult Stash or you’d like to see a visual representation of how the symbols look, this guide has it all.
2) Shore Cult Stash
This Cult Stash is on the beach right next to the spot where you first find Alan while playing as Saga, and the solution is simple enough that no guide is needed. This Cult Stash is one of those pattern-mimicking ones where all you need to do is repeat the sequence of light-up buttons. The map above has the exact location marked, and all you need to do to reach that part of the beach is walk under a very easily recognized fallen tree.
3) Bridge Cult Stash
This Cult Stash is opened with a key, and that key is found by following a series of yellow painted arrows on trees. The arrows are only visible when shining the flashlight on them, and the key itself is inside the same little chunk of map on that southwest end right by the label “Crow’s Foot Hills.” If you need more help finding the key, this guide will walk you through it.
4) Creek Cult Stash
This Cult Stash has a cute little riddle that reads, “rock rock tree. Are you smart enough?” The answer is, “yes, I know how to google things.” The code is:
- 658
If you’re curious about actually solving the puzzle for yourself, we have a guide that gives a full walkthrough on solving this Cult Stash.
5) Rental Cabin Cult Stash
This Cult Stash requires the Boltcutters to access, so it will probably be one of your last Stashes in Alan Wake 2. The Cult Stash is in the bathroom of the Break Room at the southern end of the Rental Cabins area, and the key is on the northern end. The Stash has a drawing of some children’s make-believe instructions and shows a castle gate, a tornado, and a skeleton. Don’t worry about all of that. Using the right side of the Rental Cabins area, walk under a fallen tree, then cross through a house and continue until you reach a rusty pickup truck. Behind the truck are three trees with yellow painted numbers. To my chagrin, I have no idea what these numbers are about, but the key is on the ground right next to the middle tree.
My theory about the numbers on the trees is that this Cult stash was initially going to a three-digit code solution and not a key, but who knows? In any event, that key is all you need to open the Cult Stash. I provided photos and a more detailed description because we’re still working on getting a full guide up for this specific Cult Stash. In the interim, check out this guide for all Cult Stash locations in Watery, and this one for all Cult Stash locations in Bright Falls.
