Winter Burrow Gnawtusk Stash Locations - All 3 Early Dig Spots

Quick Answer

This Gnawtusk stash locations guide covers the three buried herb stashes in the early Gnawtusk sequence. The game first tracks two common-herb stashes under Find Stashes; the HUD reads 0/2 when that objective starts. After you dig both and return to Gnawtusk, a separate objective called Find Stash in a Dark Place opens and adds the third buried stash. In recommended order, dig beside the snail shell west of the clearing north of camp, dig at the scarf tree east of that same clearing, hand in the first pair, equip the Lantern Gnawtusk gives you, then dig beside the holey Witchstone in the dark branch south-west of camp. You need the Granite Shovel for all three dig spots. The later rare-herb requests are a different stage and are not part of this three-location count.

• Buried stash total for this early route: 3.
• Initial Find Stashes counter: 2, at the snail shell and scarf tree.
• Follow-up dark-place counter: 1, beside the Witchstone.
• Tool order: receive Granite Shovel recipe, craft it, collect 2/2, return, receive Lantern, collect the third stash.

Tool prerequisite and route start

Gnawtusk is a squirrel encountered through the Bufo side of story progression in Shadow Pines. From Bufo, travel north, then turn west when you reach the clearing; Gnawtusk waits at a campfire. Speak to them before searching because the dig spots are useful only after the quest and recipe state are active. Gnawtusk gives the Granite Shovel blueprint. Eurogamer records the recipe as 2 Oak Wood, 1 Pine Wood, 6 Granite, and 1 Wool Yarn; check the live crafting panel before leaving in case a later patch or localization presents the recipe differently. Craft the shovel at home, equip or carry it, and return to the campfire. If your workbench does not show the recipe, the blocker is dialogue or story state, not a hidden stash.

• Quest state: meet Gnawtusk and accept Find Stashes before testing dig spots.
• Required tool: Granite Shovel, crafted from the blueprint Gnawtusk provides.
• Recommended loadout: daylight, one warmth recovery item, one food item, and at least two free inventory slots.
• Orientation help: use /articles/winter-burrow-map-guide to place Gnawtusk relative to Bufo before following screen-level turns.

Stash 1 - Snail shell west of the north clearing

Leave Gnawtusk through the north exit. In the next area, move left past the tall-grass patch and take the west exit. In the new clearing, turn south instead of following the outer edge. The landmark is a large empty snail shell sitting in the snow. Do not dig on the shell itself. Stand at the bumpy patch directly in front of it and use the Granite Shovel. Pick up the common-herb stash that appears and confirm the objective counter changes from 0/2 to 1/2. If no prompt appears, circle only the raised snow immediately in front of the shell; walking farther south means you have passed the interaction area.

• Camp -> north exit -> west/left past tall grass -> next clearing -> south to shell.
• Visual proof: one large shell with disturbed or bumpy snow in front.
• Completion check: collect the herbs and verify Find Stashes reads 1/2.

Stash 2 - Scarf tree east of the same clearing

Return to the first clearing immediately north of Gnawtusk rather than continuing into unknown woods. From that clearing, take the east or right-hand exit. Look for a pair of large pine trees. One has a scarf caught high around its top, which is the reliable landmark shared by Eurogamer, Quest Daily, and Gamer Social Club. Walk to the base of that scarf tree and dig the bumpy ground in front of the trunk. Collect the second common-herb stash and wait for the counter to reach 2/2. This east-side stash is easiest second because you can retrace one screen from the shell, cross the known north clearing, then return straight to camp after the pickup.

• Shell clearing -> back east to the north clearing -> east/right exit -> two-tree clearing.
• Visual proof: scarf tangled high on one tree, dig spot at that tree's base.
• Completion check: collect the herbs, confirm 2/2, then return to Gnawtusk instead of searching for a third spot immediately.

Stash 3 - Witchstone in the dark branch

The third stash does not belong to the 0/2 counter. Hand the first two stashes to Gnawtusk so the next request, Find Stash in a Dark Place, appears. Gnawtusk gives you a Lantern for this step; equip it before entering the dark route. Leave camp through the lower-left or west exit, then take the south path through darkness. Continue until you emerge in a small lit area with a tree, bush, and ant. From that lit pocket, move east into the dark. A scroll lies on the ground before the destination and can unlock the Campfire Kit recipe, but the route target is the Witchstone: a stone with a clear hole through it. Dig the raised snow beside or in front of that stone, collect the stash, and return to Gnawtusk.

• Return first: the third location does not activate until the initial 2/2 hand-in.
• Camp -> lower-left/west exit -> south through dark passage -> lit tree-and-bush pocket -> east into darkness.
• Visual proof: a holey Witchstone beyond the scroll, with bumpy snow at its base.
• Completion check: the dark-place objective updates after pickup and Gnawtusk accepts the herbs on return.

Recommended order and common blockers

Use shell first, scarf tree second, Witchstone third. The first two share the clearing north of camp, so this order creates a short west-to-east sweep with a simple return. The Witchstone must be last because its request and Lantern are locked behind the first hand-in. If the shovel action does nothing, verify that you crafted the Granite Shovel rather than carrying only its recipe. If the counter remains 0/2 after digging, pick up the herbs from the snow; opening the spot is not the same as collecting the quest item. If you have 2/2 but cannot find another dig site, stop searching and talk to Gnawtusk. If the dark route is unreadable, equip the Lantern in the active equipment slot. If you reach the skull pocket used by another quest, you have drifted away from the Witchstone branch; use /articles/winter-burrow-heavy-key-location-map for that separate route instead of mixing the two objectives.

Reward and completion check

After you return the Witchstone stash, Gamer Social Club records warmer-clothing blueprints as the immediate reward, followed by a main-story transition. That hand-in completes the three early buried locations, but it does not finish every Gnawtusk quest. A later request sends you to Aunty's backpack on the floor of your burrow for a rare-herb stash; returning it earns Healing Tea for Aunty. Giving that tea to Aunty leads to a backpack blueprint. Gnawtusk later asks for five common-herb stashes and one rare-herb stash, and Aunty's planter blueprints provide a reliable way to produce them. The Friends In A Nutshell achievement appears only after that later 5+1 hand-in, so do not treat the third buried stash as the achievement trigger.

• Early route complete: shell collected, scarf-tree stash collected, Witchstone stash collected, and the third hand-in accepted.
• Immediate confirmation: warmer-clothing blueprints and the next story beat.
• Full questline confirmation: later five common plus one rare herb requirement handed in, then Friends In A Nutshell unlocks.

Use the right guide for the next route

Use the Gnawtusk route while the objective names stashes, common herbs, a dark place, or the Witchstone. For broad orientation between home, Bufo, Moss, and Gnawtusk, open the Map Guide. If Moss has asked for a key and the target is a vine-gated skull pocket, use the Heavy Key guide instead. The two routes share a wider region but use different quest states, landmarks, and completion prompts; match the HUD wording before choosing a turn.