A practical Willow tunnel guide: where the notebook prompt appears, when the Flint Shovel matters, where to dig near home, how the tunnel behaves, and when it is probably a bug.
The Willow tunnel sequence has four visible states. First, accept Find Willow's Notebook and return to the burrow; the notebook lies outside near an unusual ground patch. Second, take it back to Willow. That hand-in starts Find Another Tunnel Entrance and gives you the Flint Shovel blueprint. Third, craft the Flint Shovel in the Woodwork menu at home. Fourth, go back outside and dig the small strange-looking patch near the notebook location, then inspect the exposed entrance immediately. The dig point is close to the burrow, not deep beside Willow. The Steam FAQ documents a bug where an excavated tunnel can become inactive if it is not inspected right away, so do not sleep or leave after digging before using the interaction prompt.
Notebook problem: check just outside/near your burrow before re-running to Willow.
Recipe problem: return the Notebook to Willow and finish the conversation that starts Find Another Tunnel Entrance.
Dig problem: use the Flint Shovel on the unusual patch near where the Notebook was found.
Bug problem: if you dug it open and it became inactive, compare your state with the Steam FAQ known bug note.
First, reach Willow in White Pillars through the route opened by the Granite Pickaxe. Second, accept Find Willow's Notebook and collect the notebook outside the burrow. Third, return it to Willow and finish the conversation. The reward is the Flint Shovel blueprint and the new Find Another Tunnel Entrance objective. Go back to the burrow, open the Woodwork menu, select Flint Shovel, gather the materials shown by your own recipe panel, and craft it. The screenshot below is the exact menu state: Flint Shovel selected, Attack Damage 10, and the description An expert spade for clearing snow. It proves the correct tool name and workstation without inventing material names that are not legible in the source. If the recipe is absent, the notebook hand-in or Willow dialogue is incomplete; searching another region will not unlock it.
Leave the burrow and return to the area where Willow's Notebook appeared. With Find Another Tunnel Entrance active, the HUD says Find One of Willow's tunnels. The route screenshot shows the home wall on the left and points toward the nearby ground patch; use the objective and burrow wall together, not the editor arrow alone. Equip the crafted Flint Shovel and dig the small strange-looking patch. After the excavation, a dark round entrance with an interaction prompt appears among the rocks. Walk up to it and use the prompt immediately. That final interaction is what players miss when they dig and run away. If the objective is correct but there is no dig response, verify the finished Flint Shovel is selected. If the objective still says Notebook, return the item to Willow. If the objective has already moved to Talk to Willow, the dig was completed and the next action is the hand-in, not another hole.
Start at home, not at Willow, when the quest is specifically about the tunnel entrance.
Use the burrow wall and Find One of Willow's tunnels HUD as the route confirmation.
Look for a small diggable patch; the dark tunnel opening appears after excavation.
After excavating, inspect the tunnel immediately before sleeping or leaving the area.
There are two very different failure modes. Missing step means the recipe, dialogue, notebook, or dig spot has not been completed in the right order. Bug means you already excavated correctly but the tunnel became inactive. The Steam FAQ includes a known bug note for the Find the Tunnel quest: if you excavate the tunnel and do not inspect it right away, it can become inactive later. That is not a route-reading issue.
Use this test. If you have never seen the excavation animation, you are probably missing a step or standing at the wrong spot. If you saw the animation, the tunnel appeared open, then it stopped responding after sleeping/leaving, treat it as the known bug path. Check whether your game version has the patch, reload an earlier save if available, and avoid repeating the same route for an hour as though the map is wrong.
Missing step: no shovel recipe, no notebook hand-in, no dig prompt, or wrong side of the map.
Likely bug: tunnel excavated successfully, was visible/open, then later became inactive.
Prevention: inspect the tunnel immediately after excavation before sleeping or routing away.
If stuck after the bug state, check official Steam discussion/FAQ and patch notes rather than farming more materials.
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Guide Step
How this connects to Mole Artifact
The tunnel is not the end of Willow. After reporting the entrance, continue A Berry? and later character progress until Willow gives Find a Mole Artifact. That quest uses a different route and different tool: leave Willow through the bird nest exit, cut the eastern vines with the Flint Axe, pass the spider, and follow tall grass south to the half-buried Mole Helmet. The exact item, hand-in, and backpack reward are shown in /articles/winter-burrow-mole-artifact. Do not use an artifact screenshot to locate the home tunnel, and do not search the home-side notebook patch when the helmet task is active. The HUD tells you which route family is current.
Tunnel step: home-side dig and inspect.
Artifact step: later Willow ask, bird nest, Flint Axe vines, spider, tall-grass dead end.
Dinner step: after Willow closure, hazelnut/dialogue state can still affect final invitation.
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Guide Step
FAQ
Fast answers for Willow shovel and tunnel issues.
Where is Willow Notebook? Check near home/outside the burrow before running back to Willow again.
Where do I dig Willow tunnel? Near the home-side route after the Flint Shovel state is active, not deep in Willow clearing.
Why is Flint Shovel not at my bench? You may be missing the right Willow dialogue or adjacent story progress; exhaust NPC dialogue and re-check.
Can the tunnel bug? Yes. Steam FAQ notes a known issue if the excavated tunnel is not inspected immediately.
Does every tunnel connect everywhere? Player discussion suggests tunnel entrances are limited and can be separate systems; do not assume full fast travel.
Supply Tip 1
Check home-side prompts before re-running to Willow.
Supply Tip 2
Inspect the tunnel immediately after digging to avoid the known inactive-tunnel bug state.
Supply Tip 3
Separate Notebook/Tunnel from Mole Artifact; they are not the same route problem.
