Cult Stash locations and puzzle solutions in Alan Wake 2

By James On Oct 31, 2023

Each Cult stock you open inside Alan Wake2 will bring you useful rewards. Like Lunch Boxes and Nursery Rhymes, finding Cult Stashes is an optional activity while you control Saga around Bright Falls and surrounding areas as she investigates the Cult of the Tree.

In this Alan Wake2 guide, we’ll show you where to find Cult Stash locations, how to solve each Cult Stash you find, and what rewards you get for each Cult Stash you open.

Remark: This manual is a work in progress. We’ll add more Cult Stashes as we find them.

Cult Stash Locations in Cauldron Lake

There are a total of five Cult Stash locations in the Cauldron Lake area, but you can only obtain four of them on your first adventure into the area. These Cult Stashes come with a variety of supplies, but one of them in the Cauldron Lake area comes with an inventory expansion, which is definitely something you’ll want to get sooner or later.

If you miss any of these supplies on your first trip, you can grab them later in the game.

Cauldron Lake Cult Stash #1 (“Confused? Follow the Steps”)

A map of Cauldron Lake showing the location of a Cult Stash

The first cult stash is just south of the Murder site and a shop (where you get the shotgun) on the map. In front of the long, rectangular trailer is a heavy box with a lock on it.

A Cult Stash in the woods of Cauldron Lake in Alan Wake 2

On top of the box you will find a piece of paper taped with tape that says: “Confused? Follow the steps! Wash hands, get chicken out of the fridge, take a nap.”

The note directs you to the trailer. If you enter the caravan and look at the sink in the bathroom, the refrigerator and then at the bed in the bedroom, you will see three symbols in order:

Two triangles whose points touch each other at an angle
Two triangles whose points touch each other and are vertical
Horizontal elevator “open door” buttons

(These symbols don’t have names, so if our descriptions are hard to follow, run around the house in the order listed above to check for yourself.)

Go to the lock on the chest and enter the three symbols we mentioned above. Once in the correct order, the chest will pop open and you will be rewarded with a number pistol ammunition and a trauma cushion.

Cauldron Lake Cult Stock #2

You can’t access this Cult Storage until you’ve defeated Nightingale – the game’s first boss – and woke up on the coast with a mysterious companion.

Once you go back to the Witch’s Sign and the OverlapStick around to your right and you’ll find a bunch of gnarled tree branches scattered along a coastal area. It doesn’t really look like you can adventure any further, but if you walk to the largest tree blocking your way, Saga will climb underneath it.

Once on the other side of the large tree, make your way through the narrow path until you reach another Cult Stash. This lock is by far the easiest to open. Activate it and some lights will flash in succession. Press the buttons in the same order as the lock just showed you, for example Simon says – and it will pop open.

This is a pretty good stash to find, as it contains some shotgun ammo, a propane tank, a hand torch, and most importantly, a expanding the stock.

Cauldron Lake Cult Stash #3 (“Rock Rock Tree”)

Once you clear the floodwaters from Cauldron Lake and can get to the river, you’ll find another Cult Stash just south of the river. Private cabinin a small ravine that leads to the lake itself.

The Cult Stash sits on a shelf next to the cabin and simply says: “Rock, rock, tree. Are you clear enough?”

This one is a little tricky, because you have to do some little math and search for the code. If you’re just looking for the code, here you go: 658.

The gist is that on a rock near the river (to the south) there are written two numbers that say 7 and -2. Then to the left of the box there is a tree with a 6 and a +2 on it. And then there is another stone to the right of the box with 3 and +3. If you calculate this, it means you are dealing with 5, 6 and 8.

The cache doesn’t indicate which stone goes first, so we had to try them both to figure out the order.

You get one propane tank and a first aid kit for your problems.

Cauldron Lake Cult Stock #4

Just west of the Witch Sign, next to the tent icon in the Crow’s Foot Hills you will find another supply on the map. Depending on how you approach it, you’ll probably see the golden arrows before you see the box itself.

The box only shows a picture of a light bulb. If you look at the trees with your flashlight from the west (looking east, towards your car and the parking lot), you will see a number of arrows leading you to the right (or south, on the map). Follow these arrows and you will eventually find some keys on a pile of dirt.

Pick up the Streamside Stash Key and return it to the stash to unlock and earn it a handheld torch, some shotgun ammo and a trauma pad.

More Cult Stashes coming soon!