Outdoor Retreat: Secret Area

Finding the Hermit of Granite Falls

This Cave leads to the Secret Area in Outdoor Retreat's Granite Falls
A Cave in Granite Falls leads to the Secret Area of the Outdoor Retreat Game Pack

Finding the Hermit's House in the Deep Woods of Granite Falls is an activity exclusive to players who own the Outdoor Retreat Game Pack. Befriending the Hermit is a requirement of the Outdoor Enthusiast Aspiration that comes with the pack. This hidden area features some great fishing, herbs, insects, and a potential new friendship with the old Hermit. It's also easily one of the most beautiful areas in the game, with a relaxing landscape and dazzling waterfalls that these screenshots can only hope to depict in their full grandeur.

Finding the Secret Area
Click to Enlarge. Use this Picture to Help Find the Cave

How to find the Deep Woods in Sims 4
You can see the waterfall in the distance when over the Bramble Patch

To access the hidden area, first head to Granite Falls Forest National Park. There, you can use the cabin and screenshot above to help you locate the cave you need to investigate. Once you get a Sim there and select Explore, you'll get a variety of choose-your-own adventure style pop-ups. First select to Step Forward as opposed to quitting the adventure. You may need to try this a few times to get the right option, or different ones may offer alternate routes to the area, but one in particular is reliable as far as I know at this moment. When one appears that offers you to Go through the Web, take that option and you'll be on your way to the Deep Woods. Next, you should be offered to Ignore the Object or Sally Forth and finally Approach the Sim. That Sim is the Hermit and you've found your way through the cave to the secret area.

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Click to Enlarge. A Beautiful Shot of the Area

Inside, there are some beautiful views and an area comparable in size to Sylvan Glade and Forgotten Grotto.

The Hermit of Outdoor Retreat
Befriending the Hermit in Outdoor Retreat

The Hermit will vary in gender from game to game. Becoming Friends with the Hermit of Granite Falls is fairly easy, so long as you bring a Tent to let your Sim sleep should they grow tired. This is required in Milestone III of Outdoor Enthusiast. There are amenities to help your Sim fill their needs in the area. If you visit the lot a second time and can't find the Hermit, use your Sim's phone to 'Invite to Hangout at Current Lot' and select the Hermit. They should arrive so you can continue the process, and once at Good Friends, you can select 'Learn Herbalism Recipe' from the Hermit to acquire the Fungal Infusion Fertilizer Recipe.

Fishing here, you can easily catch Outdoor Retreat's Rare Fish, the Mountain Lionfish
Use the Fishing Spot to Catch Mountain Lionfish

You can catch all 5 types of Fish unique to Outdoor Retreat here, which is particularly easy if you have something organic to use as bait, such as Tomato or any of the plants you've harvested from exploring the forest.

Find Herbs for the Herbalism Skill
Take the Hermit's Herbs, Tomatoes, and Blackberries. You can 'Take Cutting' from those you can't Harvest

Collect the Hermit's Herbs to help fill your collection of Gardening plants. She has Blackberries, which are rare. Search the area as well. These will come in handy with Outdoor Retreat's Herbalism Skill.

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Comments (16)

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New
christine jewellsays...
This site is very useful and helps when I get stuck. Thank you. Let me know if there is anything I can do.
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Admin
Playalotsays...
Glad you find it useful! Smile
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New
lelsays...
Um, I dont understand because I befriended hermit and nothing happened...Wink
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Admin
Playalotsays...
When you befriend the hermit the corresponding goal on the Outdoor Enthusiast aspiration should complete. Other than that befriending the Hermit allows you to learn the Fungal Infusion Fertilizer Recipe from them, under friendly interactions.
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New
Hannah Thompsonsays...
Okay, how the hell do you get your camera to go that far because I cant find the freaking hermit cave and I've been looking for an hour. Is it because I'm on PC? Does it only work on mac or have I done something wrong
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Admin
Playalotsays...
When in the campsite, travel to the 'Granite Falls Forest' National Park. Once there scroll out to get a birds eye view, have the Rangers hut in the bottom left of your screen and the waterfall "behind" you. Get your sims to walk to the edge of the map and keep looking for a 'hidden' tunnel covered in vines. It is hard to find the first time.
Two ways to get a birds eye view... scroll out with your mouse wheel or hit tab. You can also scroll right out with your mouse and then hit tab.
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New
Rosiesays...
I can't even find the ingredients for herbicide not to mention the hermits cave Crying
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Admin
Playalotsays...
So the cave looks like a tunnel covered in vines, it takes you to the Hermit's Area where the hermit lives in a small wood cabin. Finding the hidden tunnel is tricky at first but it is in the same place in every game so once you have found it you will always know where it is.
The plants will spawn in after a short amount of time so just keep scrolling around the area with your camera until you see them. I agree, the first time trying to collect all the plants is a lesson in frustration but now I can get all the plants in one sim day and get home with everything I need. Sometimes getting the insects take two trips as you need to revisit to reset the spawners.
Like I said before, once you finally do locate everything the next time around it will be much easier.
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Siennasays...
Tongue totally agree
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New
kianasays...
How do you get to the national forest park?Sad
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New
kianasays...
Never mind I found it!!Laugh
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Admin
Playalotsays...
Glad you found it, it can be pretty tricky navigating around until you've done it once or twice. Smile
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New
Dolcebeatsays...
As my sim became best friends with the female hermit a second hermit appeared in the conversation and now she is interacting with both, male and female, hermits. Is it common to meet more than 1 hermit? Huh
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Admin
Playalotsays...
No, you must be special! Tongue It is just a glitch but it shouldn't break your game so I wouldn't worry too much. You could go into Manage Households and delete one of them if you wanted to.
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New
Bebo414says...
Hi there, I've met the hermit and my sim has fallen in love. Wondering if I can marry him in granite falls? I've tried so many times but can't seem to, I'm wondering if there is a cheat?
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Admin
Playalotsays...
Sims can't marry at all in Granite Falls. So you'll have to get the hermit back into one of the 'home' worlds and get married there.
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New
ShanWansays...

Hey if it's still relevant, if you enable cheats and shift click the hermit, you can add them to your playable Sims household and then just head home with them

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Admin
Playalotsays...

Or if you don't want to cheat you can be-friend them and then invite them to hang at your lot once you are home.

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New
Soulssays...
I went to the Crying deep forest once and I think I scared him away - He's now nowhere to be found.
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Admin
Playalotsays...
Travel away from the hermits area and back again and the hermit should reappear. Smile
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New
InsanitySimsays...
Tip: When going to the Deep Woods, carry some Herbiside. It will clear the path and take you directly to the Hermit option.
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New
Tomsays...
Does hermit sometimes have a different name as I have a person called Heath Purvis
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Regular
Ashleysays...
Yes, my hermits name is Mariah Hills...I am having a problem with my game not counting all of my types of fish (for the aspiration) I have about 23 different fish types in my notebook, but the aspiration only says 16 of 20?
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Admin
Playalotsays...
Remember that only the base game fish count towards this aspiration as it is a base game aspiration. So any fish that have been added from the various DLC will not register as the 20 needed to complete that particular requirement.
There is a fish list on this page of the Fishing Skill Guide and you can tell which are base game fish as the added fish have the dlc icon to indicate which pack they came from.
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Admin
Playalotsays...
Every new game generates a different hermit. Usually they are Elders but Young Adults have been generated too at times.
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Regular
katsays...
How do you get to Granite Falls Forest? I tried using the phone to travel, and when I click on Destination Worlds, I get "Travel to this world must be booked by phone or computer." I AM using a phone. I also tried Load Game, play a family, manage worlds, which lets me get to the Granite Falls world, but when I click on Granite Falls Forest, it tells me "Sim not available to travel". So what's the secret way to get to Granite Falls Forest? I am not using any mods or cc
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Admin
Playalotsays...
Sounds like a cache issue. Close your game then delete the loaclthumbcache.package file from your TheSims4 folder.
In order to travel to Granite Falls National Park, you need to use your Sim's phone. From there, you can select Travel, and 'Go on Vacation With'. If this still doesn't work for you you could try resetting your sim or even try Repairing Your Game. Worse case scenario you could also try uninstalling and then reinstalling The Sims 4. This leaves all of your saved files intact but basically reinstalls a fresh version of the game, hopefully without many of the minor bugs and glitches.Guide to How To Do A Factory Reset
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New
pYxsays...

I have visited deep woods thrice now, but it is not appearing on the map. Is there something particular i am obliged to do? I would like to build there some day.

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Admin
Playalotsays...

It never appears on the map. Your Sims will always need to use the 'secret entrance' to travel there. With the build cheat bb.enablefreebuild you can edit or build on the Hermits lots there.

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New
Julie Wsays...

I cant seem to find the cave and the screenshots did not help I searched the whole map in the national forest area and did not see the brambles or the cave guess I dont know where else to look

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Admin
Playalotsays...

If you take your sim around the edge of the forested area and keep the camera down at Sim height you will find the 'hole/cave'. The 2nd screenshot above is the most useful. The screenshot shows the front of the Rangers Station so start there and walk your sim through past the toilets and picnic table and horseshoe area and then walk to edge of forest and to the right of the Rangers Station.

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New
Thanks a lotsays...

This really helped me. Now I will be able to make my sims survival arena! Thanks!

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New
Leosays...

I Need To Figure Out how to become the Hermit ive tried waiting for the hermitto die then creating a new sim so no more sims can generate then the new sim i ade got deleted so i have no idea what to do help

Admin:

The Hermit is auto-game generated, you can't become it or make a Sim to be the hermit.

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New
Leosays...

Ahh help i added the hermit to my family now they stop swimming my sim family lives in Sulani what do i do Carl

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Admin
Playalotsays...

Without more details I have no idea what the issue is. If the Sim isn't following your directions to swim try deleting the localthumbcache.package file. Clearing cache and more...



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