How to find the cave in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch
Explore a new secret area in Chestnut Ridge
Where is the cave in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch? From time to time, The Sims 4 team like to keep us on our toes by including a secret area in the latest world added with a new expansion pack. The infrequent tradition makes a return in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch, although the "secret" of Dreadhorse Caverns didn't stay secret for very long.
Nevertheless, knowing that the secret cave exists and knowing how to find it are two very different things, since secret areas in The Sims games are often surprisingly hard to locate. Read on below for directions to Dreadhorse Caverns in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch, as well as information on what to expect once you get there.
How to find the secret cave in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch
The secret cave — properly called Dreadhorse Caverns — is located in the Galloping Gulch neighbourhood, which is the northernmost area of the Chestnut Ridge world as you look at the map. Begin your search by travelling to any of the three selectable lots in that neighbourhood. (Note that like most secret areas in The Sims, you cannot simply use the map to travel directly to Dreadhorse Caverns.)
The nearest lot is Canyon Crossing, a residential lot which is occupied by the Gooseman household at the start of the game. Facing the front of the Canyon Crossing house — which is atop a rocky outcropping — the cave entrance is visible behind it and to the left near the riverbed below. A short path leads away from the river into a thick stand of trees, which is where you'll find the secret cave.
Exploring the cave in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch
Like many other secret areas in The Sims, Dreadhorse Caverns is what's known as a "rabbit hole" — a large interactable object that you can direct your Sims to enter, but where the camera doesn't follow them. Click on the cave entrance and select the "Explore Deadhorse Caverns" option to send your Sim inside.
Exploration plays out with a text-based, choose-your-own-adventure style mini game with an added twist: your Sim has both a health metre and an exploration progress metre. Combat encounters with various enemies give you the option to go on the offensive (where you risk losing health) or the defensive (which gives you the chance to regain some health). Offensive attacks can lower an enemy's health, and defeated enemies will drop loot. Defeating four enemies will take you to the end of the cave, where you need to complete a final puzzle to get the last reward. You can also open treasure chests found along the way, although they have a risk to trigger traps that lower your health.
Don't worry too much, though: losing all their health or otherwise failing in Dreadhorse Caverns won't cause a Sim to die. Instead, they'll just exit the cave with a "Dazed" moodlet that lingers for a few hours.
For more Sims 4 Horse Ranch guides, take a look at our page explaining how to get goats and sheep in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch.