Red Dead Redemption 2 secrets are pretty numerous, though not easy to find - from science fiction aliens to fantasy monsters to plenty more, there's all sorts of outlandish things for you to uncover as you play through Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar are happy to evoke a little of the weirder West, so here are the 17 most must-see things in Red Dead Redemption 2 and where you can find them for yourself!
*Spoiler warning: A couple of these must-see activities can only be completed once you get to the epilogue, so if you’ve not reached that point yet, don’t say we didn’t warn you...
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1. Meet a robot
Play through the wonderfully absurd ‘A Bright Bouncing Boy’, and near the end of this Stranger quest, Arthur meets a forlorn (and more than a bit broken) robot. Like several other selections on this list, RDR2 loves to have fun with subverting the idea of the Old West. The golden days of the Frontier were famed for bison, not bots. Yet here we are, celebrating the saddest android in games.
To find the miserable metal man, first you need to kick start this quest by visiting the robot’s maker in a park in the southwest of Saint Denis. Complete the subsequent toy boat mission, then travel to the inventor’s lab to the north of Brandywine Drop at least 24 in-game hours later at night. Finish Dragic’s electrifying experiment, come back a few days later, pick up the lamp from the lab, then travel to the map’s most northwesterly mountains, near Colter. Equip the lamp and follow the ticks up to the peak and Morgan will soon stumble upon the beleaguered bot.
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2. Find giant bones
This particular point of interest could well be linked to a later entry, which may or may not involve a hairy individual with rather large feet. Ride to the summit of Mt Shann, to the north of the town of Strawberry, and prepare to face a rather sizeable surprise.
Laying on one of the most northerly ledges of the mighty mountain is a skeleton that’s far too big to be a 19th century human. While these big-boned remains could perhaps belong to a particularly chunky NBA player, there’s no way a cowboy in 1899 could grow to this size. Most likely, these remains belong to a legendary beast who just happens to wear size 22s.
3. Encounter the KKK
If you keep your eyes peeled near the Southfield Flats, just by Rhodes, you might spot some men in white coats attempting to perform a ritual. Sadly, they’re not the scientists coming to take you away, they’re actually Rockstar’s Wild West version of the Ku Klux Klan, and they’re hilariously incompetent.
It’s worth keeping back a ways, and just watching what happens next as the event unfurls, but safe to say this particular branch of the KKK might not pose too much of a threat.
4. Follow the carnage created by the Wild West serial killer
In a world where there’s plenty of killing going on, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that there’s a (presumably) active serial killer running amok in Red Dead Redemption 2. And you’ll discover more about them by following some breadcrumbs known as Killer Clues. Up towards the bridge on the Valentine side of the train tracks by Citadel Rock you’ll find a leg, and then a body hanging from the bridge itself, with some words written on the rocks. “Look on my works”. Nope, nothing sinister about that. Nothing at all. *cries*
In the mouth of the head just to the left of the bridge is a map, and you’ll need to find all three parts to solve this particular horror show. Thankfully, we’ve got a full Red Dead Redemption 2 Killer Clue map guide for you, and trust me, you’re going to want to follow this one through to completion.
5. See a bonafide flying saucer
It just wouldn’t be a Rockstar game without a juicy UFO mystery. Thankfully, RDR2’s alien Easter egg is nowhere near as protracted as GTA 5’s years-long Mt Chiliad quest.
To see a Wild West flying saucer, first you must travel to a spooky cabin to the northeast of Heartland Overflow in New Hanover. Here, you’ll find a shack populated by long dead cultists. Read the note on the leader’s table, then set a map marker a little to the north of the ‘M’ on Mount Shann.
Once you scale the rocky ridge at the very summit of the mountain, you’ll find a religious artefact. Study it for a second – or run around it like a loon, if you must – then ride back to the shack near Heartland Overflow.
Set up camp and make Arthur sleep until night, then approach the cabin. As you enter and approach a mysterious vial of goo, garish green lights sift through the roof of the cabin. Quickly run outside, pan the camera behind you, and Arthur will glimpse the briefest sight of a UFO. Talk about a cowboy close encounter.
6. Buddy up with Bigfoot
Rockstar is such a dirty tease. After rumours ran rampant for years that a sasquatch roamed the woods near Mt Chiliad in GTA : San Andreas – which ultimately proved nonsense – the studio has finally offered up the big-footed goods. Though RDR2 never shows you its Sasquatch, the game leaves you heavy clues when you eventually come across a mysterious, never-seen figure in a cave to the northeast of Grizzlies West.
To kick start this Easter egg, you must first ride to the lake at Calumet Ravine, found north of Bacchus Station.
Here, a mysterious flock of birds will guide you to the curious creature’s lair.
Once you arrive at the cave, the lonely beast talks about its life of solitude, of people wanting to murder him. Return after three days, and he also mentions that no women wants to have “large children”. If this isn’t Barry Bigfoot, we’ll eat our Stetson.
7. Check in on a crashed airship
This point of interest feels like a sly homage to the original Redemption’s ‘Deadalus and Son’ Stranger quest.
To the northwest of Little Creek River, among a forest and near the slopes of the accompanying hills, you can find an old timey crashed airship. Clearly, the inventor didn’t have much luck getting his flying contraption off the ground for long. Anyone else having flashbacks to GTA 3’s useless Dodo plane?
8. Meet the Meteor House
Ouch. You can find this grisly grotto in Roanoke Valley, to the east of Brandywine Drop. Ride to this isolated shack and you may spot a small but conspicuous hole in its roof.
Venture inside, and Arthur soon discovers three mutilated bodies, all of which have been obliterated by a rogue piece of space rock. Both Armageddon and Deep Impact warned a flying comet would spell our demise… we just never thought it would be this teeny.
9. Walk to the Witches Cauldron
Double, double, toil and… um, line? RDR2 gets its wicca on when you travel to an off-putting site to the north of Grizzlies East.
This spell-casting shack lies a little north of the ‘N’ in Ambarino. Step inside, and Morgan will find a steaming cauldron, which is presumably full of eye of newt and other disgusting goodies. Drink the potion in this hut and Arthur will pass out, in what feels like a nod to GTA 5’s spaced-out “Did Somebody Say Yoga?” mission.
10. Figure out what the heck the Strange Statues are all about
Rockstar loves a cryptic puzzle as much as we do, so when you first find the Strange Statues mural scrawled in chalk on the underside of Window Rock, which lies directly north of Valentine, just south of the train lines that run across the border of Ambarino and New Hanover, you’re going to want to find out exactly what it refers to. It’s here that you’ll start your journey to figuring that all out, and it actually has something to do with fingers, and feathers.
To actually solve the puzzle, you might want to use our Red Dead Redemption 2 Strange Statues guide, as the actual statues are in a secret (and well hidden) cave near the road under the I of Ambarino (check the map above), because it really is brilliantly cryptic - and lucrative.
11. Be sure to visit the Barrel Rider
Someone at Rockstar is clearly a fan of the works of J.J.R. Tolkien, because two of the entries in this list involve a subtle ode to The Hobbit. The first can be found near Donner Falls, to the north of Bacchus Station.
Take the precarious cliff path down to the shores of the river, and you soon come across a sad, unfortunate sight: a poor woman who has seemingly toppled over the edge of the nearby falls… in a barrel no less. Imagine what a downer Tolkien’s tale would have been if Bilbo and company had all perished in that rapid river ride.
12. Dote over the Donkey Lady
*spoiler warning*
Don’t let anyone tell you Rockstar doesn’t have a sense of humour. This must-see sight is inspired by the first Redemption’s most infamous glitch. Ride to *SPOILER WARNING* New Austin, to the northwest of Lake Don Julio, and you’ll discover a brutal scene.
In a nod to the poor woman you could inadvertently ride in the last game, this Easter egg involves a female skeleton saddled with a great, unbearable weight; her death clearly coming from this untenable strain. Anyone else feel guilty about laughing at RDR1’s Donkey Lady?
13. Meet a Mammoth
While we wait for them to be cloned from elephant DNA, this is as close as any of us will come to seeing this hairy Ice Age leviathan.
Ride to the northwest of Ambarino, where two rivers splinter, and you’ll find the skeleton of this once hairy customer lying among the snow. Are we the only ones who are now desperate for Rockstar to do a prehistoric GTA?
14. Pay respects to a Pagan Ritual
Want to see some see some straight up Blair Witch voodoo in 2018’s biggest game? Then travel just east of lake Owanjila, which can be found a little west of Strawberry.
In these hills, Morgan will find a gruesome offering to the Old Gods; something the hillbillies of the late 19th century seemingly had no problem committing themselves to. For an old timey Western, this is as close as Arthur could ever get to GTA 5’s crazy Epslion cult.
15. The House on Hobbit Hill
Anyone else feeling the need for a ridiculously prolonged journey up Mount Doom? Perhaps we should have a few Hobbit-sized ales in the Shire first.
Travel northeast of Bacchus Station and Arthur will find this adorable, Tolkien-inspired abode. Sadly, you can’t enter the diminutive premises, but if you could, we’re sure Bilbo and Frodo would offer you 14 slices of toast and six litres of Middle-earth tea.
16. Boom goes the neighbourhood
*Spoiler warning*
The Alchemist House is a must-see spot, and is located on a piece of the map you really don’t want to discover until you reach RDR2’s epilogue. Once you do, head to New Austin, specifically to the path between Gaptooth Ridge and Cholla Springs.
Reach this destination, which lies a little north of Tumblewood, to discover a soon-to-be-destroyed hut. With a precarious looking power source attached to the side, it’s no wonder this Wild West house goes kaboom when you get too close.
17. Pity the dead dude who married a sheep
Take your horse northwest of Emerald Ranch until you reach Guthrie Farm. In one of this location’s small stables, you’ll find the corpse of a dead chap who was clearly doing… um, unethical stuff to a sheep before he passed.
The last game featured a beardy guy who was more than a little in love with a horse, so we suppose this man-on-mutton romance was to be expected.
Want more guidance on all the cool quests you can find in Red Dead Redemption 2? Why not gather yourself 10 Red Dead Redemption 2 rock carvings and solve the mystery of Francis Sinclair? Or discover why there are 20 Red Dead Redemption 2 dreamcatchers hidden around the world? And then, when you're ready, here are the best games like Red Dead Redemption to play next.
