Rowanberry sits at the center of several progression bottlenecks in Winter Burrow. You need it for late-game pies, for high-tier jams and teas, and to unlock better tools like the Flint Pickaxe. The berries are not in the most obvious direction from your burrow entrance, which is why so many players run laps around the map before checking the right screen.
Rowanberry location south-west of your burrow
The most reliable Rowanberry spawn is in the wilderness directly south-west of your home burrow, in the same broader zone where you eventually meet Willow.
From the burrow interior, step outside and use this route:
- Head south-west into the next outdoor area.
- Keep moving south-west, then west until large Granite boulders block the path.
- Break these Granite boulders with a Granite Pickaxe to open the way forward.
- At the small camp with a fire, rest if needed; there’s a backpack here with Advanced Kindling and a scroll that teaches the Advanced Kindling recipe.
- From the campfire, walk south into the next screen.
This southern screen is the main Rowanberry zone. In the middle of this large clearing, a Rowanberry tree grows with clusters of red berries on the branches and scattered on the snow around it. Other Rowan trees can appear in the wider area, but this central one is the most dependable landmark.
Players who only search the screens directly around the burrow or rush north to other NPCs often miss that you need to go through Granite to reach this grove. If you have not seen an achievement pop as you enter a new southern woodland area, you probably have not pushed far enough past the Granite barrier.
Alternative Rowanberry finds near your burrow
Rowan can also appear closer to home once you start breaking rocks and exploring edges of your starting quadrant more aggressively.
- Move toward the bottom-left edge of the screen that contains your burrow.
- Work your way down past any Granite you can break.
- Explore the screens immediately below and slightly to the right; additional Rowan trees can appear here, and some players reach these before the Willow area.
Some Rowanberries can also turn up while digging in the swamp, though those are more incidental finds. Treat them as bonus berries rather than your primary supply.
How to identify Rowanberry trees
Rowan stands out from other forage in Winter Burrow once you know what to look for.
| Feature | Rowanberry |
|---|---|
| Berry color and shape | Small, bright red, round berries growing in loose clusters |
| Tree bark | Light brown trunk and branches, paler than many surrounding trees |
| Ground loot | Several berries scattered on the snow near the trunk |
| Tool interaction | Can be cut down with an Axe to drop extra berries |
You can either chop the tree with an Axe to get a larger one-time burst of berries or simply walk around picking up the fruit that has already fallen. Harvesting does not require any special tools, only inventory space.
Why Rowanberry matters for progression
Rowanberry is more than a collectible; it’s wired into tool upgrades and NPC quests. A few key dependencies shape how you move through the late game.
- Flint Pickaxe requirement: Rowanberry is part of the cooking you must complete to obtain a Flint Pickaxe, which then opens up harder rock types and new paths.
- Bufo’s pie quest: The toad Bufo eventually asks you to bake both a Blackberry Pie and a Rowanberry Pie. You can gather Blackberries around Bufo’s swamp home, but Rowan requires that southwestern trip from your burrow.
- Key handoff: Once both pies are delivered, Bufo hands over a key you then take to Pollywog, advancing that quest chain.
- Willow encounter: The same Rowan area hides Willow, a mole NPC, to the left of the main clearing. Meeting him and retrieving his notebook (found just outside your home) starts another line of upgrades, including a better shovel.
This means that if you are stuck on a “make a pie for the toad” objective and cannot reach the next region, the missing link is almost always the southwestern Rowan grove and the berries that grow there.
Rowanberry in cooking recipes
Once Rowan is unlocked, it feeds into several of the strongest late-game foods. The recipes live on your stove and oven at home and rely on berries from different parts of the map.
Jam, tea, and biscuit inputs
| Recipe | Uses Rowan? | Ingredients | Main effects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Jam | Yes | 5 Blueberry, 5 Rowanberry | Large Hunger restore, significant Speed boost for several in-game hours |
| Rowan Tea | Yes | 2 Rowanberry | Small Hunger restore, modest Speed increase and Cold Resistance for a short time |
| Forest Jam | No | 5 Elderberry, 5 Blackberry | Hunger restore, Stamina bonus |
| Hazelnut Biscuit | No | 3 Hazelnut | Cold Resistance and Hunger restore |
Wild Jam is the critical bridge recipe: it depends on both Rowanberry and Blueberry (found near Gnawtusk’s area). Without a steady Rowan supply, you cannot mass-produce Wild Jam or the pies that build on it.
Rowanberry Pie and other Rowan-based meals
Pies are some of the most powerful food buffs in Winter Burrow, and Rowanberry Pie sits at the top tier for cold protection.
| Pie | Rowanberry usage | Ingredients | Buff profile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rowanberry Pie | Heavy | 3 Hazelnut Biscuit, 1 Wild Jam, 5 Rowanberry | Very high Cold Resistance and Hunger restore, plus sizable long-duration bonuses to Cold Resistance, Stamina, and Speed |
| Blueberry Pie | Indirect (via Wild Jam) | 2 Pine-nut Biscuit, 1 Wild Jam, 2 Blueberry | Balanced Cold Resistance, Hunger restore, Stamina and Speed boosts |
| Blackberry Pie | No | 2 Beechnut Biscuit, 1 Forest Jam, 5 Blackberry | Strong Cold Resistance, big Hunger restore, increases Cold Resistance, Stamina, and Speed |
Rowanberry Pie delivers the strongest Cold Resistance package of the three, making it particularly useful for longer expeditions into harsh zones or when you want to ignore campfires for as long as possible. Because it consumes Wild Jam, every Rowanberry in your inventory effectively fuels both mid-tier speed boosts and late-game survival bakes.
Berry locations overview
For context, each berry type used alongside Rowan sits in its own biome. Knowing where they live keeps you from backtracking more than necessary.
| Berry | Primary location | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Elderberry | Immediately outside your home burrow | Forest Jam, Elder Tea, multiple starter recipes |
| Blackberry | Swamp area around Bufo’s home | Forest Jam, Blackberry Pie, Black Tea |
| Blueberry | Area near Gnawtusk | Wild Jam, Blue Tea, Blueberry Pie |
| Rowanberry | South-west of your burrow, beyond Granite, and adjacent screens | Wild Jam, Rowan Tea, Rowanberry Pie, quests leading to Flint Pickaxe |
With that layout in mind, Rowan functions as the “far” berry: the one that forces you to craft better tools, break tougher rock, and commit to a longer trek before you ever taste the buffs it provides.
Once you’ve broken through the Granite south-west of your burrow and taken the time to sweep the central clearing for a pale-barked tree hung with red fruit, Rowan stops being a mystery and becomes part of your regular supply run. From there, Bufo’s pies, Willow’s quests, and the Flint Pickaxe all fall into place.
