Stardew Valley Shortcuts Community Upgrade

Stardew Valley Shortcuts are special paths that players can unlock by purchasing the second Community Upgrade from the Carpenter’s Shop. These Shortcuts, when unlocked, significantly speed up travel around the valley. For more details on the Shortcuts and their locations, refer to our guide below.

How to Unlock the Shortcuts

To unlock the Shortcuts listed below, players must unlock Community Upgrades at Robin’s. To do this, you need to purchase all Farm House upgrades and have completed either the Community Center or Joja Warehouse buildings.

Once both of these requirements are met, Robin will have a Community Upgrades option on her menu when you speak to her in the Carpenter’s Shop. Select this option and complete the first Community Upgrade, which is to build Pam a house.

After completing Pam’s house, you unlock the second Community Upgrade. This second upgrade is for Shortcuts around the valley. It costs 300,000g to purchase. Once purchased, you then have to wait 3 days for the 5 Shortcuts to be built.

Shortcut 1: Cindersnap Forest and The Beach

This Shortcut provides convenient travel between Cindersnap Forest and The Beach. You’ll find it southeast of Leah’s Cabin in Cindersnap Forest or in the northwest corner of The Beach. You can use it in either direction to reduce travel time between both locations.

Shortcut 2: Town and Tide Pools

This Shortcut connects Pelican Town with the Tide Pool area. It is located south of the Museum and in the northwest corner of the Tide Pools. You can use it in either direction to reduce travel time. With this Shortcut, you can bypass having to fix the plank from the Beach to the Tide Pool if you wish.

Shortcut 3: Town and The Mountains

This Shortcut links the Town and the Mountains. It’s located at the north end of the River in Town and at the south end of the River in the Mountains. There are two possible Shortcuts you can use here on either side of the River. These Shortcuts underwent a visual change in Update 1.6, adding a waterfall and cave.

Shortcut 4: Plank to Adventurer’s Guild

This Shortcut is located in the Mountains area. To reach it, head to Mountain Lake and proceed to the little island in the center. Once the Shortcut is built, you’ll discover a new plank has been built, making a quicker route to cross the water. However, please note that this plank is too small to ride your horse across it.

Shortcut 5: Stairs from Tunnel Road to Backwoods

The final Shortcut is located just north of your farm in the Backwoods. When the Shortcut is built it makes a set of stairs in the cliffside. This allows you to reach the Bus Stop or go to the Backwoods quicker than the original routes.

These Shortcuts are one of the many new additions added in the Stardew Valley 1.5 update. Other additions include the Ginger Island, Ostriches, an NPC named Leo, and more. Check out the guides linked for more details.

You can also check out more guides like this one in our Stardew Valley guide and walkthrough hub. Here you will find all of the guides that we’ve written for Stardew Valley.

Have you unlocked all of the Stardew Valley Shortcuts? Let me know in the comments below.