Walkthrough for the Walden Pond area in Fallout 4, including the Gift Shop Basement subarea and the Super Mutant Behemoth henge.

Walden Pond can be found south, southwest of the Gorski Cabin. If you head south from the Wicked Shipping Fleet Lockup area you’ll find a lake. Follow the coast east until you reach a dam, ascend to the top of said dam, then look east, southeast to spot the valley where Walden Pond lies.

Exploring Walden Pond¶

Walden Pond may be the most difficult southern area near(ish) Sanctuary, but that’s mostly due to the fact that the other areas really don’t present much of a challenge. There are several points of interest around Walden Pond, the area’s namesake - a sorry collection of conjoined puddles - isn’t one of them.

The pond, however, is useful for finding these areas. On the cliffs southwest of the pond you can find two buildings, the smaller of which is the cabin inhabited by reclusive weirdo David Thoreau, while the larger of which is the gift shop that’s here to cash in on Thoreau’s isolationism. There’s little of interest in Thoreau’s cabin, but in the gift shop you’ll find some Makeshift Bombs, a good bit of junk, a Suitcase [Novice] and an Overdue Book behind the counter. Behind the counter you’ll find a door [Master] to the basement and a Note to Tweez affixed to the wall nearby. If you can’t unlock the door, never fear - you can enter the basement via sewer pipe, as detailed in the aforementioned note.

Gift Shop Basement¶

From these buildings, head east, southeast to find a Drainage Pipe, which will take you to some caves that ultimately connect to the gift shop’s basement. Make your way north and turn right down another pipe, which exits out into a chamber where you’ll find two raiders - Bear and Tweez. Kill them, loot a barrel to the east to find an issue of Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor and if you’re tuckered out, get a nap on their beds to recover lost health.

When you’re ready, make your way down a passage to the southeast to reach the basement of the gift store - just disarm some Can Chimes if you want to remain undetected - then take out Whiplash and Walter. Whiplash isn’t much of a threat, but Walter can scale to the player’s level (up to around level 40), and he’s fond of throwing Molotov Cocktails.

Once those two are dead, loot Walter to obtain the Gift Shop Key, which will open the door up the stairs to the northeast, allowing you to quickly return to the gift shop. You can also use this key to loot a Safe [Master] in the basement, while on a metal table along the southeastern wall you’ll find Big Jim, a pipe wrench with the “Kneecapper” legendary modifier which gives the “20% chance to cripple the target’s leg” mod.

Clear out the basement and you’re done with Walden Pond. There are, however, a few potentially interesting encounters in the area that are worth mentioning.

Car Henge Behemoth¶

From the gift shop near Walden Pond, venture south and slightly east to find a crude henge made of cars just beyond an elevated highway. What sort of creature could move the husks of pre-war automobiles around so casually? If you’re low enough level, you won’t have to find out, but if you’re level is 15 or higher, you should see a Super Mutant Behemoth strolling around its henge.

There’s no ambiguity here, this beast’s strength and durability corresponds to its size, and is capable of shrugging off a direct hit from a Mini Nuke. Unless you’re well-armed with a Fat Man and plenty of Mini Nukes (or other potent explosives) or equipped with high-end weaponry like Explosive or Wounding legendary weapons, this is probably a fight you don’t want to start casually.

Behemoths are fond of pulverizing foes with their massive clubs, and without [Ballistic Weave] one will probably kill you in a swat or two. They can also outrun you, so distance is at best a temporary reprieve. Heights are more secure, but Behemoths can toss boulders. Fortunately their boulders deal relatively little damage, so if your weapons aren’t up to snuff, scurrying to high ground isn’t a bad idea.

Unfortunately, killing this Behemoth won’t really earn you anything terribly lucrative, as the Behemoth drops no unique gear nor is there anything of note to find hidden among its henge.

Cat Lady Trader¶

Uphill to the east of Walden Pond you’ll find a small shack, which belongs to a Trader who is rather fond of cats. She has a number of the creatures as pets, and the interior of her shack is adorned with what can generously be called “art”, featuring, of course, cats. Her odd taste in companions aside, you can do business with her if you need to.

Raider Shack¶

Southeast of Walden Pond you’ll find a shack occupied by several Raiders.