Coastal Highway

<infobox> <title source="title"><default>Coastal Highway</default></title>

<image source="image"><default>No picture.png</default></image> <header>Location on Great Bear Island</header> <image source="locatormap"><default>No picture.png</default></image> <image source="regionmap"/> <header>Details</header> <label>Description</label> <label>Connecting Regions</label> <label>TFTFT paid content</label> <label>Characters</label> <label>Difficulty</label> <label>Interloper Region Spawn</label> <label>Locations</label> <label>Hazards and Survivability</label> <label>Cougar Spawn?</label> <label>Date Added</label> </infobox>

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Coastal Highway is the 2nd Region released in The Long Dark. The region is named after a section of the Great Bear Highway that wraps itself around a local lagoon, giving the region a C shape.

Overview

The region is a relatively warm crescent of steep hills and switchbacks surrounding an icy bay; a highway follows the coast with settlements along it. The bay's ice shelf features many Fishing huts, and further out two islands: Jackrabbit Island and Misanthrope's Homestead. Several Wolf packs live in the area, and further out the bay's ice becomes thin and dangerous to walk upon.

Coastal Highway connects to Mystery Lake through the Ravine to the north-west, Pleasant Valley through the Cinder Hills Coal Mine to the north, and Desolation Point through the Crumbling Highway and No. 3 Coal Mine to the south-east.

Compared to the nearby Mystery Lake, it has more resources and overall warmer temperatures; however there are more abundant wolves and bears, particularly near the Coastal Townsite, Log Sort, and Misanthrope's Homestead.

Coastal Highway also has two notable benefits compared to regions further inland. First, like in other coastal regions, beachcombing is possible, giving the player easy and renewable sources of clothing, tools, medications, and fish, among other items. Second, Coastal Highway is the only region in the game with a Trade Drop Box, meaning that it is the only region where goods can be directly exchanged with the Trader. This makes Coastal Highway a prime candidate for long-term habitation, and makes it one of the most important regions in the late-game.

Peculiarities

Coastal Highway differs from most other regions in some regards, which may require adaptations to playing style.

There are no proper Warm Caves. The bear dens are just sheltered nooks.
Two-slot cooking opportunities are only available indoors in a heavily wildlife-infested area, or using campfires.
The entrance to the Cinder Hills Coal Mine near the Log Sort has a portion which is only accessible via an elevator which is only powered during an aurora. In past versions of the game, this Aurora Mine was considered highly dangerous, as players could become trapped underground for extended periods of time if they failed to leave before the aurora ended. However, in current versions of the game, if a player becomes trapped after the end of an aurora, there will always be a scripted aurora at 8:30 PM the following night allowing them to escape, making the Aurora Mine much safer to traverse.
The two entrances to Cinder Hills Coal Mine are not connected inside.

One notable feature of this region is that, depending on the Experience chosen, many houses and cabins throughout the region spawn destroyed. On Interloper, Misery, and the As the Dead Sleep Challenge, half of the available structures are destroyed. This can make certain locations contain very few structures to loot/shelter in. All trailers in the region will remain intact, regardless of difficulty however.

This is the only region that features this type of change on higher difficulties.

Exclusive gear

One piece of exclusive gear will be found in the region: Barb's Rifle. This rifle is considerably more durable than the normal rifle, but is 0.50 kg heavier. Its exact location will vary in each playthrough.

Locations

There are many named locations within Coastal Highway, including:

Abandoned Lookout
Bear Creek Campground
Cinder Hills Coal Mine
Coastal Townsite
Commuter's Lament
Fishing Camp
Jackrabbit Island
Log Sort
Misanthrope's Homestead
Quonset Garage
Rabbit Grove
Rockfall
Silent Clearing
The Tooth
Train Unloading
Waterfront Cottages
To Abandoned Mine (Transition to Cinder Hills Coal Mine Upper Level to Pleasant Valley)
To Abandoned Mine (Transition to Cinder Hills Coal Mine Middle Level that leads to Lower Level)
To Crumbling Highway (Transition to Crumbling Highway)
To Ravine (Transition to The Ravine)

Unmarked Locations

Additionally, there are several indoor locations spread across the region that are recorded in the Journal. These locations are labeled Coastal House, Cabin, Fishing Cabin, and Trailer.

Many of these buildings will spawn destroyed if playing on Interloper/Misery (labeled as I/M).

Coastal Townsite contains 7 (3 on I/M) Coastal Houses, with one on the outskirt of the town.
Jackrabbit Island has 1 Coastal House.
Misanthrope's Homestead has 1 Coastal House.
Fishing Camp contains 3 Fishing Cabins and 1 Cabin.
Log Sort has 1 Trailer and 1 Coastal House (the House can spawn boarded up, even on lower difficulties).
Rabbit Grove has 1 Cabin.
Waterfront Cottages can contain 1-2 Coastal Houses (0 on I/M).

Miscellaneous Structures

Several Trailers and Cabins can be found farther away from named locations.

There are 3 cabins south of Abandoned Lookout, below the cliff (2 on I/M).
A trailer north of Coastal Townsite.
A trailer north of Log Sort.
A trailer at Train Unloading
- A Trailer south of Train Unloading.
- A Cabin is found east of the previous Trailer/west of Abandoned Lookout Cabins/north of The Tooth.
A Cabin northwest of Fishing Camp, south of Bear Creek Campground (spawns destroyed on I/M).

Additionally, a crashed plane can be found to the east of Coastal Townsite, up in the hills past the Cabin on the outskirt of town.

Safehouses

There are several locations for Safehouses in the Coastal Highway, including Jackrabbit Island and Quonset Garage.

Quonset Garage

Pros: A central location with plentiful resources, abundant storage, an indoor workbench, bed, and fire barrel. Numerous vehicles nearby for storage or escape from predators.
Cons: Multiple predators around the Quonset, including wolves, a bear and moose spawn. Very dangerous, especially if on Stalker and Interloper. No nearby cave (but fishing huts) for Cabin Fever; vehicles are quite cold.

Jackrabbit Island

Pros: Centrally located, direct access to multiple key regions and to the Trader while being secluded from predators. Has 2 rabbit groves on the island, and 1 nearby (towards Misanthrope) as well as fishing, abundant sticks, and close access for Beachcombing. Several possible bear spawns in the vicinity but none come close to the island.
Cons: Somewhat unreliable Fir Limb / Cedar Limb spawns, a Travois is recommended to haul in bigger loads from elsewhere. No place for indoor fires (Fireplace, barrel or Pot Belly Stove). No nearby cave for Cabin Fever, only Fishing Huts. Wolves and Timberwolves can spawn near Fishing huts.

Fishing Camp

Pros: multiple rabbit groves (2 over hill, 1 near the bridge, 2 at Jackrabbit Island) and fishing shacks, and close to the coast for beachcombing. Centrally located in the region, and has a workbench (outdoors).
Cons: Multiple wolves may spawn nearby, as well as a bear up the road or atop the hill. Workbench is outdoors. No place for indoor fires (fireplace, barrel or pot belly stove). No nearby cave for Cabin Fever.

Trivia

Many photographs on walls or nightstands inside the houses of Coastal Highway are Hinterland's developers, or their friends and family; this includes "Stacyplays" (aka Stacy Hinojosa) a YouTuber who ran a "let's play" series during The Long Dark's alpha/beta (2014-2016). The item Stacy's Grape Soda is also named after her.