Landmarks, Collectibles, and Scenic Stops

There is a very Outbound moment where you park at a lovely overlook, hop out for one quick look, and come back with bottle caps, litter, a painting, three kinds of wood, and no idea where you put the actual van. Cozy road trips still have inventory crimes. Before you chase every map icon, treat each stop like a tiny field survey: park well, sweep the area, collect what matters, then move on before the route turns into slow scenic soup.

Landmarks are named map stops, often shown as Points of Interest, or POIs. Signal Towers are the tall download points that unlock blueprints. Collectibles are optional finds such as cairns, gnomes, paintings, bottle caps, Cap 'n Snap blueprints, and campfires. You can come back later after more areas open, so your first visit does not need to be perfect. The goal is to mark the place, grab the easy rewards, and keep your electric camper van feeling like a mobile cabin instead of a rolling junk drawer.

Pre-Stop Van Check

Bring	Why It Helps	Good Rule
Empty storage space	Landmarks often have small pickups, trash bins, containers, or decor finds.	Clear at least one box before leaving the road.
Redwood	Campfires need Redwood, and lit campfires stay handled for later.	Keep a small campfire stack in the van.
Food	Long landmark sweeps can turn into slow hill hikes.	Eat before climbing or crossing a large POI.
Battery buffer	Repeat trips are the sneaky time sink here.	Do landmark loops with enough power to reach the next safe stop.
Basic crafting supplies	Some landmark tasks ask for crafted fixes, especially later stops.	If you cannot craft the fix yet, mark the place and leave.

How to Sweep a Landmark

Park with the van facing the road out. If the spot is on a slope, keep the exit clear so you do not have to perform a twelve-point turn in your cozy rectangle.
Start at the road sign or map marker, then make one clockwise loop around the outside edge. Check benches, fences, rocks, cliff edges, trees, trash bins, and the back side of buildings.
Look high and low before entering the main structure. Cairns like hilltops and overlooks. Hidden gnomes like corners, benches, trees, and places just annoying enough to feel personal.
Go inside last. Check shelves, desks, tables, upper floors, and dark corners before using a terminal. If a terminal will not work, search the same landmark area for nearby parts or clues before driving away.
Climb to the viewpoint if there is one. Open the map from there and pick the next stop by distance, not vibes alone. Vibes are good. Empty battery is less good.
Before leaving, do one final pass around the van. Pick up litter and bottle caps near the parking area, then unload storage while the stop is still fresh in your head.

Collectible Checklist

Find	What It Looks Like	Where to Check First
Cairns	Small stacked stone piles.	Hilltops, cliff edges, roadsides, scenic overlooks.
Gnomes	Small hidden figures with unique looks.	Benches, behind buildings, under trees, near towers, overlook edges.
Paintings	Flat art pickups for van decoration.	Inside buildings, art displays, decorated POI areas.
Bottle Caps	Small currency-style pickups.	Litter, containers, campsites, trash bins at POIs.
Cap 'n Snap Blueprints	Blueprints from vending-style machines.	Use bottle caps at machines once you find them on the map.
Campfires	Unlit fire pits at campsites or scenic stops.	Bring Redwood, light the fire, then cross it off your mental list.
Research Centers	Special POIs tied to research deliveries.	Check each region as you travel and bring research items back when found.

Stops Worth Prioritizing

In the Starting Meadows, make the Fire Lookout an early stop. It sits high, gives a wide view of the valley, and is a good place to learn the landmark rhythm: park, sweep outside, check inside, use the terminal, then plan the next route from the view. This is also where Outbound starts teaching you that scenery and progress can share the same parking space.

When you reach the coast, save time for the Lighthouse. It is more than a pretty photo stop because the broken light ties into an environmental puzzle and a crafted repair. If you arrive without the needed parts, do not grind your mood into dust. Mark the stop, raid the nearby pickups, and return after a crafting run. That is faster than wandering the rocks with pockets full of hope and snacks.

The Windmill is worth a careful sweep because it ties the scenic stop to furniture color and decorating progress. Check the tulip area, the base of the structure, and any nearby work spaces before leaving. In the Canyons, Red Rock Rapids Kayak Club is a good bridge-and-waterfall stop, so bring bridge repair materials if your current route points that way. Near the coast, Paws & Whiskers Lodge is worth visiting early if you want the van to feel less lonely on solo runs.

If You Are Missing One Last Thing

Do not crawl the whole map at random. Pick the last three POIs you rushed through, then repeat the same recovery loop at each one: outside ring, back side of buildings, upper ledges, indoor shelves, trash bins, campsite, fire pit, then terminal room. If you are in co-op, split that loop cleanly. One player checks the building, one checks the overlook, one handles bins and campfire fuel, and the driver keeps the van powered and pointed toward the next stop.

For solo play, keep the search smaller. Clear one region at a time, then move on. Outbound can feel quiet when you are alone, especially between landmarks, so use collectibles as route markers instead of chores. Every lit campfire, found painting, and checked overlook is one more little sign that your plain electric van is becoming a real road home.

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