Open your Skyrim map after a few hours and it’s already crowded with icons. Cities, caves, forts, camps, shipwrecks and more are all competing for your attention. Where do you even start?
Let’s break it down: this guide sorts the main location types so you know what you’re looking at. Then it walks you through one of the trickiest destinations in the game, the hunt for the Elder Scroll. (If you’re new to this, the Elder Scroll is a main quest item, not a game title joke.)
Skyrim Locations at a Glance
Thorough exploration can dot your world map with over 100 locations. Each icon marks a type of place, such as a hold, farm or shrine, and there are dozens of location types in total.
You don’t need to memorize every category. These are the ones that matter most early on:
- Cities and Towns: Major hubs like Solitude, the capital of both Haafingar and the whole province, sit on the northwest coast. Smaller towns like Dawnstar have their own inns, houses and mines.
- Settlements and Farms: Minor settlements, farms, wood mills and wheat mills fill the gaps between cities. They’re good for quick supplies and side quests.
- Orc Strongholds: Dushnikh Yal, Largashbur, Mor Khazgur and Narzulbur are the four Orc strongholds. They’re worth a visit for their unique culture and services.
- Giant Camps: Broken Limb Camp, Bleakwind Basin, Blizzard Rest, Steamcrag Camp and others are home to giants. Approach with care.
- Military Camps: The Imperial and Stormcloak camps are tied to the civil war. Each hold has its own, such as the Eastmarch Imperial Camp or the Haafingar Stormcloak Camp.
- Shipwrecks: The Wreck of the Brinehammer, Wreck of the Pride of Tel Vos and Wreck of the Winter War are coastal spots with loot and stories.
- Guild Locations: The Thieves Guild headquarters is hidden in the sewers beneath Riften, a place called The Ratway.
Worth noting: Dragon Mounds, Word Walls, Standing Stones and Shrines all count as locations too, and Dawnguard, Dragonborn, Hearthfire and Creation Club add more places on top of the base game.
(Pro tip: if you ever forget what an icon means, check the in-game Map Legend before you fast travel somewhere dangerous.)
Step-by-Step: Finding the Elder Scroll
Few questions get asked as often as “where is the Elder Scroll?” It’s a main quest objective, and the path runs through three of Skyrim’s most memorable locations. Here’s exactly what to do:
- Step 1: Head to the College of Winterhold and find Urag gro-Shub. He’s the Orc librarian, and you’ll usually find him in the Arcanaeum. Ask him about the Elder Scroll and he’ll point you in the right direction.
- Step 2: Travel to Septimus Signus’s Outpost, north of the College. You can skip Urag and go straight there if you already know the way. It’s a tricky place to find.
- Step 3: Use the Shout Clear Skies on the way. It clears the weather and makes the outpost much easier to spot. (If you’re new to this, a Shout is a Dragon power you unlock through the main quest.)
- Step 4: Speak with Septimus. He’s a strange, rambling fellow, but he’s the key to this whole quest. Lore-wise, his obsession with the Elder Scrolls fits his place as a scholar who has lost himself to the knowledge.
- Step 5: Make your way into Blackreach. Skyrim has several Great Lifts, at Alftand, Mzinchaleft and Raldbthar, and these Dwemer ruins are your gateways down.
- Step 6: Find the Tower of Mzark inside Blackreach. The Elder Scroll is in the giant puzzle sphere there.
Lore-wise, Blackreach is one of the most striking places in Skyrim. It’s a vast Dwemer cavern deep underground, and the Dwemer (the “Deep Elves”) are a vanished race whose ruins dot the province. The Tower of Mzark fits right in with their obsession with puzzles and mechanisms.
(Pro tip: if the quest breaks on you, which some players report in this section, Septimus can get the quest flags working again. Talk to him before you reload an old save.)
Rewards and Benefits
Finishing this trail gets you more than a single quest item. Here’s what you walk away with:
- Main Quest Progress: The Elder Scroll is a required item, so this unlocks the next stage of the story.
- New Map Icons: Septimus’s Outpost, the Great Lifts and Blackreach all become discoverable locations. They count toward your exploration.
- Fast Travel Points: Once discovered, these places can be revisited quickly. That’s handy since Blackreach is full of loot and rare ingredients.
- Lore Depth: You get a closer look at the Dwemer and at Septimus, one of Skyrim’s most unforgettable characters.
Pro Tips
- Timing Tip: It can pay to finish the Blades questline before you pursue the Elder Scroll. Continuing the main questline could eventually force you to kill Paarthurnax to complete the Blades’ tasks. Think about how you want to play before you commit.
- Video Help: Septimus’s Outpost is easy to miss. Watching a short walkthrough video can save you real time.
- Prep Your Gear: Blackreach has tough enemies like Falmer and Chaurus. Bring healing potions and a decent weapon.
- Save Often: Make a manual save before you enter the Tower of Mzark. It protects you from quest bugs.
- Bring a Light Source: Blackreach glows, but some corners are still dark. A torch or Magelight spell helps.
(Pro tip: loot the glowing mushrooms in Blackreach. They’re valuable for alchemy, and you’ll find them nowhere else in such numbers.)
Why This Matters
Skyrim rewards curiosity. Each camp, ruin and shipwreck hints at the history of the province, and the Elder Scroll trail is a perfect example. It takes you from a college library to a strange outpost, then down into a hidden Dwemer world.
Once you know the location types, your map stops feeling overwhelming. It becomes a checklist of stories waiting for you. Worth noting: you don’t have to see everything in one playthrough.
So what’s your plan? Are you heading straight to Septimus, or clearing out the Orc strongholds first? Tell us your favorite Skyrim location in the comments, and we’ll feature the best picks in a future guide.
