If you’ve spent any amount of time wandering Rage 2’s chaotic, mutant-infested Wasteland, you know how easy it is to get turned around chasing glowing Ark markers across jagged canyons and bandit-held roads. I spent nearly an hour circling Quake Hill’s steep cliffs on my first playthrough, wasting ammo on random goon patrols and trying to climb rock faces that weren’t meant to be scaled, before I stumbled on the hidden access route. This guide breaks down exactly how to get to the Quake Hill Ark Rage 2, what you need to bring to avoid a wasted trip, and what game-changing reward you’ll unlock once you make it inside.
How to Get to the Quake Hill Ark Rage 2: Exact Navigation Steps
Your starting point for this run is almost always Wellspring, the first major town you unlock in the northern half of the map. Pull up your map and mark the Quake Hill Ark marker, which sits northeast of Wellspring, right on the edge of the Torn Plains region. You don’t want to follow the main road that heads directly east from town, that route takes you straight through a high-level bandit camp that you don’t need to fight to get to the Ark.
Instead, take the smaller dirt road that cuts northeast from Wellspring’s northern exit, following the edge of the canyon system that wraps around Quake Hill’s west side. You’ll see a small, unmarked dirt turnoff about 7 minutes into the drive, marked by a rusted semi-truck wreck half-buried in the red dirt. Take that turn, and follow the narrow canyon path all the way up until you hit a dead end at the base of a cracked rock wall. That wall is the hidden entrance to the Ark. If you keep following that canyon path, you’ll reach the Quake Hill Ark entrance in less than 10 minutes from the turnoff.
So many players miss this turnoff because it’s not marked on the default map, and the main navigation line tries to route you through the bandit camp to the east. I missed it three times on my first run, so keep an eye out for that semi-truck marker, it’s impossible to miss once you know to look for it. There’s no other way to access the Quake Hill Ark, so don’t waste time trying to climb the steep cliffs on the east or north sides of the hill.
Common Obstacles You’ll Face on the Route to Quake Hill Ark
The west canyon route skips the worst of the high-level bandit camps, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely safe. You’ll run into a few consistent threats every time you make the trip, and knowing how to handle them will save you ammo, health, and the frustration of having to respawn back in Wellspring. All of these obstacles are easy to avoid once you know what to look for, so you won’t have to waste time fighting if your only goal is to reach the Quake Hill Ark fast.
- Shimmered Canyon mutant packs: These level 12 melee mutants spawn in groups of 6 to 8, and will rush your vehicle if you stop for more than 10 seconds. Don't waste ammo on them unless you're forced to stop, as they don’t drop any valuable loot worth the effort.
- Goonsquad rocket patrol: A 3-truck convoy patrols the narrow mid-section of the canyon between 10AM and 6PM in-game time. If you see them coming, pull off into the small cave on the left side of the road and wait for them to pass, fighting them will burn through far more ammo than you’ll gain from their drops.
- Hidden radiation pockets: The short dirt path that cuts up the north side of the hill has unmarked radiation levels that will drain 30% of your health before you reach the top, even with a basic hazmat suit. Skip this shortcut entirely, it doesn’t save any time in the long run.
I learned the hard way that trying to fight the goon convoy is almost never worth it. Even if you take out all three trucks, you’ll only get a handful of basic ammo drops, and you’ll probably burn through more rockets and shotgun shells than you’ll gain. Waiting them out in the side cave only takes 30 seconds of in-game time, so it’s always the smarter call.
What to Expect Once You Reach Quake Hill Ark
Once you reach the cracked rock wall at the end of the canyon path, you’ll need to blow it open to get inside the Ark. You can use any explosive weapon, but rocket launchers work the fastest, and you won’t risk taking damage from standing too close to the blast. Once the wall is down, you’ll walk into a small open chamber with a single locked Ark pod at the far end.
Before you can open the pod, you’ll have to fight a level 14 Abomination brute that spawns from the side tunnel as soon as you step into the chamber. This enemy hits hard, and it can close distance faster than you might expect, so keep your distance as much as possible. Use assault rifle fire to whittle down its health when it’s far away, and switch to a shotgun to hit its glowing red head weak spot when it charges at you.
Once you take down the brute, the Ark pod will unlock, and you’ll get the Quake Slam ability as your reward. This ability lets you slam into the ground from mid-air to send out a shockwave that stuns and damages all enemies within a 10-foot radius. It’s one of the most useful crowd control abilities in the entire game, especially for players who prefer close-quarters combat, and it works great against both mutant hordes and goon squads.
Pro Tips to Make Your Quake Hill Ark Run Smoother
After running this route a dozen times across multiple playthroughs, I’ve picked up a few small tricks that cut down on time and make the entire trip way less stressful. These aren’t required to get to the Ark, but they’ll save you a lot of hassle if you have the right gear unlocked already.
First, bring at least 2 rocket ammo rounds with you before you leave town. The cracked entrance wall takes one rocket to blow open, but I’ve had cases where I missed the shot and hit the rock above the wall, wasting the ammo and forcing me to drive all the way back to Wellspring to restock. Having a spare round means you don’t have to worry about bad aim ruining your run.
If you’ve already unlocked the Icarus hover vehicle, you can skip the entire canyon route entirely. Fly straight northeast from Wellspring, and land right on top of Quake Hill, right next to the Ark’s back entrance. You won’t have to fight any mutants or goon patrols, and the trip only takes 2 minutes total. The only catch is you still need a rocket to blow open the entrance, so don’t forget to bring one even if you’re flying.
You can also time your trip for in-game night to avoid the goon convoy entirely. The convoy only patrols the canyon during daylight hours, so if you leave Wellspring after 8PM in-game, you won’t run into them at all. The only tradeoff is you’ll have to deal with a few flying mutant vultures along the route, but those are way easier to take out with a single pistol shot than the convoy’s rocket launchers. Even if you’re underleveled, you can still make it to the Quake Hill Ark as long as you avoid the patrols and don’t stop to fight unnecessary enemies.
At the end of the day, how to get to the Quake Hill Ark Rage 2 is way simpler than it seems when you’re staring at a map that tries to route you through a level 15 bandit camp. All you need to do is look for that semi-truck turnoff, follow the west canyon path, and come prepared with a couple of rockets to blow open the entrance. The Quake Slam ability you get for completing the run is 100% worth the effort, and it’ll make taking on large groups of enemies way easier for the rest of your playthrough. Don’t make the same mistake I did and waste an hour circling the hill, follow these steps and you’ll be in and out with your new ability in 20 minutes or less.