It’s been over a decade since gamers first discovered the Capital Wasteland in Bethesda’s Fallout 3. From the first moment gamers emerged from Vault 101 and began the quest to locate their missing father, gamers have spent the last decade going through each and every nook and cranny in the open-world game. Dodging super mutants, feral ghouls, and enemy raiders, gamers have traveled across the vast majority of the apocalyptic ruins of Washington DC, in an alternate fut🌼ure where 50s-era pop culture and design survived but futuristic technology reigned supreme. Yet, in all this chaos and epic fun, gamers might not realize that there are still secret locations within the game world that they have yet to find.
Yes, in all that time, gamers are still surprised when they find some new area they hadn’t realized had a hidden item, mini story, or surprise character waiting for them. From visitors from another world to underground systems within the old city that house dark and spooky secrets, guarded by some of the most fearsome enemies the wasteland has to offer. These areas are sitting there waiting to be discovered by dedicated Fallout fans everywhere, and that’s where we come in.
Today we are going to take the time to explore these areas, find out what secrets they house, and finally explore 100% of the Capital Wasteland once and for all. So come along on this journey as we explore 25 hidden locations fans stil🌞l haven’t found in Fallout 3, because war… war neve🌜r changes.
25 🐼 🐎 The Strange Alien Crash Site
The use of extraterrestrials as humorous or vague side quests is nothing new to the Fallout universe. Heck, Fallout 3 had a DLC story called Mothership Zeta, which took place on an alien ship that abdu🍸cted you. Yet not many people know that in this game, a crashed alien ship can be ꦓfound.
Traveling north from MDPL-1🧸3 power station following the power cables, you’ll come across a ruined house, which, on the other side of the house, hosts the crashed ship. Using ꦍthe alien distress beacon “Recon Craft Theta Signal,” you’ll find the ship along with the body of the pilot and an alien blaster, with ammo scattered around him.
24 Hunting The Mirelurks 🍨 💮
One of the things fans are going to be accustomed to in Fallout 3 are the metro stations that can be explored within the Capital Wasteland. This is one of many Metro stations underneath the Capital Wasteland. Following the white line and entering through Becton Metro Station, Abernathy Metro Station allows you to travel a🥀nd 🍷enter Takoma Park. It’s heavily irradiated and filled with Mirelurks, so be careful when traveling through this station. The operating system may say it’s in perfect working condition, but it’s a total lie.
23 𝓀 Arlingto♕n Sewer
Located south-east of the Arlington Library, this three-leveled location has two guard rooms and a locke𓆉d storage room on the bottom floor. Nearby are also areas filled with aggressive and hostile raiders who will attack on-sight. Southwest of the sewer is a Talon Company Outpost, which has a Stealth Boy and a Nikola Tesla and You book on a small table. This sewer might just be a treasure trove of goodies for the wasteland traveler in all of us.
22 ꦬ Betꦓhesda Underworks
Located Northeast of the Bethesda office east, these underworks are unique in that there is no obelisk marking the underground location. Although the tunnels are partially destroyed, the mezzanine is intact, and if you travel south of the Bethe✱sda office west location, you’ll find the Underwork’s sewer loܫcation.
Inside are barrels filled with radioactive material, and surrounding these barrels are a whole slew of ghouls. It’s common to find glowing ones or feral ghoul reavers (if you possess the Broken Steel DLC), but be warned that if you enter this area, there’s a chance ghouls will swarm you all at once, making you fight off up to six ghouls of varying strengths🍌 a🍌nd brutality all at once.
21 Calverton
Tꦕhis town is ཧeasily seen due to its large partially destroyed church that can be seen from the southwest. To the side of this church building is a small cemetery. At one entrance to the graveyard is a tripwire that sets off a shotgun blast to any trespassers, while the other entrance has a grenade ready to explode for anyone who steps on a pressure plate. Near a bed located inside the cemetery is a prisoner, giving your character incentive to go out and help the poor soul who was taken.
20 𝐆 Capitol Post ܫ
Outside of this old news office, the plaza is crawling with scores of super mutants. If you installed the Broken Steel DLC, then you will see 🔯Mutant Overl✱ords roaming around the area as well. Inside the building, you will find a reception area, terminals with stories of the pre-war Capital Wasteland, and a printing room. One of the terminals is rigged to explode, so be careful. Also one of the terminals houses the means to unlock a safe, although the safe is sometimes hard to discern. In the printing room, you will find the remains of Gibson, along with a note and key to his house in Minefield.
19 𒁏 Car Dealership
Yes, even in the postꦗ-apocalyptic wasteland, we cannot escape the lure of the car dealership. Similar in design to 🌟the Corvega factory, this car dealership houses a water tower and can be found east of the Fairfax ruins.
After the Waters of Life quest, a small detachment of Enclave soldiers can be found holed up underneath the water tower outside of the dealership. Insid𝔍e you will find two Corvegas 𒉰on sale and display, advertised as being only $1,600,000.
18 Chinese Army Mobile Command HQ ൩
Before the bombs fell on the Capital Wasteland, tensions betweenꦛ the U.S. and China were at an all-time high. So it’s not surprising that when traveling east of the Regulator HQ, you’ll find a destroyed piece of freeway with a truck and trailer on top of a high rise at the freeway’s end. Inside the trailer, you’l♊l find an old HAM radio, a broken terminal, and a Chinese Army: Special Ops training manual. This is the only clue you’ll find within the area that speaks of the trailer’s purpose, a secret spy and communications HQ for Chinese agents within the Capital Wasteland.
17 💮 ꦰ Cornucopia Fresh Groceries
The attention to detail in this game is great, as the creators even created a popular chain of grocery stores in the Capital 🌳Wasteland known as Cornucopia Fresh Groceries. At least four of these stores can be found in the Capital Wasteland with various items and collectibles to find. One is near Georgetown West, another near Northwest Seneca Station, a third one near Takoma Park, and finally a fourth one located near Seward Sq. Southeast. This last one is inaccessible but continues to show the depth the mythology of this alternate universe can be.
16 🐼 Drainage Chamber
In actuality, there are a total of seven drainage chambers in 🍒the Capital Wasteland, as well as a couple of sealed cisterns and a few dungeons. What holds these locations together is the presence of broadcast stations broadcasting Morse code. While no specific locations are known, they can be found by locating the large radio towers in the distance.
Each location has a switch one can throw at the bottom of the broadcast tower to begin to encode the messages, and you can follow the messages to a nearby grate or sewer entrance. Inside of these undergꦦround areas you’ll find the HAM radio b꧙roadcasting the messages. Turning these off is probably a good idea, as it lures many to a dangerous fall or worse.