Animal Crossing New Horizons Shovel: How to Get it

The shovel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a foundational tool that's been important since the very first Animal Crossing game on the GameCube. It can be used to dig up treasure, smack rocks for random Bells, and plenty of other purposes. Here's how to get a shovel of your own.

Shovel Animal Crossing New Horizons: How to Get it

To unlock a shovel for your Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you'll need to get the recipe and craft it, which in turn requires building the museum and talking to Blathers.

Donate five fish or bugs to Tom Nook, and he'll let you set up the museum. Even before the building is complete you should be able to find Blathers outside the construction site. Talk to him to retrieve the shovel recipe from him.

Collect five hardwood and bring it to a crafting bench and you'll have your first shovel.

You can upgrade your shovel once you acquire the Pretty Good Tools kit from a Nook Stop for 2,000 Miles. Once you've got that recipe, you'll need a Flimsy Axe and an Iron Nugget.