Darkshade is a cave on the banks of the White River, right at water level just east of Valtheim Towers and east of Whiterun. Several trolls roam its big chambers. The bodies, bones and blood at the entrance suggest bandits once used it as a hideout – right up until the trolls moved in and redecorated.
What you’ll find
- Several trolls spread through a series of large chambers.
- Bandit corpses, human bones and blood splatter near the entrance.
- Scattered tools and equipment hinting that Darkshade may once have been a mine.
- Three gold ore veins inside, plus one more just outside: one beside the tree on the raised platform in the first room, one high on the overhang of the rear wall before the big waterfall room, and one to the right of the waterfall under the overhang.
- A large chamber with a waterfall, where a bedroll holds the skill book next to an iron mace.
Quests
- Possible location for “Shalidor’s Insights”.
- Linked to “Totems of Hircine”.
- Possible location for the miscellaneous quest “Find Runil’s Journal”.
Notable items
- How Orsinium Passed to the Orcs (Heavy Armor skill book), on a bedroll in the waterfall chamber
- Four gold ore veins
Tips
Good news for low-level heroes: the trolls here are not leveled and always spawn as the weakest version. They still regenerate, so fire is your friend. Darkshade is also an early source of gold ore if you are into smithing jewellery or just like hitting rocks for money. If the first vein inside refuses to be mined, players report it can simply be bugged – move on to the others.
Good to know
When a radiant quest sends you here, your journal may call the place “Darkshade Copse”. Same cave, same trolls, fancier name. The game files count Darkshade as part of Falkreath Hold, even though it sits east of Whiterun near Valtheim Towers – the official game guide lists it under Whiterun Hold instead.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Valtheim Towers, Guldun Rock, Hillgrund’s Tomb, Fellglow Keep, The Ritual Stone.
Location data (hold, map position, editor ID) read from the Skyrim game files; details checked against community wiki articles and summarised in our own words.