Aurora Basin

Aurora Basin is a body of water in Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 in the Tall Trees region of the West Elizabeth territory.

Lobo the Wolf can be found at this location as part of the Rank 10 Master Hunter Challenge for Red Dead Redemption. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the Legendary Rock Bass inhabits these waters exclusively. Most commonly, the player can find foxes, cougars, beavers and bears.

Layout

In Tall Trees, a river flows north through the forest, and at the end is the Aurora Basin. The dense forest opens into a large clearing, revealing a sizable lake. The basin was most likely used as a hunting or fishing retreat, as a nearby cabin suggests. However, the shack appears derelict, and therefore suggests it has been abandoned. The water in the basin is shallow enough for wading, providing a potential escape from pursuing animals.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the area is more or less unaltered apart from the waterfall, which is missing or has been removed from its spot in Red Dead Redemption. The hunting/fishing cabin is in a slightly more decrepit state than it was in Redemption - parts of the wharf and the stairs leading to it have fallen into the basin, and the deck around the cabin is collapsed in sections.

Aurora Basin may be based off Mono Lake which is west of Yosemite National Park in California. The shape of both lakes are similar to one another and have similar geographic locations

Native animals

Crow
Bear
Beaver
Bighorn
Bobcat
Deer
Duck (very rare. Only spawns for a couple of seconds at sunrise; may be a glitch.)
Eagle
Elk
Fox
Rabbit
Raccoon
Wolf

Notes

The following information only pertains to Red Dead Redemption 2.

The Legendary Rock Bass can be fished along the northern bank, near the fishing cabin.
Wickiup can be found to the southwest, near the border.
Lady Slipper Orchid can be found close to the eastern shore.

Trivia

This area is useful for racking up multiple wolf and bear kills, as they cannot get on the pier. The player can simply kill off all animals in sight, dash up and skin the bodies, then run back to safety.
A scrap of the U.S. Army Outfit is located inside the shack at the base of the L shaped dock. Also, it serves as a known gang hideout for the West Elizabeth bounty hunting missions.
The water in Aurora Basin is extremely shallow; the player can walk out into the middle of the basin, or cross the basin both on foot or on horseback and still avoid drowning. The closer to the waterfall the player gets, the deeper the water gets.
If the player knocks himself over and submerges his head in the water, he will not die.
During Undead Nightmare, one may encounter a survivor nearby who will request the player's help in rescuing a stranded friend or family member from zombies in Aurora Basin.
- Also, the cabin is seemingly a spawn point for the undead and, usually, almost ten or more undead will respawn inside.
This is one of the few places in Red Dead Redemption where it never rains. While dark clouds will cover the sky and thunder, and lightning may be heard and seen overhead, rain never appears to fall. However, if the player enters the small cabin when this weather is present, they may hear rain against the cabin.
If the player places a hogtied victim at the edge of the dock and then cuts them free, the player may get stuck inside the dock with their feet in the water. This can be fixed by tapping the 'jump' button repeatedly.
While wolves will immediately drown if they run into the water, bears are tall enough so that they will not. However, they rarely ever come far into the water, making them easy to kill. A good way to get pelts is to wait until they are at the very edge of the water, shoot, skin and run back into the water where you are safe.
If the player goes to the little patch of land on the very west of the basin, he/she are technically standing on the same peninsula as New Austin, making it the only place in Red Dead Redemption where one territory extends onto the same landmass as another.
While riding the mule, bonzo, buffalo, albino buffalo, super bull or zebra donkey in multiplayer and the mule in single-player, the mount will die when attempting to walk in Aurora Basin, because the placement of the head is shorter than that of a horse.
In Red Dead Redemption 2, the waterfall that flows into the basin doesn't exist. Despite being present previously in Red Dead Redemption.