Grounded 2: Milk Molar Locations by Area and Upgrade Guide

The cleanest Grounded 2 Milk Molar route is to clear the Snackbar and Park Entrance first, then return for the Buggy-gated tunnels before moving through the Picnic Table, Pine Hill, and Ice Cream Cart clusters. Several Molars sit inside props, anthills, caves, or elevated terrain, so sweeping only the obvious ground-level landmarks leaves permanent upgrades behind.

Milk Molars are permanent progression currency. Spend them on the upgrade category that fixes the problem slowing your current build: survivability for dangerous caves, stamina for long traversal and repeated attacks, carry weight for resource runs, or combat and utility improvements once your core needs are covered.

Milk Molar upgrade priorities

There is no benefit to holding every Molar indefinitely while an upgrade would make the next route safer or faster. Use the categories as a practical priority list rather than spreading upgrades evenly from the start.

Upgrade focus	What it improves	Best time to prioritize it
Health	Core survivability	Before clearing anthills, spider caves, and guarded underground Molars
Stamina	Endurance for movement and combat	When long routes, climbing, and repeated evasive movement are limiting runs
Carry weight	Inventory capacity	During resource gathering and multi-area exploration loops
Combat	Combat-focused character improvements	Before areas protected by Red Soldier Ants, O.R.C. enemies, or spiders
Utility	Quality-of-life improvements	After the immediate survival and traversal bottlenecks are covered

For an early exploration route, health and carry weight are dependable first choices. Stamina becomes more valuable when you begin chaining elevated landmarks, tunnels, and long return trips without stopping at base.

Bring these requirements before starting the full route

• Red Ant Buggy access: required for root-covered passages and several tunnels around the Snackbar and Park Entrance.
• Combat supplies and healing: needed for the Red Soldier Ant under the Snackbar and the hostile spider routes in Pine Hill.
• Chill Protection: required for the full Ice Cream Cart sweep and its freezing caves.
• Briefcase access: the Picnic Table Molar inside the briefcase remains a return trip until it can be opened.
• Empty inventory space: useful when combining Molar hunting with materials and creature drops from anthills or caves.

Mark every blocked entrance when you first find it. The usual time loss comes from rechecking an inaccessible tunnel repeatedly instead of finishing the open collectibles in that region and returning once with the correct Buggy or protection.

Snackbar area Milk Molar locations

The Snackbar is an efficient starting zone because its Molars teach the route patterns that continue across the yard: raised platforms, anthill interiors, enemy-guarded caves, props with hidden interiors, and passages locked behind traversal progression.

• Large wooden platform in front of the Snackbar: search around the base of the platform, then check the upper surface separately.
• Top of the wooden Snackbar platform: climb all the way up rather than treating the structure as a single ground-level landmark.
• Hatchery Anthill beneath the Snackbar front: enter the anthill and fully search its interior rather than turning back after the first chamber.
• Cave under the Snackbar: a Red Soldier Ant guards this route, so clear the enemy before trying to search the cave floor and corners.
• Root-covered cave: this entrance requires the Red Ant Buggy to break through, making it a planned return visit.
• Styrofoam cup near a puddle: check inside the cup; this is an environmental-prop pickup rather than an exposed path-side Molar.

The platform and anthill are the quickest checks. Leave the root-covered cave for later if the Red Ant Buggy is unavailable, then collect it during the same return trip as the Park Entrance tunnel.

Park Entrance Milk Molar locations

The Park Entrance cluster is built around the trash can, nearby tree roots, mushrooms, and a southwest tunnel. It is easy to pass through this area too quickly because the landmarks are spread across different heights.

• Styrofoam cup near the garbage can: inspect the cup close to the trash can instead of searching only around its base.
• Mushrooms on the tree trunk: look upward along the trunk; this pickup rewards a vertical scan of the landmark.
• Tree root northeast of the frisbee: follow the root and inspect underneath it for the hidden Molar.
• Southwestern tunnel: this route requires the Red Ant Buggy, so it belongs on the same return loop as the Snackbar’s root-covered cave.

The tree-trunk mushroom Molar and the root northeast of the frisbee are the two checks most likely to be missed when moving through the entrance at ground level. Complete the open landmarks first, then use the Buggy to finish the southwest tunnel later.

Ceremony Area Milk Molar locations

The Ceremony Area is a smaller cluster centered on its large rock formation. Its Molars are close together, but the terrain encourages players to circle the rock at ground level and miss the less obvious ledges and grass-root spaces.

• South side of the large rock: search the full southern face before leaving the formation.
• Roots of dry grass near the big rock: check the ground where the dry grass meets the rock rather than searching only the open dirt.
• Elevated ledges around the rock formation: scan above the main route before considering the area complete.

Use the rock as the center of a full circle: south face first, dry-grass roots next, then any reachable ledges. That route prevents the usual backtrack caused by checking only the obvious side of the landmark.

Grass Games and Croquet Court Milk Molar locations

Grass Games and the nearby croquet-style terrain have Molars hidden around changes in elevation: ravines, brick edges, sprinkler stones, and the underside of a bridge rock. Treat the zone’s boundaries as part of the route rather than searching only the central play area.

• Ravine south of Grass Games: search the bricks in and around the ravine.
• Sprinkler between rocks: inspect the gaps around the sprinkler instead of only the open ground nearby.
• Garden sprinkler and stones: check the stone edges around the sprinkler landmark.
• Orange bridge rock on the southern side: look underneath the rock, where the Molar is hidden from the normal approach angle.

The ravine and orange bridge rock are the priority checks here. Both sit on terrain transitions that are easy to ignore while following the more open route through the area.

Picnic Table Milk Molar locations

The Picnic Table is one of the strongest Molar zones for a focused collection run, but it also has the most obvious return-trip traps: a locked briefcase, Toxic Anthill routes that look separate from the table area, and a collectible hidden inside a bottle.

• Southwest tunnel from the Picnic Table: enter the tunnel rather than searching only around the table legs and surrounding ground.
• Cooler bottle: search inside the bottle in the Picnic Fridge Cooler.
• North entrance of the Toxic Anthill: check the entrance area before moving deeper into the route.
• Toxic Anthill: North: search beside the bones inside the northern section.
• Briefcase on top of the Picnic Table: the Molar is inside the briefcase, so return after gaining the access needed to open it.
• Dirt cave west of the Picnic Table: follow the route near the old hot dog.
• Cup in the spiderweb-heavy area: search the cup carefully and prepare for nearby spider danger.

Run the table in two passes. The first pass covers the southwest tunnel, cooler, Toxic Anthill access points, and the western dirt cave. The second pass is for the briefcase and any spiderweb route that was too dangerous during the first visit.

Pine Hill Milk Molar locations

Pine Hill is a high-value late route because several Molars are close together, including a pair northwest of the Ranger Station. The tradeoff is enemy pressure: O.R.C. Weaver spiders and spider-den paths turn a simple pickup run into a combat-heavy expedition.

• Spider Den Anthill: North: find the Molar on a ledge inside the northern spider-den route.
• Cave behind O.R.C. Weaver spiders: the Molar is on the ground beyond the enemy group.
• Clove plants: inspect the dirt ground around the plants.
• Northwest of the Ranger Station: two Molars are protected by O.R.C. Weavers in this area.
• Spider-heavy area north of the Ranger Outpost: search the nearby cluster carefully; this is another route with two Molars close together.

Bring enough healing to finish the entire Pine Hill cluster in one sweep. Retreating after each hostile encounter wastes the advantage of the two-Molar groupings near the Ranger Station and Ranger Outpost landmarks.

Ice Cream Cart Milk Molar locations

The Ice Cream Cart route is gated by environmental damage rather than a key or Buggy. Chill Protection is the requirement that matters here; without it, the freezing caves become inefficient detours.

• Southern freezing cave: search the cave after preparing for the cold hazard.
• Back corner of the ice cream tub: check the deepest corner rather than stopping at the tub entrance.
• Cave under the cart: search beneath the Ice Cream Cart structure.
• Ice-cold cave outside the Ranger Outpost area: include this cave in the same Chill Protection run.

Do every Ice Cream Cart pickup during one protected route. The tub corner and the cave under the cart are quick checks once the cold hazard is handled, while the freezing-cave entries are the reason to prepare before travelling there.

Best Milk Molar collection order

1. Clear the accessible Snackbar platform, Hatchery Anthill, Red Soldier Ant cave, and styrofoam cup.
2. Collect the open Park Entrance, Ceremony Area, and Grass Games landmarks.
3. Return with the Red Ant Buggy for the Snackbar root cave and Park Entrance southwest tunnel.
4. Run the Picnic Table routes, leaving the locked briefcase and dangerous spiderweb path for a later pass if needed.
5. Clear Pine Hill once combat supplies are strong enough for O.R.C. Weaver and spider encounters.
6. Finish the Ice Cream Cart cluster after obtaining Chill Protection.

Keep Mega Milk Molars separate from this standard Milk Molar checklist when planning upgrades, and use each blocked landmark as a return marker instead of interrupting an otherwise efficient regional sweep.