Hardwood is one of the most important resources you’ll gather in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, as you’ll use it to craft everything from new tools to furniture for your home. Before you can start gathering hardwood or any other type of wood in this Nintendo Switch game, however, you’ll need to craft a trusty axe.
How to Find Hardwood, Softwood, and Axe – Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Very early in New Horizons, Tom Nook gives you a DIY recipe for a wimpy axe. You’ll need one stone and five branches to craft it, but these items are easy to find. Stones can be found quickly by hitting one of the large rocks scattered around your island with a shovel, while branches will fall from trees if you shake them.
Once you've gathered your materials and assembled your weak axe on a workbench, you can start chopping wood.
Hardwood is the darkest type of wood and is best obtained by cutting down trees. Although hardwood trees such as cedar and oak are slightly more likely to drop hardwood, it can be obtained from regular trees, fruit trees, and even palm trees. The only type that does not drop hardwood is bamboo plants.