Key takeaways
- Lake Farm is a fast-travel dataterm, not the name of a Badlands district.
- The farmstead is generally identified as Poppy Farm, an abandoned farm later occupied by Wraiths.
- It is located in the Laguna Bend area, near the reservoir and its dam.
- Its most important story connection is the optional wrong-turn branch in The Hunt.
- Choosing Poppy Farm during that branch sends V and River to the wrong location, delaying the rescue at Edgewood Farm and potentially ending River’s questline.
- Lake Farm is also a convenient approach point for Judy Alvarez’s Pyramid Song, although the main dive takes place at the abandoned lakeside settlement and not at the farm itself.
About this guide
Scope note: In the game’s fast-travel network, Lake Farm is the name used for a dataterm beside the southeastern shore of Laguna Bend. The farmstead itself is commonly identified as Poppy Farm, while the nearby dam, lakeshore and submerged settlement form the wider Laguna Bend setting. These names should not be treated as interchangeable. Edgewood Farm, despite its similar appearance and importance in River Ward’s questline, is a separate location and is not part of Lake Farm.
Overview
Cyberpunk 2077, base game
Cyberpunk 2077, base game
Introduction
Lake Farm is one of the Badlands’ quieter corners: an abandoned agricultural property on the edge of the Laguna Bend reservoir, reached by a narrow road from the dam and surrounded by dry hills, scrub and broad views across the water. It is not a conventional settlement, commercial hub or quest centre. Most of its importance comes from its relationship with The Hunt, a River Ward side job, and from its position as a practical access point for the lakeside section of Pyramid Song.
The location is easy to misread. The fast-travel label says Lake Farm, the farm itself is generally referred to as Poppy Farm, and the wider geographical setting is Laguna Bend. The game does not present Lake Farm as a formal district with a long list of named streets, shops and subareas. It is better understood as a small landmark within the larger reservoir landscape.
Geography and boundaries
The wider setting: Laguna Bend
Laguna Bend is a reservoir in the southeastern Badlands, east of Night City’s urban districts. The landscape is defined by the lake, the dam and the drowned settlement beneath the water. The reservoir is not merely background scenery. It is the setting for Judy’s later side job, Pyramid Song, in which V and Judy explore the remains of the old town underwater.
The farm sits away from the main urban road network, on the dry land around the reservoir. Its surroundings are open and sparsely developed, with a mixture of dirt tracks, fenced agricultural land, rocky slopes and industrial infrastructure associated with the dam.
Lake Farm and Poppy Farm
The game’s fast-travel system labels the nearby dataterm Lake Farm. The actual abandoned farmstead is generally called Poppy Farm in reference material and quest documentation. The distinction matters because the player may encounter the place through different systems:
Poppy Farm is not the same place as Edgewood Farm. Both are rural properties used in the River Ward story, and both have similar environmental design, but they are separate locations with different quest functions.
Included areas
For this guide, “Lake Farm” includes the following connected spaces:
Named directory: locations and landmarks
Separate neighbouring location
The names above are deliberately separated because the game’s labels and quest presentation can make the farms appear to belong to one continuous site. They do not.
Access and routes
Reaching Lake Farm
Lake Farm is reached from the Badlands road network. The most reliable approach is to travel towards the Laguna Bend dam and follow the road around the reservoir. Once discovered, the Lake Farm dataterm provides a convenient fast-travel destination.
As with other dataterms, it must first be discovered before it can be used for fast travel. Fast-travel guides list Lake Farm among the Badlands travel points, alongside the dam and other rural locations.
Suggested exploration route
For a first visit, the following route gives the clearest picture of the area:
The farm and dam are close enough to make a combined sightseeing trip practical, but the submerged settlement is best experienced during the side job, when the game provides the necessary objective and context.
Suggested exploration route
- 01Arrive at Lake Farm and activate the dataterm if it is not already available.
- 02Walk around the outside of the farm compound before entering. This gives you a sense of its isolated position and lets you identify the approach road.
- 03Search the farm buildings and yard for environmental details, shards and loot.
- 04Leave by the lakeside road rather than immediately fast-travelling.
- 05Continue towards the dam and inspect the reservoir shoreline.
- 06Return to the lakeside access point later during Pyramid Song if Judy’s questline is active.
Residents, visitors and factions
Permanent residents
There is no verified permanent civilian population at Lake Farm in the base game. The farm is abandoned rather than functioning as an active agricultural community.
Wraiths
The farm is associated with the Wraiths, the Badlands gang that occupies or patrols remote properties. Their presence is especially important in the wrong-farm branch of The Hunt, where V and River arrive at Poppy Farm and encounter hostile Wraiths.
The Wraiths are not presented as ordinary residents or legitimate farm workers. Treat the compound as a hostile encounter site when it is activated by the quest.
Named characters
The principal named characters connected with Lake Farm are visitors rather than residents:
River Ward and Judy Alvarez belong to different questlines. Their appearances should not be treated as one continuous event.
Businesses, services and facilities
Lake Farm has no verified functional commercial services. The following categories have not been confirmed as operating at the location:
The name “farm” describes the environment and former use of the property. It does not establish that crops, livestock or agricultural services are active in 2077.
The only clearly documented travel facility is the Lake Farm fast-travel dataterm.
The Hunt
The Hunt is the location’s defining story connection. It is a River Ward side job concerning the search for River’s nephew, Randy. During the braindance investigation, V and River narrow down the possible farm locations. If the necessary clues are found, the game leads the player to the correct destination, Edgewood Farm. If insufficient evidence is gathered, the player may be offered a choice between Edgewood Farm and Poppy Farm.
Poppy Farm is the wrong choice.
If V selects Poppy Farm, River and V travel there, fight Wraiths and discover that the site is unrelated to Randy’s disappearance. They then continue to Edgewood Farm, but the delay changes the outcome of the investigation. Guide sources consistently warn that choosing the wrong farm can prevent the favourable continuation of River’s questline.
Spoiler warning: The Hunt
The consequences are not merely cosmetic. Arriving at the wrong farm can lead to Randy’s death and can lock out later River content, including the follow-up side job Following the River.
What happens at Poppy Farm
The Poppy Farm branch is a short diversion rather than a full independent mission. The main features are:
This is a story-state encounter, not a permanent public event. Its availability depends on the choices and investigation results in The Hunt.
Spoiler warning: The Hunt: The safest procedure isSpoilers
- 01During the braindance sequences, scan all relevant clues rather than rushing through them.
- 02Allow River’s investigation to identify the destination automatically where possible.
- 03If the game gives you a direct choice, select Edgewood Farm.
- 04Keep a manual save before making the choice if you want to observe the Poppy Farm branch without permanently risking the questline.
- 05If you deliberately visit Poppy Farm, expect a hostile Wraith encounter and a delayed arrival at the real destination.
Pyramid Song
Lake Farm is also useful as a travel point for Pyramid Song, Judy Alvarez’s lakeside side job. The job becomes available later in Judy’s questline after the relevant preceding events. V travels to the Laguna Bend dam area, meets Judy and joins her for a dive into the submerged remains of the old settlement. A guide for the mission specifically identifies the Lake Farm fast-travel terminal as a practical way to get close to the meeting point.
The farm is therefore an approach point, not the central location of the mission. The important activity takes place around the lake and underwater ruins.
Pyramid Song checklist
The wider lore of Laguna Bend is explained through Judy’s dialogue and readable material connected with the drowned town. One external analysis of the game’s text identifies a news report describing the town’s decline after corporate acquisition and the construction of the reservoir.
Combat, enemies and hazards
Wraith encounter
The only firmly documented major combat presence at Lake Farm is the Wraith group encountered during the wrong-farm branch of The Hunt. Their exact composition, equipment and loot can vary with difficulty and game version, so it is better not to treat a particular enemy roster or weapon drop as fixed.
General hazards
Outside the quest encounter, the main risks are environmental and navigational:
There is no reliable evidence that Lake Farm contains a unique boss, cyberpsycho, NCPD scanner event or dedicated gig in the base game.
Items and collectibles
The farm can contain ordinary open-world loot and quest-related reading material, but no verified dedicated collectible set has been established for Lake Farm. Item placements may differ with quest state, level scaling and updates.
Do not assume that every object at the farm is a collectible. Distinguish between:
No unique iconic weapon, permanent cyberware reward or guaranteed named item is reliably documented as belonging to Lake Farm itself. The important rewards associated with the location are primarily indirect, through successful progression of River’s questline.
Progression states
Lake Farm changes mainly through quest context rather than through a large permanent world-state system.
A particularly important point is that the player does not need to visit Lake Farm before The Hunt for the game to identify the correct farm. Careful braindance investigation is the intended solution. If a save produces the farm-choice prompt, select Edgewood Farm unless deliberately testing the failure branch.
Progression states
| State | What the player sees | Importance |
|---|---|---|
| Before The Hunt | Abandoned farm environment, possible open-world loot | Exploration only |
| During The Hunt, correct route | Usually bypassed as the wrong location | Edgewood Farm remains the target |
| During The Hunt, wrong choice | Wraith encounter at Poppy Farm | Delays the rescue and may damage River’s questline |
| After The Hunt | Open-world farm area remains available | No major confirmed new service |
| During Pyramid Song | Lake Farm functions as a nearby travel point | Used to reach the dam and lakeside meeting area |
Lore and atmosphere
Lake Farm is a small example of the Badlands’ broader environmental story. The city’s outskirts are not empty wilderness. They are a mixture of abandoned infrastructure, former agricultural properties, corporate projects and communities displaced by economic or environmental change.
The farm’s isolation contrasts with the reservoir’s industrial scale. The dam represents the corporate reshaping of the landscape, while the abandoned farm suggests the people and older uses pushed aside by that development. Pyramid Song expands this idea through the drowned settlement beneath Laguna Bend, turning the reservoir into a reminder of Night City’s habit of burying inconvenient history rather than preserving it.
The farm’s association with the Wraiths adds another layer. In the Badlands, abandoned properties do not remain neutral for long. Once civilian ownership disappears, gangs, scavengers and opportunists can turn an agricultural site into a hideout or temporary base.
Real-world inspiration
The game’s wider geography draws on southern Californian landscapes, including dry coastal hills, reservoirs and isolated agricultural properties. Laguna Bend’s name and setting have been compared by fans and commentators with real lakes and reservoirs in the San Luis Obispo region, but that comparison should be treated as inspiration rather than a confirmed one-to-one model.
The in-game farm should remain separate from any real-world location. No verified official source establishes a precise real-world building or coordinate as the direct model for Poppy Farm.
Sources
- All Cyberpunk 2077 Fast Travel locations and how to unlock them — destructoid.com
- The Hunt | Cyberpunk Wiki | Fandom — cyberpunk.fandom.com
- Pyramid Song - Santo Domingo - Side Jobs | Cyberpunk 2077 | Gamer Guides® — gamerguides.com
- Uppsala universitet — diva-portal.org