Video captured on a stock PS5.
If you'd like to visit the Iron Butte or Crater Lake regions long before the game usually allows such things, there is a way to do just that. With the use of a couple of non-obvious passages and a little bit of patience and practice, you can easily reach these areas. Watch me traverse the entire path from Lost Lake to the tip top of Wizard Island in just over 15 minutes. Follow along with my written notes for some important steps to watch out for.
0:19 Set your destination for the location indicated on the map. If you have not traveled to this area, you will still be able to make it out with the faint white outline.
2:40 Perform a quicksave here. The next process will undoubtedly require a bit of practice to successfully perform. Study the track that the bike takes and try to replicate this on your own.
2:57 We must now make it up these series of rocks. If necessary, experiment with a mixture of walking (pushing forward with no throttle applied) and punching the throttle. The key is to position yourself to be pointing the the correct position as seen at 3:03.
3:12 Congratulations! You are now in ripper territory! Definitely perform a quicksave here. This way, if you get into trouble ahead you won't have to repeat that same operation again. Incidentally, you are now free to explore ripper territory at your leisure, including the dam, the region beyond the dam (which is not reachable in the normal game), the ripper lodge, and the buildings in the ripper compound.
3:55 BTW, I am not coasting here. The game still has a bug where the sound of the bike engine disappears at times. It will be back shortly.
4:20 NOTE: If you turn left at this point, you'll find a NERO checkpoint. If you make your way into this NERO checkpoint and use the injector, you will now have a quick travel point that will allow you to move back and forth between here and any other pace you've visited in the game.
4:29 One of the steps beyond will inflict a fair amount of damage to the bike. I notice that I'm low on scrap, so I pick some up scrap here just to make sure that I don't get stranded.
5:54 Here's another point where you will want to do a quicksave. The next procedure requires some practice, and you may actually die or get stuck a few times before making it through. NOTE: You are not far from the ripper compound and the dam. You can do some exploring in this region and you'll be able to explore some areas that the game never lets you see.
6:25 Perform another quicksave here. What follows is not difficult, but there is a point where you are likely to fall through the world and die. Typically, I find that it takes 3-4 tries to get through.
6:30 Head in this general direction. Your path doesn;t have to match mine perfectly, but do turn towards the right when you see the steep incline in front of you.
7:02 This is a border in the map that will often make you fall down through the map. If you successfully make it through this point then keep going, even if you are thrown from the bike. If you do fall through, you won't have to do much to get back to this point, Since you did a quicksave at 6:25. Another quicksave wouldn't hurt either.
7:28 Swing left and hug the right side of this valley.
7:50 On the map you can see two semi-circular outcroppings. Here, position yourself so you can fly off the second outcropping.
8:12 Congratulations! You are now in the Crater Lake Region!
9:00 Diamond Lake encampment. They seem to know me. :) Here, you can get supplies for your bike, but not much else. Strangely enough, a few familiar faces are missing.
10:06 One interesting point about being in the Crater Lake region this early in the game is that you can bring up the map, but any up or down movement on the stick will force the map to snap up to the middle section. This makes it very difficult to set destination markers in this region. You will have to get around by memory and reference the map as needed.
11:35 Wizard Island encampment. Of course hey let us stroll right in!
12:01 I wonder what Sarah is up to...
14:15 Up to the top!
General notes:
I recorded this video during a New Game+ playthrough, but I intentionally downgraded my bike to show that all of this could be done with the starting bike. I have the lowest level engine, the lowest level tires, the lowest level frame, and the lowest level suspension. Some parts will be easier/more manageable with an upgraded bike. I do have the upgraded fuel tank in this video, but if you're starting out with the stock tank, there are several spots along the way to refuel if necessary.
While down here, you can clear camps, clear hordes, and open NERO checkpoints. This may prove difficult if your weapons are still on the low end, but as soon as you manage to reach trust level 2 with Wizard Island, you'll be able to purchase the Chicago Chopper (which will make hordes a breeze) and the .50 BFG sniper rifle (which will make clearing camps a breeze).