Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom: How To Get To Korok Forest, Lost Woods

One of our favourite locations in the Zelda series is the Lost Woods — even just thinking about it and humming the music gets us all nostalgic. So of course Tears of the Kingdom brings back this iconic location following its importance in Breath of the Wild.

However, if you try to go to the Lost Woods, and Korok Forest, early on, you'll find that you can't make it inside. It seems like the Upheaval has caused some trouble in the woods, and there's only one person who can resolve things.

Small warning — you can do this quest at any point, but we did it quite late on in the game, meaning there may be some late-game spoilers in the screenshots.

Here's how to access Korok Forest and the Lost Woods in Tears of the Kingdom.

Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom: How To Get To Korok Forest, Lost Woods

Where is Korok Forest?

Korok Forest is in the very centre of the Lost Woods, which is in the same place as it was in Breath of the Wild — north of Hyrule Field, west of Eldin Canyon and Death Mountain, and east of Hebra Mountains and Tabantha Tundra.

The nearest Skyview Tower is the Thyphlo Ruins Skyview Tower, which is located north of it. The forest is very easy to spot from the map as it's just a huge dense field of trees, and from the sky, you'll notice that it's covered in a thick fog.

How to get to Korok Forest

If you try and enter Lost Woods from above, you'll be spat back out. And if you try to enter from the front, you'll be warned that you can't access Korok Forest. So how do you get inside? Well, you'll have to go from underneath.

Head to Woodland Stable which is just west of Eldin Canyon Skyview Tower. This is also right next to Pico Pond where you can start the Bubbul Gem quest line off.

Head north up the path past the Military Training Camp and the Great Fairy Tera and you'll eventually be in the Minshi Woods. Instead of going all the way to the end of the path — which is where the normal entrance to the woods is — you'll spot a huge chasm to the right of the path (coordinates 1038, 1662, 0158). This is Minshi Woods Chasm. Drop down it to reach the Depths.

You'll land in Minshi Grove. You want to head northwest — there are lights and Koroks guiding the way, and if you talk to them, you'll find out that they're trying to get home.

Follow the path until you reach some giant tree roots. Climb those and you should reach a huge stone pillar and Rikonasum Lightroot. Activate the root, stand under the pillar, and use Ascend. You should appear in Korok Forest.

How to save Korok Forest and heal The Deku Tree

Things don't look like you remember them in Korok Forest. None of the Korok will speak to you, and it looks very dark. To your left, activate Musanokir Shrine and then head up the branches to talk to The Deku Tree.

The Deku Tree says that he's not feeling well, and the gloom is the cause of it. If you drop down after speaking to The Deku Tree, you can walk inside to the area where all of the shops are. Except you can't buy anything yet. Head to the back of the room to find the Deku Tree Chasm. Drop down and you'll see lots of gloom, including some Gloom Hands, which you must defeat.

How to defeat the Scourge of the Deku Tree

You've probably encountered Gloom Hands before — they're pretty terrifying, after all. But if you haven't fought them before, then you're going to have to take a deep breath and dive right into this encounter. make sure you have some gloom-healing and gloom-resistant food — so cook with Sundelions or Dark Clumps. You can find out how to heal and resist gloom in our guide.

To defeat the hands you need to take all five of them out. Wait too long and the hands will respawn, so whittling them down all at once is the best way to handle them. Anything that causes wide area damage — bombs, fire arrows, electric arrows, ice arrows — are essential for taking these things down.

You also want to try and stay away from them or above them. The latter is pretty hard to do in this enclosed arena, so just do your best. We've got an in-depth Gloom Hands guide if you're struggling to take this one down.

After you've defeated all five Gloom Hands, you've got something else to deal with — Phantom Ganon. This encounter is very similar to the Hyrule Castle boss if you've already done that, but if not, equip your best weapons, use Shield Parry and Flurry Rush where possible, and just bide your time.

Once you defeat them, the gloom will go away and Korok Forest will be restored. You'll now be able to talk to all of the Koroks and The Deku Tree for quests, rewards, and some shopping. Oh, and Hestu is now here, so you can warp to the Forest whenever you need to spend those lovely Korok Seeds.

How to complete the Trail of the Master Sword

If you talk to The Deku Tree, he'll mention the legendary weapon, the Master Sword. This is where you got the sword originally in Breath of the Wild, but it's not here in Tears of the Kingdom. In fact, you might already have it.

If you don't have the sword, then The Deku Tree will mark its location on the map for you, making this task incredibly easy. Check out our guide on how to get the Master Sword for more details on how prepared you need to be. Once you have the sword, bring it back to The Deku Tree to complete the quest.

If you already have the sword, then The Deku Tree will acknowledge its presence and you'll complete the quest just like that. You'll also get a Memory when you show him the sword.

With Korok Forest now accessible, you'll be able to spend all of your Rupees on ingredients, undertake a handful of sidequests, and conquer a few Shrines. If the sight of Koroks is a bit much for you, however, head on over to our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom walkthrough for all sorts of hints, tips, and guides.