Tears of the Kingdom – How to Find & Enter the Lost Woods

The Lost Woods and Korok Forest within them return in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but reaching either this time is an entirely different beast. The Upheaval that turned the world upside down hasn’t been kind to the Woods, and if you want to make it to the home of the Koroks and the Deku Tree, you’ll need to go out of your way. Also down. But mostly down.

Related: Tears of the Kingdom – All Korok Seed Locations

How to Get to the Lost Woods and Korok Forest in Tears of the Kingdom

The Lost Woods, located in the northern reaches of Central Hyrule, is much changed by the mummy’s awakening at the beginning of Tears of the Kingdom. Trying to enter The Lost Woods the traditional way — by taking the road from the east — will yield you no joy. To reach beyond the gate of the Woods, you need to go to the Depths. Yes, I hated it too.

In the Minshi Woods, just east of the Great Hyrule Forest, you’ll find Minshi Woods Chasm leading down into the Depths.

Once you land in the hell pit, head northwest, you’ll be hiking quite a ways, but you’ll eventually reach the Rikonasum Lightroot in Korok Grove.

Nearby the Lightroot, you should see a strangely well-lit manmade structure with a flat ceiling. If you’ve seen these before, you’ll know what to do: Ascend through the stone. The ascent will take a bit of time, as you’re going a long way up, but when you leave the green in-between space, you’ll be in Korok Forest.

It will quickly become clear something is very wrong. All the Koroks are silent and still, and the Great Deku Tree is corrupted by Gloom. You can only access the greater Lost Woods in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom after clearing the corruption. If you aren’t well-geared when you reach the Korok Forest, I strongly suggest you grab the Shrine here (and complete it, if you like) and return when you have better weapons, armor, and plenty of Gloom resistance. There are powerful evils here.

And that’s it! Check out our other The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom guides below to help with crafting, exploring, and tackling challenges across Hyrule.

Tears of the Kingdom Complete Guide | Every Ability & How To Unlock Them | How to Get The Paraglider | How to Get & Use The Travel Medallion | All Armor Locations & Where to Find Them | All Construct Materials & Where to Find Them | All Shrine Locations & Strategies | How to Get More Heart Containers