How to get through the Lost Woods in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
No listening for music required.
The Lost Woods in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom spits Link back out of the Great Hyrule Forest when he goes too far into the ominous purple mist surrounding it.
There's no use trying to get into the Great Hyrule Forest the traditional way, as to the best of our knowledge, there is no path that sees you safely past the Lost Woods. We even tried paragliding down into the centre of Korok Forest, but it didn't work.
This is an important area to get into if you want the Master Sword in particular, but thankfully there is a quick and easy method around the annoying purple mist, so we've detailed how to get through the Lost Woods in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom below.
If you would like to learn more about Link's adventure, visit our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom walkthrough.
How to get through the Lost Woods in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
As Link is mysteriously kicked out of the forest when he gets too far into the purple mist, you need to find another way to avoid the mist altogether to reach Korok Forest.
To get through the Lost Woods in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, you need to actually explore the chasm underneath the Lost Woods and make your way to Korok Grove below the middle of the Korok Forest, then use Ascend to pop out of the top.
To help you get to this exact location, we recommend placing a marker in the centre of the Korok Forest near map coordinates 0487, 2131, 0144 (where the Master Sword was located in Breath of the Wild), then jumping down the Minshi Woods Chasm near the Woodlands Stable and the Ekochiu Shrine. It's just up the road from a Great Fairy location too.
Deploy your glider at the end of the chasm jump so Link doesn't meet an untimely demise, then start walking towards the marker you placed at the centre of Korok Forest to get to Korok Grove below it, stopping off at any Lightroot locations on your way to dispel the darkness. Make sure to also use brightbloom seeds to light-up your path while walking, or you could bump into some nasty gloom areas and lose a lot of health.
Although not required, we also suggest picking up the blue Poes in Minshi Woods Chasm so you can trade them in for useful rewards like the Dark Tunic or bombs at Poe Bargainer Statues.
When you get closer to the marker you placed at Korok Grove, you should see two Lightroots in the distance. We recommend going to the Eknupup Lightroot on the right-hand side first to get to the Rikonasum Lightroot on the left-hand side easier, which is where Korok Grove is.
Watch out for Gloom Hands on this path though! It can take a lot of resources to take Gloom Hands on, so it's best to run towards the Eknupup Lightroot rather than fighting them.
After activating the Rikonasum Lightroot at Korok Grove, go to the stairs that lead to a stone platform with a ceiling above it nearby. Under this stone ceiling (0426, 2102,-0589), use Ascend and you will emerge in Korok Forest, finally finding a way through the Lost Woods in Tears of the Kingdom.
As soon as you arrive at Korok Forest, go and activate the nearby Musanokir Shrine, even if you don't want to complete it now. Activating it means you can fast travel back to the Musanokir Shrine if you want to quickly get through the Lost Woods again, should you leave the area.
You might notice all the Koroks here are eerily silent if you try to speak with them. This is because the Deku Tree is sick, and to make him feel better and return the Great Hyrule Forest back to its original state, you need to go down the chasm inside the Deku Tree and defeat Gloom Hands and a Phantom Ganon.
You'll get a quest that leads to the Master Sword after this, so it's worth doing. Hestu will also appear in Korok Forest again after you help the Deku Tree.
All the best exploring the rest of Hyrule in Tears of the Kingdom!