TotK Korok Forest: Getting Past the Fog and Saving the Deku Tree

Korok Forest sits in the middle of the Great Hyrule Forest, home of the Great Deku Tree and the Koroks. In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom the Lost Woods around it are sealed by fog, and the Great Deku Tree himself is sick with Gloom. This page covers the way in from the Depths, how to cure the Great Deku Tree, and the shrines and quests the forest opens up afterwards. The torch-and-wind route from the first game is on BotW Master Sword; it does not work here.

Why can’t you get into Korok Forest?

The Lost Woods (Show on map) are full of fog. Peeks, a Korok stranded outside, puts it this way: “No matter which way I enter the Lost Woods, the fog comes and gets me, and then I’m right back at the beginning… It’s covering the entire woods, so there’s no way to go without the fog getting me…”

Gliding down from the sky ends the same way: touch the fog and you are put back. There is only one way in: from the Depths. Peeks goes on, “I did hear that a big hole opened up in Minshi Woods.” That hole is the entrance.

How do you get into Korok Forest from the Depths?

1. Jump into Minshi Woods Chasm. It is beside the road from Woodland Stable to the Lost Woods (Show on map). The Korok Tasho stands next to it and tells you his friends “jumped into this weird hole”. Ekochiu Shrine nearby is the closest fast-travel point.
2. Pin the forest first. Before you jump, put a pin in the middle of Korok Forest on the surface map and follow it northwest once you are underground. The Depths are pitch dark, so throw Brightbloom Seeds as you go and keep off the Gloom on the ground.
3. Follow the Poes and the Koroks. A line of Poes marks the way north, and a few lost Koroks point you on: “Korok Forest is in that direction!” When you see fog overhead, one of them says, “That’s definitely the lost fog that hides Korok Forest! I just know the forest is up above the fog.”
4. Skip the Gloom Spawn. Near the end, Gloom Spawn reach out of a Gloom pool. Beating them only brings out a Phantom Ganon, so it is easier to run past.
5. Ascend at the Rikonasum Lightroot. The area under Korok Forest is Korok Grove. Next to the Rikonasum Lightroot (Show on map) is a stone platform with a pillar hanging from the ceiling. Stand on it and use Ascend; you come out right in front of the Great Deku Tree.

Once you are up, activate Musanokir Shrine right there. From then on you can warp in and out instead of walking the Depths.

Video walkthrough

How to Enter Korok Forest / Lost Woods - - Full Narrated Walkthrough - Tears of the Kingdom — YouTube

What do you do while the Great Deku Tree is covered in Gloom?

When you first arrive, purple haze hangs over the forest, the Koroks ignore you and the shops are shut. All the Great Deku Tree manages is “Ngh… Hmph… My stomach is not well…” Later the Korok Chio remembers: “The Great Deku Tree was in agony, and ominous fog came out of his mouth… And THEN! A bunch of us Koroks started acting funny.”

The trouble is inside the Great Deku Tree:

1. Prepare. Cook a few Sundelion dishes to restore hearts lost to Gloom, bring plenty of Bomb Flowers to fuse onto arrows, and carry good weapons and a shield.
2. Go inside the tree. Walk from Musanokir Shrine to the Great Deku Tree’s roots, enter the hollow and go to the back. The big hole there is the Deku Tree Chasm (Show on map); the room it opened in used to be the Spore Store.
3. Beat the Gloom Spawn. When you land, Gloom spreads across the floor and a group of Gloom Spawn reach up. Stay near the edge and fire bomb arrows into the thickest cluster. A hand you defeat on its own grows back, so the whole group has to go down at almost the same time. More on Gloom Spawn.
4. Beat Phantom Ganon. Once the Gloom Spawn are gone, Phantom Ganon appears with the title “Scourge of the Deku Tree”. Dodge as its sword comes down and follow up with a Flurry Rush, and stay out of the Gloom around it. Tactics and drops are on Phantom Ganon.

When Phantom Ganon falls the Gloom clears and Koroks come to thank you: “You did it! Thank you so much, Mr. Hero! The Great Deku Tree is waiting for you in Korok Forest!” Warp to Musanokir Shrine to get back to the surface.

What changes once the Great Deku Tree is cured?

• Talk to the Great Deku Tree. Peeks tells you how: “Just head up this root. And then you can talk to the Great Deku Tree from the stump up there!” Afterwards the Great Deku Tree senses that the Master Sword is moving and marks it on your map, which starts the main quest Recovering the Hero’s Sword. See Master Sword.
• Hestu moves in. He stays in Korok Forest for good, near the shrine, and trades inventory slots for Korok Seeds; see inventory expansion.
• The shops and inn open. Inside the Great Deku Tree are the General Shoppe, the Spore Store and the inn, the Great Deku Tree’s Navel (free to stay), plus a Goddess Statue. The General Shoppe sells Brightbloom Seeds.
• The Lost Woods return to normal. Tasho says, “Since the Lost Woods returned to normal, I was able to make it back!” Warping to Musanokir Shrine is still the quickest way in and out.

In the main story, Mineru sends you to the Great Deku Tree with Trail of the Master Sword after the Spirit Temple, but you can come here before you get that quest. See main quest order.

Which shrines are in Korok Forest?

Which quests are in Korok Forest?

After the Great Deku Tree is cured, Chio asks you a favour: “Some of the Koroks could use your help.” He adds, “Follow the lights in the forest…” The lights lead to the Koroks who need you.

Further reading

• The Secret Room: help Oaki decorate his hideout in the Great Deku Tree’s mouth.
• Shrine quests and side quests: the full lists for every region.
• Gloom Spawn and Phantom Ganon: the two fights in the chasm in detail.