Summary
- TOTK has numerous hidden and hard-to-reach locations, requiring determination from players to access them.
- Some locations, like Mount Floria Cave and Cucco Hideaway, offer unique experiences and useful resources.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has an enormous map with a seemingly countless number of unique locations. Some of these locations hold a place of prominence in Hyrule and are easily accessible — some locations, however, are incredibly difficult to find and access. Whether due to their obscurity or the sheer difficulty in reaching them, TOTK has plenty of locations that only the most determined players will ever access.
TOTK's map, like the maps of its predecessors in the Legend of Zelda franchise, features hundreds of Easter eggs, hidden locations, and places that are easily missed. Although many of these secretive spaces are, for the most part, not hard to reach, some are incredibly difficult, tedious, or simply time-consuming to get to. Despite the immense challenge involved in locating some of the harder-to-reach locations, many of these places are well worth the trip.
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10 Mount Floria Cave
There are countless caves in TOTK, many of which are tied to side quests, and many more are simply interesting. Perhaps none are as interesting, entertaining, or remote as the Mount Floria Cave. Diving into a waterfall near Riola Spring will lead Link to the entrance of a well-hidden cave. Inside Mount Floria Cave are a number of enemies, but undeniably, the best part of the cave is the ability to construct a motorized vehicle to navigate the many tunnels and battle the many enemies.
9 Thunderhead Isles
Thunder is not normally an alluring meteorological phenomenon. However, the gigantic thunderclouds surrounding Faron may entice several players to attempt to reach the distant Thunderhead Isles. Due to the cataclysmic storm, getting to the Thunderhead Isles can prove to be an enormous pain as they are nearly impossible to navigate without specialized equipment. Without appropriate preparation, Link will be designed by the storm and will have a tough time avoiding the many enemies and cavernous, unexpected sheer drops that will abruptly cause Link to suffer a frustrating death that would otherwise be easily avoidable.
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8 Cucco Hideaway
Visiting Kakariko Village, it will quickly become apparent that there are a lot of Cuccos, an otherwise rare creature in Hyrule. Two of these rooster-esque animals seem to be particularly energetic as they constantly climb a nearby mountain. Following them will lead Link to a tiny cave entrance. Entering the cave, Link will be greeted by a swarm of Cuccos, their eggs, and other useful resources. Although the Cucco Hideaway can be tricky to find, doing so is part of a pretty easy TOTK side quest.
7 Akkala House Of Bones
Located in the ominous Skull Lake, the House of Bones is situated in the left eye socket, adjacent to the small island featuring the Skull Lake Cave. The House of Bones is, in fact, a deep cave teaming with enemies in the form of Stal creatures — including the TOTK miniboss named Stalnox. Although they are reasonably easy to defeat, especially if Link has a spare Dazzlefruit, getting to The House of Bones involves some impressive piloting and paragliding maneuvers.
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6 Eventide Island
Merely reaching the Eventide Island requires a degree of ingenuity, with Link having to construct creatively. This Island is located far off the coast of Hyrule, and consequently, the easiest way to reach its distant shore is to masterfully paraglide from the shrine on Cape Cales — a task made easier by an upgraded stamina wheel as well as a few elixirs of stamina. Alternative methods to reach the Eventide Island are even more perilous, including constructing a raft or building a Zonai device. Once Link reaches the small island, one of the best shrine quests in TOTK, "Stranded on Eventide," will initiate.
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5 Lon Lon Ranch
Lon Lon Ranch is an icon of The Legend of Zelda franchise, not to the same degree of locations as Hyrule, but it is still a familiar destination to long-running Zelda players. Much like the Lon Lon Ranch of BOTW, TOTK's iteration of Lon Lon Ranch is in a state of disrepair. Although it isn't necessarily too difficult to get to Lon Lon Ranch, it is easy to miss, and many will simply pass by, unaware that the desolate ruin they have just passed is an important location in the series.
4 Mekara Island
Returning from TOTK's predecessor, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mekara Island is a tiny and mostly uninhabited island — only home, during the day, to a single Electric Wizzrobe and a rather dead-looking tree. At night, however, Mekara Island is plagued by Gloom Hands and the occasional Phantom Ganon. Although Mekara is more worth the moderately difficult trip in BOTW, in TOTK, Mekara Island features a number of cool Easter eggs and a buried chest.
3 Mayaotaki And Tenbez Shrines
Though the Mayaotaki and Tenbez Shrines are among the hardest to complete in TOTK, what is perhaps even harder is simply getting to them. Doing so requires Link to navigate the treacherous and tedious North Lomei Labyrinth. Filled with obstacles, the North Lomei Labyrinth is almost comically difficult to traverse, and, what's more, it is fairly hard to survive. In spite of this mind-boggling maze, the Shrines it conceals are certainly worth the time and effort. They are, however, among the hardest of all the 152 Shrines in TOTK, highly entertaining.
2 The Satori Mountain Cave
Located atop the Satori Mountain is a mysterious cave. The cave is inhabited by a startling number of blupees, all of whom are rapidly navigating the labyrinthine layout of tunnels. Following the blupees through the Satori Mountain Cave will lead Link deeper and deeper through the tunnels and blupee burrows. At the heart of the Satori Mountain cave is an inauspicious mount of earth that could very easily be missed. In fact, this mound has been theorized to be a statue — perhaps a statue of a deer or the mysterious beast, the Lord of the Mountain.
1 Forgotten Foundation
Although it is a familiar location owing to its heavy feature at the start of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the Forgotten Foundation, once left, is an incredibly difficult area to get back to. Doing so involves Link enduring a number of the hardest to defeat enemies in the game as well as a significant amount of Gloom monsters. Situated deep in the Hyrule Castle Chasm, getting to the Forgotten Foundation is certainly not for the faint of heart.
