Ocarina of Time Lost Woods: Route, Upgrades and Hearts

Take the wrong doorway in the Lost Woods and nothing bad happens. The game just puts you back at the edge of Kokiri Forest and lets you climb up and try again. Zelda Wiki puts the design neatly: the goal here is to stay inside the woods, not to escape them. Getting lost costs you nothing but the walk back. Getting through takes seven right calls in a row.

This guide covers the route, then how to find it without the route, then everything it walks past. That means two Pieces of Heart, five capacity upgrades, four Gold Skulltulas, three grottos in the Sacred Forest Meadow and two shortcuts out to other regions.

The route to the Sacred Forest Meadow

The entrance is a hole in the cliff wall above Kokiri Forest. Thonky's walkthrough gets you there by climbing the ledge behind Mido's House, then the vines, then the slope up to the hole in the wall.

From that entrance, the route to the Sacred Forest Meadow is right, left, right, left, straight, left, right. Thonky's walkthrough and StrategyWiki give the same seven turns.

Everything else in the woods branches off the same few clearings. Here is how many turns each one takes from the entrance:

The turn counts and most of the landmarks come from Thonky's walkthrough, upgrades and soft soil pages. Zelda Wiki's Skull Kid and Play-Along pages confirm what sits in the clearings left and right of the entrance.

Finding the way by ear

The list is quicker, but the game gives you a better tool. Saria's Song is the background music of the Lost Woods, per Zelda Wiki. Stand at each doorway and listen. Thonky's advice is that the music gets louder when you are next to the right one.

There are two other tells.

• The light in the log. Zelda Wiki says a hollow log with light growing in its centre, like a tunnel out, leads back to Kokiri Forest. A log that is a flat wall of black leads deeper into the woods. Thonky adds that this works on N64 but not in Ocarina of Time 3D.
• The owl. Kaepora Gaebora perches in the woods and, per StrategyWiki, tells you to follow the music. The decompiled game code only spawns this owl once you have Zelda's Lullaby. Before that, the woods have no owl.

My advice is to learn the music, not the list. Lose count once and the list is no help, while the music works from whichever clearing you are standing in. And in the 3DS Master Quest, Zelda Wiki says the entire Hyrule map is mirrored. I would expect every left and right in that list to swap there. The music works the same either way.

The main rewards, in one table

The OoT Randomizer's location list is a handy census of what the area holds. These are all the Pieces of Heart, upgrades, songs and Gold Skulltulas it lists in the Lost Woods and the Sacred Forest Meadow.

The bridge out of Kokiri Forest is part of the same area. Zelda Wiki's Saria page has her give you the Fairy Ocarina at the forest's exit, and the randomizer files that gift on this bridge. The adult trading quest also passes through: the Odd Mushroom and the Poacher's Saw both change hands by the Skull Kid's stump. Our Biggoron's Sword guide covers that chain.

The target and the Skull Kid jam session

Take the first right from the entrance. You will find a round wooden target hanging from a tree, which StrategyWiki calls a cymbal and Thonky calls a drum.

Hit the centre with the Slingshot three times in a row and a Deku Scrub pops out of the tree to pay you. The decompiled code adds three details:

• The bullseye counts only within 8 units of the target's centre, on a target face 48 units wide. That is a circle a third of the target's width.
• A seed that hits the outer part of the target resets your count to zero. A seed that misses the target completely does not. So a wild miss costs you nothing, but a near miss does.
• The counter only runs for child Link, and only until you have won the prize once.

The prize is a Bullet Bag upgrade, and which bag you get depends on order. The code gives the 40-seed bag if this is your first Bullet Bag upgrade, and the 50-seed bag if you already won the one from the Market's Shooting Gallery. Zelda Wiki's Bullet Bag page says the same. Zelda Wiki's own minigame page calls this prize the Biggest Bullet Bag, and StrategyWiki and Thonky's walkthrough text also call it the biggest bag. That is only true if you did the Shooting Gallery first.

Drop down from the target ledge and you reach the stump where two Skull Kids hold an ocarina session. Zelda Wiki files it under Play-Along, the name the 3DS Prima guide uses.

One Skull Kid plays a phrase, the other repeats it, then it is your turn. Each time you get it right, the phrase grows by a note. Per Zelda Wiki:

The tunes are random. One wrong note restarts the round with a new tune, so you are reacting to each new note rather than memorising a song.

The other Skull Kid Piece of Heart is one clearing left of the entrance. Learn Saria's Song first, stand on the stump across from him and play it. Our mask trading guide explains why you want to befriend him early anyway: he is the buyer for the Skull Mask.

Sticks and nuts: two scrubs and a stage

All four of the game's Deku Stick and Deku Nut capacity upgrades are in these woods; the randomizer's location list has no other source for them. Thonky and Zelda Wiki's Deku Stick page both describe a fixed first and second upgrade, but they are not fixed tiers. In the decompiled code, both the Business Scrubs and the Forest Stage check what you already carry and hand out the next step. It does not matter which you visit first.

The capacities come from the game's own upgrade table, and the 40-Rupee prices from the scrub's price list.

• The stick scrub. From the entrance, go left, then left again to the clearing that looks out over the bridge. StrategyWiki has you climb down the ladder and cross to the far side. Business Scrubs will not sell until you beat them. Bounce one of his Deku Nuts back with your shield, throw a Deku Nut at him, or hit him with the Slingshot, and he surrenders and offers the upgrade.
• The nut scrub. This one is in a grotto under a boulder near the Sacred Forest Meadow. Thonky places it at the start of the meadow. The randomizer's map data files it under the Lost Woods, past the spot where adult Mido stands. Bomb the boulder and drop in. Zelda Wiki puts two Business Scrubs in that grotto, and one of them sells the upgrade.
• The Forest Stage. Go right, left, right, left, left and look for butterflies over a patch of ground under a single tree. The hole is there. The Skull Mask gets you the stick upgrade and the Mask of Truth gets you the nut upgrade. On every version before Ocarina of Time 3D, taking the Poacher's Saw permanently blocks the nut upgrade. Our mask trading guide covers that bug, and why the Spooky Mask is not the "nuts to the face" mask that Zelda Wiki's Forest Stage table makes it. The decompiled stage code agrees with our guide: every mask other than those two gets a random reaction.

The two Business Scrubs standing in the Forest Stage clearing are plain shops. The game's price list has them at 15 Rupees for a Deku Stick and 20 for five Deku Nuts. Zelda Wiki's prices for the same items in ordinary shops are 10 and 15, so these two are only for emergencies.

The Sacred Forest Meadow as a child

You can walk into the meadow from the very start of the game. Zelda Wiki calls the idea that you need Zelda's Letter first "blatantly false". But Saria is only waiting at the top once you have met Princess Zelda, so going earlier gets you the fights and nothing else.

1. The Wolfos at the gate. Walk up to the bars and a Wolfos appears. Beat it and the bars drop. Zelda Wiki's tactic is to back off as it swings, so the claws miss, then hit it as it turns away; a Deku Nut also stuns it. Once it is dead it stays dead.
2. The Mad Scrubs. Zelda Wiki's 3DS count is six in the meadow. They fire three nuts in a row, and your Deku Shield sends them straight back.
3. The path through. Thonky's route goes right from the gate, through a patch of tall grass that runs straight through a wall, right again, then a swim to a ledge. From there, turn right up the stairs, past two more Mad Scrubs. Saria is sitting on a stump at the top.

She teaches you Saria's Song, which our songs guide covers note by note. That song also pays out the Skull Kid's Piece of Heart and gets Darunia to hand over the Goron's Bracelet.

Before you leave, StrategyWiki points out a ladder on the way back that takes you up on top of the maze. A hole in the middle of it drops into a Fairy Fountain, which is worth it if you have an empty bottle. To get home fast, Thonky's tip is to save and reset, which puts child Link back in his house.

The meadow has two more grottos. Zelda Wiki records one by the entrance with two Wolfos and a chest that holds a Purple Rupee once both are dead; it needs explosives to open. The other is near the Gossip Stone beside the Forest Temple steps and holds two Business Scrubs. You open it with the Song of Storms.

The meadow as an adult

Seven years later, the woods are less friendly.

• Skull Kids attack adults. Zelda Wiki says they shoot needles from their flutes, and Navi explains that they do not like grown-ups.
• Mido blocks the way. Per Thonky, he stands in the clearing you reach after right, left, right, in front of the next doorway. He does not recognise you. Play Saria's Song and he steps aside. Our Forest Temple guide covers the rest of what you need to get in, including the Hookshot.

The Mad Scrubs in the maze have been replaced by Moblins. Zelda Wiki's 3DS count is five, plus one Club Moblin. Zelda Wiki says these are the only Moblins in the original game. Master Quest adds one more Club Moblin, in its Spirit Temple. The spear Moblins patrol the corridors and charge as soon as they see you. Neither kind can be Z-targeted.

• The patrols. Thonky's method is to stop at each corner, look down the next corridor, and Hookshot any Moblin before you walk in. Zelda Wiki says the Hookshot or arrows kill them, or you can sneak past.
• The Pierre shortcut. If you have the Scarecrow's Song set up, Thonky's route has a faster option. At the maze entrance, Navi flies to a ledge and turns green. Play the Scarecrow's Song and Hookshot up to Pierre, and you avoid the Moblins below.
• The Club Moblin. It guards the stairs and slams its club to send shockwaves down the path. Zelda Wiki says it cannot turn around, so get behind it and slash. Thonky has you zigzag down the path to dodge the shockwaves. If you have the Fairy Bow or Bombchus, you can hit it from range instead. It drops a Red Rupee or three Blue Rupees.

At the top, Sheik teaches the Minuet of Forest, the warp back to this meadow.

Gold Skulltulas and Magic Beans

There are four Gold Skulltulas here, and you need both ages to collect them all.

Locations and requirements come from Thonky's Gold Skulltula and soft soil lists, Zelda Wiki and the randomizer's logic files. For the meadow token, Thonky climbs the ladder by the stairs at the end of the maze, or uses Pierre, then jumps to the platform where the Skulltula hangs.

Both soil patches are worth a bean. Zelda Wiki's Magic Bean table says the bridge-overlook plant carries adult Link to the bridge itself, and the Forest Stage clearing plant reaches the Gold Skulltula ledge. Soft soil only exists in the child era, so plant the beans as a child. Zelda Wiki says beans start at 10 Rupees from the Bean Seller at Zora's River and go up by 10 with each purchase. The rest of the hunt is in our Gold Skulltulas guide.

The shortcuts out

Zelda Wiki says two portals in the woods lead to other regions. The map above marks both exits.

• Goron City. Per Thonky, once you have the Goron's Bracelet, a bomb flower at the end of a tunnel on Goron City's second floor blows open the boulders. Zelda Wiki confirms that the Goron City end is blocked by rocks you have to bomb. After that, the tunnel connects Goron City to the Lost Woods.
• Zora's River. This one is an underwater passage between a pond in the woods and a pool by the waterfall at Zora's River. The sources disagree on how deep you need to dive. Thonky's shortcut page says you need the Golden Scale. The randomizer's logic accepts the Silver Scale or the Iron Boots, in either direction. I would try it with the Silver Scale before going fishing.

Version differences

• N64 vs 3DS. Thonky says the light-in-the-log tell does not work in Ocarina of Time 3D, so use the music on 3DS. The Poacher's Saw bug that blocks the Forest Stage nut upgrade is fixed in 3DS, per Zelda Wiki. Skull Kids' faces changed from plain black on N64 to a wooden look on 3DS.
• The jam session's masks. Zelda Wiki notes that on N64, the two Skull Kids at the session wear Skull Masks once you have sold one to their friend. They do not on 3DS.
• Master Quest. Zelda Wiki describes Master Quest's changes as dungeon changes, and the woods are not a dungeon. On 3DS, though, Master Quest mirrors the whole map, so expect the turns to flip.
• The Switch 2 remake. Everything above describes the N64 and 3DS game. None of it has been checked against the Switch 2 remake, which comes out on November 5, 2026. Until then, treat the turns and positions here as N64 and 3DS facts.

Quick Action Checklist

• The route to the Sacred Forest Meadow is right, left, right, left, straight, left, right from the entrance on the cliff above Kokiri Forest.
• Lost? Follow Saria's Song: the right doorway is louder. On N64, a log with light inside it leads back out.
• First clearing on the right: hit three bullseyes with the Slingshot for a Bullet Bag. A clean miss does not reset your count; the outer part of the target does.
• Below the target, win the Skull Kids' third ocarina round for a Piece of Heart.
• Left, left: pay the Business Scrub 40 Rupees for a Deku Stick upgrade, after you make him surrender.
• Bomb the boulder near the meadow and pay that scrub 40 Rupees for a Deku Nut upgrade.
• Wear the Skull Mask and the Mask of Truth at the Forest Stage (right, left, right, left, left, then the butterflies). On every release before the 3DS version, do the Mask of Truth before you take the Poacher's Saw.
• Meet Zelda first, then go and see Saria for Saria's Song. Play it from the stump across from the Skull Kid, left of the entrance, for a second Piece of Heart.
• Drop bugs on both soil patches as a child, and plant Magic Beans there for the adult Gold Skulltula.
• As an adult, play Saria's Song for Mido, Hookshot the Moblins and get behind the Club Moblin.
• Come back at night as an adult for the meadow maze's Gold Skulltula.