Zora’s River

The next area that you need to travel to is the Zora’s River. Navi will recommend that you talk to Saria using Saria’s Song and she will suggest that you find the Spiritual Stone of Water, the Zora Zapphire which is held by King Zora, ruler of Zora’s Domain. That is the next destination, however there are quite a few side quests that you could and should take care of before heading to Zora’s River.

Death Mountain

After Darunia gives Link the Goron Ruby, the cutscene that follows automatically points Link towards the top of Death Mountain towards the Great Fairy’s Fountain. There is also a Heart Piece that you can obtain up here. Check out the following side quest pages for more information:

Darunia telling Link to go visit the Great Fairy at the top of Death Mountain
Launching a Bomb at the boulders that block the pathway

Head into the Death Mountain Crater (if you traveled up to the Great Fairy’s Fountain), which is the walkway to the left of the owl. You can’t stay inside the Crater for long, but quickly bust open the crate in this pathway and kill the Gold Skulltula inside (number 22 of 100).

Traveling up Death Mountain past the falling rocks from eruptions
The Gold Skulltula token inside the Death Mountain Crater

Speak to the owl at the top of Death Mountain (if you went to the Great Fairy’s Fountain) for a free ride back down to Kakariko Village. You can obtain another Heart Piece by accepting his ride:

The Owl asking if Link wants a ride back down Death Mountain
Standing on one of the roofs of Kakariko Village

Return to the Death Mountain Trail. On the right side of the screen is a wall which you can now destroy with your Bombs Use a Bomb on the wall and then kill the Gold Skulltula on the wall. This token appears to be fairly high up but the cliff wall is actually climbable (number 23 of 100).

Gold Skulltula behind a Bomb-able wall along the Death Mountain Trail

Head back to Goron City. There is a rock wall on the left side of the top floor that you can use your Bombs on to get past. You will need to use a few more Bombs for the maze in the next room. You can buy extra Bombs in the Goron Shop on the bottom floor if you run out.

The correct pathway leads off to the right and eventually winds up near the back where you will find two treasure chests and a Gossip Stone (the one-eyed statue). Roll into the crate on the back wall to reveal another Gold Skulltula. Kill it and take the token (number 24 of 100). The treasure chests both contain Purple Rupees which means you will probably not be able to carry them both.

Wall that can be Bombed inside of Goron City
Gold Skulltula beside two chests and a Gossip Stone in Goron City

You can also obtain a larger Bomb Bag at this point and revisit the House of Skulltula for another reward. Check out the following side quest page:

There are a number of secret areas throughout the game that are identified by the Rumble Pak. A good example of this is right in Kakariko Village. There is a hole in the center of town that you can reveal by placing a Bomb directly over top of it (as shown in the screenshot below). Enter the hole to find two Redead enemies.

Use the Sun’s Song to freeze them in place, defeat both of them and a treasure chest will appear. This treasure chest contains a Huge Rupee (Yellow) that is worth two hundred Rupees. You may want to hold off on picking up the actual Rupee though until later on when you need it (namely to pay for Magic Beans) just a little way further into this walkthrough.

There is another Piece of Heart that you can obtain out in Hyrule Field before heading to Zora’s River – check out the page below for more information:

There are also a few things that you can do back at the Hyrule Castle Market. Travel back there to pick up a few items:

Travel to the Happy Mask Shop while you are in the Hyrule Castle Market area. The Happy Mask Shop is the weird looking building in the Market shown in the screenshot below. Speak to the man behind the counter and he will offer to allow you to become a happiness salesman. The goal is to sell the masks that you have in your possession to people around the world and to come back and give the Happy Mask Shop it’s cut.

Select and choose to borrow the Keaton Mask to add it to your inventory. Check out the Happy Mask Shop side quest section for more information.

Entering the Happy Mask Shop
Speaking to the owner of the Happy Mask Shop

There is another Great Fairy that you can visit while you are in the area as mentioned by the previous Great Fairy at the top of Death Mountain.

You can complete three out of the four Happy Mask Shop sales transactions at this point in the game. Check out the Happy Mask Shop side quest section for more information:

It’s time to actually make your way towards the next area of the game, Zora’s River and then Zora’s Domain. The entrance to Zora’s River is on the easternmost side of the map. It is located just south of the entrance to Kakariko Village and Death Mountain. You are looking for a river that juts into the trees. Follow the pathway on the opposite side of the river east into the next area.

Zora’s River

Chop down the shrubs in the area to stock up on some items and then speak to the owl near the wall of boulders blocking the path. There is a large pine tree located just to the left of the blocked pathway. Roll into it to knock a Gold Skulltula down and then grab the token (number 25 of 100). Use your newly acquired Bombs to blow up the boulders blocking the path.

The entrance to Zora’s River title screen
The Gold Skulltula hiding in the pine tree at the entrance to Zora’s River

Speak to the man eating in front of the blocked off pathway. This man will sell you Magic Beans for 10 Rupees a piece, but the price will continue to rise the more you buy, starting at 10 Rupees and ending up at 100 Rupees once you have purchased all 10 Magic Beans.

The Magic Beans can be planted in the mounds of soft soil that you have seen around Hyrule and are part of the Magic Bean side quest.

Purchasing Magic Beans from the Magic Bean Seller for 10 Rupees
The Magic Beans

You should take this opportunity to buy all of the Magic Beans that are available. This comes in at the steep price of 560 Rupees total. There are a couple of tricks that you can use to earn Rupees very quickly. Start off by venturing a little bit further down the river to meet up with the frogs (check below for more information).

Travel back to the draw bridge leading into Hyrule Castle and walk up the chain leading up to the castle and then pull out your Fairy Ocarina and play the Sun’s Song. This will cause the drawbridge to be pulled up. Now walk along the edge of the drawn up bridge and you will receive three Red Rupees worth 20 Rupees each.

Fall off the draw bridge into the Market area, play the Sun’s Song again to return the time to daylight, go back out to the draw bridge and repeat. This can be reset and redone as many times as needed. Each time you enter Hyrule the three Red Rupees will reset.

Take this opportunity to plant some of the Magic Beans right beside where the Magic Bean seller is sitting in the mound of soft soil. The metal gate blocks the passageway up the Zora’s River and the current in the river itself is too strong for you to swim up. Instead, grab the Cucco wandering around near by and use it to glide over to the opposite shore on the south side of the river (as shown in the screenshot below). Hold on to the Cucco and don’t throw it away once you reach the opposite shore.

Magic Beans near the Magic Bean seller
Taking a Cucco up Zora’s River

Follow the pathway east along the shore and jump across to the north side once you reach the end of the path. You will have to dodge the shots from the Octorok in the water with the Cucco in hand. Follow the pathway north and then west (to the left). Continue along until you reach the area shown in the screenshot below and then continue eastward with your Cucco. Ignore the Heart Piece for now as you cannot obtain it just yet.

Continue east and then toss your Cucco up on to the ledge and climb up. Look southward and then do the same thing – toss the Cucco up on the ledge and then follow it up yourself. Just south of here is an area where you can peak around the corner to see a small platform on the south side of the cliff (shown in the screenshot below). Use your Cucco to fly down to this ledge and then throw your Cucco away as you won’t need it anymore.

Throwing the Cucco up the ledge
Using the Cucco to fly down to the lower ledge

Climb the platform to the top of the cliff to find a large boulder at the top. Use a Bomb to blow up the boulder and then jump down into the cave. This is just a regular Fairy Fountain where you can restore your health and capture a Fairy in a Bottle if you’d like.

There is another cliff to the south that you can jump to with another hole that you can jump into. This cave contains a treasure chest with a Red Rupee (20 Rupees) inside of it. The bushes in this cave have bugs hiding out in them – make sure that you have a Bug in your inventory (capture it with a Bottle) for some upcoming hidden Gold Skulltulas.

Entering the Fairy’s Fountain
Picking up the Red Rupee in the other cave

You can obtain another Heart Piece while you are up here:

Grab another Cucco and continue up the pathway and continue up the pathway to obtain another Heart Piece:

There is a Gold Skulltula that hangs around on the ladder in this area but only at night time. Use the Sun’s Song to change the time of day, kill the Gold Skulltula and retrieve the token (number 26 of 100).

Aiming at a Gold Skulltula with the Fairy Slingshot
Obtaining a Gold Skulltula token on the ladder at the end of Zora’s River

Frogs
Now that you are done with the Cuccos, travel back west down Zora’s River back to the broken log that was lying in the river (shown in the screenshot below). Stand on the edge of the log and Link will notice that the frogs are staring at him. Have him pull out his Fairy Ocarina and the frogs will jump out of the water. You can get a bunch of Rupees from the frogs for playing different songs to the frogs. Play the following songs:

- Zelda’s Lullaby: Purple Rupee
- Epona’s Song: Purple Rupee
- Saria’s Song: Purple Rupee
- Sun’s Song: Purple Rupee

There is one last song that you can play to the frogs but you have not learned it yet at this point in the game. You can also save this side quest until later if you are full on Rupees.

Link playing his Fairy Ocarina to the group of frogs
Obtaining a Purple Rupee for playing a song to the frogs

Travel back to the waterfall, stand on the Triforce and play Zelda’s Lullaby. This will cause the waterfall to part in the middle allowing Link to jump through into the next area. Welcome to the Zora’s Domain.

Playing Zelda’s Lullaby in front of the waterfall
Slowing the waterfall to get into Zora’s Domain