The Royal Hidden Passage is a secret tunnel in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that connects the emergency shelter of the Lookout Landing to the Hyrule Castle. This area contains secrets and some amazing rewards for the explorers.
In this guide, we will help you unlock the Royal Hidden Passage in two different ways and uncover all its mysteries. Before proceeding, we recommend that you fuse a lot of stone hammers or collect Bomb Flowers to progress through this area.
Unlock Royal Hidden Passage from Emergency Shelter
The best and the intended way to unlock the Royal Hidden Passage is via the Emergency Shelter in the Lookout Landing. Once you start the Regional Phenomena side quest and complete one of its sub-quests (we recommend doing Yunobo of Goron City to acquire his charge ability to break boulders), return to the Emergency Shelter.
Once you talk to Jerrin near a hole in the wall, a new quest, Who Goes There, will start automatically. This quest will take you to the Royal Hidden Passage and the Horned Statue. You can keep exploring the area by destroying the boulder wall opposite the Horned Statue, which will ultimately lead you to the Hyrule Castle.
![Emergency Shelter location in Zelda TotK](https://cdn.segmentnextimages.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Emergency-Shelter-location-in-Zelda-TotK.jpg)
Unlock Royal Hidden Passage from Hyrule Castle
The next method is a bit complex as it requires backtracking from the Hyrule Castle to the Emergency Shelter. However, following this method, you can avoid the prerequisite of solving a temple to access the passage. Follow the steps to make the journey a bit easier.
1. Go to the first gatehouse of Hyrule Castle. It is to the southeast and is marked on the map.
![Hyrule Castle Observation room location in Zelda TotK](https://cdn.segmentnextimages.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Hyrule-Castle-Observation-room-location-in-Zelda-TotK.jpg)
2. Turn back and drop down from the ledge. Glide backward to enter the castle through a small hole.
3. Go straight and enter the first room in the corridor. Turn left and enter the next door.
![zelda: totk remove the grate to enter royal hidden passage](https://cdn.segmentnextimages.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Remove-the-grate.jpg)
4. Use your Ultrahand ability to locate a metal grate on the floor. Remove it and drop down through the hole. This area has a Black Horriblin, which is a very difficult enemy for beginners.
5. Go down the spiral staircase and break the boulders blocking the wall to enter the Royal Hidden Passage. From there, you can simply travel forward and break any breakable wall in your path to reach the Emergency Shelter in the Lookout Landing.
Activities to do in the Royal Hidden Passage
The Royal Hidden Passage offers a lot of activities in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. We have briefly discussed them below.
1. There is a Stalnox boss in the Royal Hidden Passage that you can defeat to earn some amazing rewards. This enemy respawns every Blood Moon.
2. The complete Soldier’s Armor set is hidden behind the breakable walls in the Royal Hidden Passage. You can find Soldier’s Helm at (-0230, 0467, -0039) behind an Ice-Like enemy. To find Soldier’s Greaves, go to the following coordinates behind a Like-Like enemy (-0319, 0289, -0006). The final piece, Soldier’s Armor, can be found inside a Jail Cell (-0267, 0641, -0035).
3. As the game treats this tunnel as a cave, you can find and kill a Bubbulfrog in this area to collect a Bubbul Gem.
4. You can find and interact with the Bargainer Statue to exchange your Heart Containers for Stamina Vessels or vice versa. However, each transaction costs 20 Rupees.