Cherry blossom trees in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom hide a useful secret

If you’ve been adventuring through the rugged terrain of Hyrule in recent weeks The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom you may have noticed the occasional resplendent cherry blossom tree. At first I didn’t mind them. This is a game largely known for its scenic beauty, but it turns out that the trees hold a hidden secret. If you sacrifice one, it will show you where all the caves in the area are.

To do this, you just need to go to one of the cherry blossom trees and make an offering in the stone bowl in front of it. It seems you need to offer a piece of fruit – an apple and a blueberry worked for me, but a carrot didn’t. Just grab your item and drop it in. Once you’ve done that, a Satori, which looks like a glowing forest spirit, will come and mark caves in the surrounding region with a column of light, as shown below. You just have to walk towards the light to discover a cave.

We timed how long the effect lasted, and it appears to be on a day and night cycle as it lasted about 24 minutes in the real world. The light markers didn’t disappear when I teleported back and forth from another region, and they still appeared in front of a cave I’d already discovered. The light will fade as you approach a cave entrance, but it will reappear as you walk away. It is a huge help when visiting and locating caves.

The special cherry blossom trees can be found all over Hyrule, although there are only a handful. The easiest one to get to is northeast of Lookout Landing, a stone’s throw from Yamiyo Shrine. Just look for the beautiful pink petals and you’ve found it. If you want to find more of the trees, the Outskirts Stable in Hyrule Field has a map with the locations. Here it is for reference.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

The trick has the potential to be very useful given the importance of caves in Tears of the Kingdom. Caves contain numerous important resources. If you know where to go, you can hunt for Bubbulfrogs and their Bubbul gems faster, or farm supplies like bright blooming seeds or other ore.