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

If you’ve been adventuring throughout the rugged terrain of Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom you might have noticed the occasional, resplendent cherry blossom tree. At first, I didn’t think much of them. This is a game that is largely known for its scenic beauty after all, but it turns out the trees contain a hidden secret. If you make an offering to one, it will show you where all the caves are in the surrounding area.

Cherry blossom tree locations

The special cherry blossom trees can be found throughout all of Hyrule, although there are only a handful of them. The easiest one to get to is northeast of Lookout Landing, a stone’s throw away from Yamiyo Shrine. Just look for the gorgeous pink petals and you’ve found it. If you want to find more of the trees, they’re all labeled in the map below:

How to use cherry blossom trees

All you need to do is go to one of the cherry blossom trees and make an offering in the stone dish in front of it. It seems like you need to offer a piece of fruit — an apple and a wildberry worked for me, but a carrot did not. Just grab your item and drop it in. Once you do that, a Satori, which looks like a glowing forest spirit, will come and mark caves in the surrounding region with a pillar of light, as shown below. All you need to do is walk towards the light to discover a cave.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

We timed how long the effect lasted, and it appears to last for one day and night cycle since it lasted for roughly 24 real world minutes. The light markers did not disappear when I teleported back and forth from another region, and they still appeared for a cave I discovered already. The light will fade as you approach the entrance to a cave, but if you walk away it will reappear. It’s a huge help in visiting and tracking down caves.

The trick has the potential to be very useful, given the importance of caves in Tears of the Kingdom. Caves contain numerous key resources. Knowing where to go could help you hunt down Bubbulfrogs and their Bubbul gems more quickly, or farm necessities like brightbloom seeds or other ore.