Dig up the secrets of Gerudo Desert and discover the hidden entrance to the Gerudo Sanctum dungeon in Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom with the full guide below. We’ll walk you through every step of the quest that takes Zelda to the Gerudo Desert area of the map — located west of Suthorn Prairie, right next to the starting area of the game. There’s a lot of steps to this quest and a lot of puzzles. Learn where to go and what to do below.
More Echoes of Wisdom guides:
Jabul Ruins Dungeon Guide | Suthorn Ruins Dungeon Guide | Imposter Link Boss | Seismic Talus Boss | Hyrule Castle Dungeon Escape | Defeating Suthorn Beach Monsters | Fairy Bottle Location | Great Fairy Location | Bind Tips & Tricks | Horse Mount Guide | Suthorn Prairie Side-Quests | How To Get Bombfish | Eastern Temple Guide
A Rift In Gerudo Desert | Quest Guide
From Suthorn Prairie, travel west through the rocky canyons to reach Gerudo Desert. This large sandy area is where we’ll find our next Great Rift — and another dungeon to explore.
Open the map and go west toward the giant rift. When you approach the ruins, Tri will tell Zelda that the Rift Entrance is beneath the surface — talk to the Gerudo Warrior to the left after this cutscene, and someone will appear nearby — save the Captain from the Rift monsters.
To enter the Sanctum, go to the palace in Gerudo Town to the west. The palace is the big building at the top of the town. The Captain will also allow Zelda to enter the town. To reach Gerudo Town, go north from the Sanctum Ruins then travel west.
- Go to the palace, talk to the Chief, then follow the Captain to the Oasis north of the Sanctum entrance.
- Talk to the Captain and she’ll request for you to close three rifts. Let’s go through all of them.
Southern Oasis Ruins
This rift is located in the Sanctum Ruins area south of the Oasis. There’s no entrance here. Defeat the two Rift enemies that spawn, then leave the area when the quest is complete.
Ancestor’s Cave of Rest
The cave is found on the northern edge of the desert near gravestones. The path to the cave is difficult to traverse due to a thick sandstorm. Keep going north until you find a cave entrance marked with two fires.
Inside, go left and move the giant boulder with Bind to reveal a hidden door. Inside the left room, move the second giant boulder to find a hidden ladder leading down. Before leaving, defeat one of the Holmill enemies — Bind them so they can’t escape.
- Side-Scrolling Puzzle Room: In this room, summon Holmill echo to create a hole in the sand. Step into the hole and you’ll fall through to the lower levels — tricky! Place one on the far left of the sand to create a path to a chest that contains a Golden Egg.
Climb up to reach the other side of the rift — light up both braziers with Ignizol or your own Fire Braziers. Once again, there’s no rift here. But you’ve helped the Gerudo!
Southern Gerudo Desert
The last rift is found south of Gerudo Town in the desert. Go south of town and you’ll encounter thirsty guards. The Captain will appear and give you two Chilly Cactus — go to the Smoothy Shop in the Oasis and trade the Chilly Cactus to gain a Cactus Smoothie.
Return with the Cactus Smoothie to complete the last of the three quests.
Gerudo Desert Rift
After completing all three requests, return to the Palace. When the cutscene is complete, you’ll learn a new rift has appear to the northeast of the Oasis. Travel there and enter it — like other small rifts, we have friends to rescue.
- Rescue #1: Left of the entrance, there’s a large plot of sand and a pillar. Reach the top of the pillar with Water Blocks if you’ve completed the Zora Dungeon.
- Rescue #2: Enter the ladder above the entrance to reach a side-scrolling room. Reach the left side — use Bind on the monsters that slam the floor to move them around.
- Rescue #3: Found in the back-left corner of the rift. From the previous rescue, go left and climb the rock walls to reach this one on a tree stump near stilled Facette.
- Rescue #4: Back at the second rescue ladder, go back and right to a sideways desert with a piranha fish in the sand. Climb up and go to the right side to find this rescue under a boulder.
- Rescue #5: From the previous sideways platform, go left and up to another with two piranhas. The last rescue is on the left side.
Complete the rift to earn a little energy for Tri to level up and x2 Might Crystals.
Entering The Great Rift
Return to the cave near the Great Rift and talk to the warrior guarding it — they’ll finally let you in. Inside the cave, summon a rock echo and throw it at the blue eye. Make it close to unlock the door.
In the next room you’ll learn the Wind Cannon echo. Use Bind to drop the cannons into the bottomless pit and enter the center door. Hit the blue eye switch to summon a chest to the right — then go to the combat area. Defeat the mummies (and learn the Gibda echo) then open the chest to get the Small Key.
Return to the locked door and take the ladder down. Below there are spinning blade traps — you can block them by summoning a boulder echo. Near the exit, there’s a chest. To reach it, stand on the ledge and use Bind then drop it down. It contains x20 rupees.
- Puzzle Room: The next room is tricky. Up above, there’s a pile of sand and a large gap Zelda needs to cross. To get across, use the Wind Cannon echo and stand far away from it before binding. Then carry it close to the sand pile to blow it away.
- Once the sand is clear, use Bind on the Pathblade below. You can launch bind through the platform. Grab the trap below then use Follow to ride across the gap.
Continue up to encounter a Gibdo Lv. 2. Go right and use Bind on the giant plug to drain the sand. Now we can exit the cave by going through the left path. Step on the button to unlock the door and climb up.
The Gerudo Sanctum is now accessible. Go through the door to reach the Great Rift — and take a step closer to the dungeon.
