Gerudo Training Ground at a glance
The Gerudo Training Ground is an optional mini-dungeon inside Gerudo’s Fortress, open to adult Link once the Gerudo accept him. The prize is the Ice Arrow, in the middle of a locked maze. To reach it you clear a ring of trial rooms for Small Keys. There are nine Small Keys in all, and the shortest route to the Ice Arrow uses seven. Each room gives you one order, such as “Defeat all the enemies in a limited time!” or “Blind the eyes of the statue!”. There is no boss, no Gold Skulltula and no Piece of Heart. A Gossip Stone even warns you that the treasure “is not as great as you would expect, given its difficulty!”
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Entry | Adult Link, Gerudo Token, 10 Rupees |
| Small Keys | 9 (8 in chests, 1 on a ledge) |
| Main prize | Ice Arrow, centre of the maze |
| Other chests | Arrows, Blue, Red and Purple Rupees, Bombchus, a Huge Rupee and one freeze trap |
| Timed rooms | Stalfos 1:00, Silver Rupees 1:30, Dinolfos and Beamos 1:30 |
| Gold Skulltulas, Heart Pieces | None |
How to get in
- Get the Gerudo Token. As adult Link, free all four carpenters held in Gerudo’s Fortress. The Gerudo then give you the token: “You obtained the Gerudo Token! You can get into the Gerudo Training Ground in their hideout.” N64 guides call it the Gerudo Membership Card.
- Find the barred door. The sign says “Gerudo Training Ground. Proof of membership required for entry!” A Gerudo stands guard next to it.
- Pay 10 Rupees. She checks the token and offers “One try for 10 Rupees!” Pay and the bars lift. Without the token she tells you nobody is allowed in.
What to bring
| Item | Where you use it | Needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Fairy Bow | Eye switches in the lobby and the eye statue | Yes |
| Bombs or Bombchus | The Beamos in the Dinolfos room | For key 8 |
| Hookshot | Ceiling targets in the Silver Rupee room and the Wolfos room | Yes (the Longshot is easier) |
| Megaton Hammer | Hammer room | For key 5 |
| Iron Boots | Silver Rupees in the water room | For key 7 |
| Song of Time | Time Blocks in the lava and water rooms | For keys 6 and 7 |
| Lens of Truth | Hidden alcove, invisible key chest, hidden ceiling chest | Strongly recommended |
| Silver Gauntlets | The big silver block in front of the Like Like room | For key 2 |
| Hover Boots, Zora Tunic | Lava room and eye statue room; breathing in the water room | Helpful |
On 3DS the Iron Boots and Hover Boots are items on a button, so you can swap them mid-room without opening the menu.
All nine Small Keys
The lobby has three doors. The middle one leads into the central maze; leave it for last. The left and right doors start one loop that runs round the outside. The eye statue room has separate upper and lower levels, though, so the loop doesn’t work the same both ways. This page goes left.
Before you pick a door, turn round in the lobby and shoot the golden eye above the entrance. Two chests appear, one with arrows and one with a Blue Rupee.
Key 1: Stalfos room
Two Stalfos on a sandy floor, and a one-minute timer. Keep moving so the sand doesn’t slow you down. Beat both in time and the chest with the first key appears.
Silver Rupee room
The order here is “Gather the jewels of white while avoiding traps and danger!” Five Silver Rupees, a 1:30 timer, boulders rolling through the side corridors, a Wallmaster and walls of fire. Duck into the alcoves to let the boulders pass and ignore the Wallmaster. The last rupee hangs in mid-air: Hookshot the ceiling target in front of it and you pass through it. When the door opens, Hookshot over the fire to reach it.
Key 2: Wolfos and Like Like rooms
Beat the two Wolfos and two White Wolfos for a chest of arrows. Look above the door mimic with the Lens of Truth: there is a hidden alcove with a Hookshot target. Pull yourself up and step on the switch to unseal the doors below.
Push the big silver block into its hole with the Silver Gauntlets and go through the door behind it. Beat the three Like Likes and more chests appear: a Blue Rupee and a Huge Rupee. The chest on the raised platform is a freeze trap. Use the Lens of Truth in the last sandy pit to find an invisible chest with the second key.
Key 3: Eye statue room
Back up through the hidden alcove, take the door to a ledge above a lava pit with a big statue. “Blind the eyes of the statue!” From the upper ledge, drop down to the turning platform and shoot all four eyes with arrows. A chest with the third key appears near the statue; reach it with the Longshot or the Hover Boots. Shooting the eyes also unlocks the barred door on the upper ledge.
Key 4: Upper maze cell
The barred door on the upper ledge of the statue room leads into a closed-off cell above the central maze, with the fourth key. From the lower platform you have to get back up to that ledge. If you have taught Pierre the Scarecrow’s Song, play it at the ledge where Navi turns green and Hookshot to him. Otherwise go back round to the ledge and come in again from the top.
Key 5: Hammer room
Beat the two Torch Slugs and two Fire Keese to open the exit; a chest of arrows appears too. The key chest is already there, inside a ring of fire. Smash the blocks with the Megaton Hammer to reach a floor switch, and stand on it to put the fire out for a moment while you get the key.
Key 6: Lava room
Another five Silver Rupees, this time over lava. One of them is inside a ring of fire: step on the floor switch nearby to put it out for a moment. Collecting all five opens the door to the water room. The key isn’t in a chest: it sits on a ledge, and you reach it on Time Blocks that the Song of Time brings up. This room also connects to the right-hand side of the central maze, with a Bombchu chest and an arrow chest that need no keys.
Key 7: Water room
“Collect the underwater gems!” Play the Song of Time to clear the blocks, then sink with the Iron Boots. The five Silver Rupees float at different heights: Hookshot the wall targets to pass through the ones in the middle of the water, and take the boots off to float up for the highest. Watch out for the Shell Blades on the bottom. The Zora Tunic stops you drowning. The fifth rupee makes the key chest appear.
Key 8: Dinolfos and Beamos room
Two Dinolfos and a Beamos, with a 1:30 timer. Destroy the Beamos with a bomb or Bombchu, then fight the Dinolfos. Clearing the room in time gives the eighth key, and the door leads back to the lobby.
The central maze and the Ice Arrow
The middle door of the lobby leads into a maze of locked doors spiralling in towards the centre. Each door takes one Small Key, and the chests along the way hold a Purple Rupee, a Red Rupee and arrows.
The ninth key is in the maze itself. Go through the first locked door on the left, use the Lens of Truth to find the hidden opening in the ceiling, and climb the fence up to the chest. Then keep following the left-hand route. It takes seven locked doors to reach the centre. The other two locked doors are on the right-hand side of the maze and lead to side rooms, so you need all nine keys only if you want to open every door.
The centre chest holds the Ice Arrow: “You got the Ice Arrow! Any target it strikes will freeze.” To use it on 3DS, select the Fairy Bow, then select it again to open the arrow menu and pick the Ice Arrow. The item screen says “Magic Cost: Low”.
Common problems
- The timer ran out. You are sent back to the start of the room and the challenge resets, so the Silver Rupees or enemies come back. You don’t pay again, and keys and chests you already have stay yours.
- You can’t find the last key. Check the two hidden ones with the Lens of Truth: the invisible chest in the Like Like room and the ceiling chest in the maze.
- A key is in a place you can’t reach. The lava-room key needs the Song of Time. The water-room key needs the Iron Boots.
- You opened a freeze trap. The chest on the platform in the Like Like room is a trap, not a key.
Master Quest
In Master Quest the Training Ground uses the same rooms, mirrored left to right on 3DS. It needs only three Small Keys. The centre of the maze holds a wooden crate over a rusted switch; smash the crate and press the switch, and the Ice Arrow chest appears in a raised cell above the maze, next to the eye statue room. There are no Gold Skulltulas or Heart Pieces in this version either.
For every chest pin, see the Gerudo Training Ground on the map. The Song of Time page covers the Time Blocks, and the item list has the Ice Arrow and the other arrows.
Gerudo Training Ground FAQ
How do you get into the Gerudo Training Ground?
As adult Link, free the four carpenters in Gerudo’s Fortress to get the Gerudo Token. Then talk to the Gerudo by the barred door in the fortress and pay 10 Rupees.
How many Small Keys are in the Gerudo Training Ground?
Nine: eight in chests and one lying on a ledge in the lava room. One of the chest keys is in a hidden chest in the ceiling of the central maze.
How many keys do you need for the Ice Arrow?
The Ice Arrow is in the middle of the central maze, behind the last of its locked doors. Seven keys are enough if you take the left-hand route through the maze. The two doors on the right-hand side of the maze lead to side rooms, so all nine keys open every door, but the Ice Arrow needs only seven.
What items do you need for the Gerudo Training Ground?
For every key on this page: the Fairy Bow, the Hookshot, bombs or Bombchus, the Megaton Hammer, the Iron Boots, the Song of Time and the Lens of Truth. The Silver Gauntlets are needed only for the key in the Like Like room. With the seven-key route you can skip one or two of the harder keys, as long as you still have seven. The Longshot, Hover Boots and Zora Tunic make several rooms easier.
Is the Gerudo Training Ground required?
No. It is optional. The Ice Arrow is the only real prize and you don’t need it to finish the game.
How do you use the Ice Arrow on 3DS?
Select the Fairy Bow, then select it again to open the arrow menu and pick the Ice Arrow. Each shot uses a little magic and can freeze enemies that are not immune to ice.
Are there Gold Skulltulas or a Piece of Heart in the Gerudo Training Ground?
No. There are no Gold Skulltulas and no Piece of Heart in either the original quest or Master Quest.