It wouldn’t be Elden Ring if there weren’t a thousand vast, sprawling hidden areas only unlockable through some esoteric combination of actions. Large swaths of the Shadow of the Erdtree map fall into this category, including the elusive Hinterlands, where Queen Marika was born.
Whether you’re looking to progress Ymir’s Erdtree questline or you’re just a Marika fan who wants to do some sightseeing, you’ll nonetheless want to head to the Hinterlands. This northeastern portion of the Realm of Shadow is stunningly picturesque, but you’ll need to jump through a few hoops before you get there.
How do you access the Hinterlands in Elden Ring?
Unlike most hidden paths in Elden Ring, the way to the Hinterlands is not unlocked through a hidden lever or tough-as-nails boss fight, but through bringing a certain gesture to a certain place.
The key here is the easy-to-miss O Mother gesture, which you can find under a tree close to Bonny Village, which itself is fairly well-hidden. This is only the key, however, and you’ll still need to track down the lock before progressing.
For that, you’ll need to head to the Shadow Keep, Back Gate Site of Grace, otherwise known as the last checkpoint before the (literally) crushing Commander Gaius boss in Shadow of the Erdtree. Rather than heading through the foreboding boss mist, however, hang a right once you get to this Site of Grace. You may think it’s a dead end with nothing but a statue of Marika to await you, but use the O Mother gesture in front of the statue and the wall will slide open, permitting you entry to the Hinterlands at last.
It’s unknown what connection this new Shadow of the Erdtree region has to the Hinterlands mentioned in Bloodborne, but it’s always fun to theorize about tangible threads between the From Software games. There’s not much here except a few stunning views and a lot of fingers, but one of the ruins you need to investigate for Count Ymir as part of his quest is tucked away at the end of this peninsula. Just don’t forget to double back and take out Gaius once you’ve collected enough Scadutree Fragments.
