Hyjal
Mount Hyjal was on the world map from the very first day: a big, finished-looking zone between Felwood and Winterspring where the World Tree stands. Nobody could go in. At the end of a long gorge in Winterspring, a green raid portal glowed behind a wooden gate, and players spent years guessing what waited on the other side.
The gate in Darkwhisper Gorge
The only known way in was Darkwhisper Gorge in southern Winterspring, then the highest-level zone in the game. Elite felguards, succubi and felhunters patrolled it, and at its south-west end a wooden gate blocked a green whirlpool, the colour of a 40-player raid entrance. Inside, explorers found a long, linear zone and a second portal in a cave much like Onyxia's, which some expected to lead to Deathwing.
Mount Hyjal before Cataclysm · herbetron
Opened twice
The first Hyjal to open was the past one. The Burning Crusade put the Battle for Mount Hyjal in the Caverns of Time: in the Hyjal Summit raid players defend the mountain alongside Thrall, Jaina and Malfurion until Archimonde falls. Players at the time wondered whether a second, present-day Hyjal raid would ever follow.
It did not; instead Cataclysm turned the present-day mountain into a full questing zone, Mount Hyjal, where players defend the World Tree from Ragnaros and the Firelands invasion.
A third time: WoW Forever
World of Warcraft: Forever, the new version of original Azeroth launching on 4 November 2026, adds Mount Hyjal to its world as a level 60 zone, with its own map.
The unfinished ascent to Mount Hyjal in Classic WoW · Jediwarlock
From the archive
The way Hyjal is laid out right now is very linear, which suggests it is meant to be a raid instance and not a regular zone. Inside there is a second raid portal, in a cave much like Onyxia's.
WoWWiki, 2006
Mira Duskwood is the pen name of the Lost WOW editorial team. Mira writes the secret walkthroughs and the history of the lost areas, and keeps them up to date when a patch changes something.
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Videos
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