History Main / SecretPath

* ''The Dead Can Wait'' by Robert Ryan. During World War One, Franchise/SherlockHolmes and Dr. Watson are detained under the Defence of the Realm Act on Foulness Island, and the only means of escape is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Broomway The Broomway]], a dangerous path across the sands at low tide, guided only by a row of posts that can easily disappear in the mist. Things become even more dangerous when the tide starts rushing in [[FeelingTheirAge faster than the elderly Holmes and Watson can outrun it]].

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'': Every castle, palace and temple us riddled with these. They're variously used for adultery, escapes or spying. While inside these places, no room can be deemed safe from people spying through holes in the walls.

* In ''Literature/SpaceMarineBattles'' novel ''Fall of Damnos'', Scipio's squad spends most of the novel looking for one to get close to Necron artillery, as all the easy ways are swarming with killer robots. [[spoiler:Jynn provides one.]]
* The third ''Literature/SoldiersOfBarrabas'' (a HeroesRUs series by Gold Eagle) novel had enemies of Nile Barrabas from his Vietnam days kidnapping his girlfriend and saying "You've got 48 hours before we kill her. [[BringIt Come and get her]]." The BigBad thinks his jungle fortress surrounded by booby traps and ambushes will take care of Barrabas and his men, but they kill an ambush squad and infiltrate up their hidden retreat path, which is free of booby traps.

* When a Soul Hunter arrives on ''Series/BabylonFive'' he goes to the local crime lord and buys a guide to the secret ways on the station, [[spoiler:to enable him to get close enough to Delenn to collect her soul]].
* On ''Series/{{The 100}}'', Bellamy gets a detailed map of Mount Weather's [[AirVentPassageway air vents]] and unused passages, letting him get to places inside the Mountain while avoiding guards and locked doors.
* in ''Series/HelpImATeenageOutlaw'', Lady D. has a secret tunnel that leads out to the village from her wardrobe in the castle.

* A ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' campaign module includes a secret path intended to be the faster exit for the party, which spirals along the main path. The book suggests to prevent finding the outside path, to ensure that the player goes through the hazardous portion.

* There are a number of these in ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdAdventures'', usually leading to a [[TheCameo cameo]] and some items. Others end by unlocking [[SecretCharacter Mike Matei and the Bullshit Man]] as playable characters. (Speaking of Mike, he can spot secret paths and destructible tiles, making searching a good deal easier.)

* Most instances of TheLostWoods in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series require you to traverse a very specific route to avoid being sent back to the entrance.
* Roguelike ''Omega'' included secret mountain passes, which cut down on travel time in the wilderness.
* In ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'', there is a passage through Valua's sewer system that leads to the arena in the Coliseum. The sewer system can also be used to travel from Lower City to Upper City, even though free travel from Lower City to Upper City is supposed to be forbidden.

* The third ''Soldiers of Barrabas'' (a HeroesRUs series by Gold Eagle) novel had enemies of Nile Barrabas from his Vietnam days kidnapping his girlfriend and saying "You've got 48 hours before we kill her. [[BringIt Come and get her]]." The BigBad thinks his jungle fortress surrounded by booby traps and ambushes will take care of Barrabas and his men, but they kill an ambush squad and infiltrate up their hidden retreat path, which is free of booby traps.

* ''VideoGame/WhatRemainsOfEdithFinch'' has a lof of this built into the Finch house. Edith needs to use these to get into certain rooms because her mother had sealed the doors.

Common types of secret paths include back doors, [[BookcasePassage Bookcase Passages]], [[AirVentPassageway ventilation shafts]], and [[SecretUndergroundPassage underground routes such as passages]] through {{Absurdly Spacious Sewer}}s or {{Tunnel Network}}s. See also RightUnderTheirNoses, HiddenInPlainSight. If you [[ThereWasADoor make your own]] secret path, it's called DungeonBypass. Compare SecretRoom for a similar concept just with a hidden room instead of a passageway.

* Sewers are good for this; that's how the Gaang gets back into Omashu in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. There's also supposedly a "secret river" (but not secret enough not to be discussed in Fire Nation grade school) that leads to the Fire Lord's palace.

Suppose there's somewhere you need to go, but getting there could be difficult or dangerous. Maybe you have to get into a walled city, castle, or SupervillainLair, but the entrance is guarded by armed soldiers or a ''{{Golem}}''. Maybe you have to cross a minefield or an uncharted [[BubblegloopSwamp deadly swamp]] where one wrong step could [[BottomlessPit drop you into a pit]] from which you would never return. Maybe you've gotten [[TheInfiltration into the enemy base]] and need to go to the control room, but you suspect that the main hallway with signs saying "control room this way" has more [[InsecuritySystem security cameras]] than all the other hallways combined. Maybe there's a range of [[WalkIntoMordor mountains you need to cross]], but your map doesn't show any pass nearby. Maybe you just need to go from one town to another, but you're a widely recognizable fugitive and don't want to be seen by other travelers on the road between them. Whatever the reason, there's somewhere you have to go, and obvious ways to get there either don't exist, would take too long, or [[RightUnderTheirNoses would be near-suicide to use]]. If only there were some special route that's not widely known, one that could get you where you need to go while bypassing many of the obstacles in the way...

* Disneyland is actually built above ground level. This is hidden by the terrain design. Underneath the park are passageways to allow employees to easily get from one part of the park to another more quickly than through the park itself.

Common types of secret paths include back doors, [[BookcasePassage Bookcase Passages]], [[AirVentPassageway ventilation shafts]], and [[SecretUndergroundPassage underground routes such as passages]] through [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer Absurdly Spacious Sewers]]. See also RightUnderTheirNoses, HiddenInPlainSight. If you [[ThereWasADoor make your own]] secret path, it's called DungeonBypass. Compare SecretRoom for a similar concept just with a hidden room instead of a passageway.

Common types of secret paths include back doors, [[BookcasePassage Bookcase Passages]], [[AirVentPassageway ventilation shafts]], and [[SecretUndergroundPassage underground routes such as passages]] through [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer Absurdly Spacious Sewers]]. See also RightUnderTheirNoses, HiddenInPlainSight. If you [[ThereWasADoor make your own]] secret path, it's called DungeonBypass.

-->-- '''Gollum''', ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Two Towers''

* Most instances of TheLostWoods in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series require you to traverse a very specific route to avoid being sent back to the entrance.

* There are a number of these in ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdAdventures'', usually leading to a [[TheCameo cameo]] and some items. Others end by unlocking [[SecretCharacter Mike Matei and the Bullshit Man]] as playable characters. (Speaking of Mike, he can spot secret paths and destructible tiles, making searching a good deal easier.)

What you need is a SecretPath. This is a passageway that not everyone knows about that can be used to get somewhere that is difficult to reach or to go somewhere without being noticed. Sometimes a local guide will be knowledgeable about paths that outsiders are unfamiliar with.

** Cirith Ungol, a small, lightly-guarded and seldom-used pass near Minas Morgul allowing one to enter Mordor without having to cross the Morannon and use the Black Gate itself. Gollum leads Frodo and Sam that way, where the Hobbits discover there's a very [[GiantSpider good]] [[EldritchAbomination reason]] it's seldom-used.
* ''Literature/TheHobbit'' has a Dwarven door in the Lonely Mountain that foreshadows the later book's Moria gate -- a secret passage into the very heart of the Lonely Mountain whose keyhole only appears on the rarely-occurring Durin's Day and whose key was lost for years.

* When a Soul Hunter arrives on ''Series/BabylonFive'' he goes to the local crime lord and buys a guide to the secrets ways on the station, [[spoiler: to enable him to get close enough to Delenn to collect her soul]].

* In ''Webcomic/TheBeastLegion'' Master Surya reveals an underground passage to the anointment room in [[https://web.archive.org/web/20120730145543/http://www.thebeastlegion.com/issue-05-page-47-anointment-grounds-2/ Issue 5]].