Mushroom Gorge

Information
First appearance	Mario Kart Wii (2008)
Latest appearance	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Booster Course Pass, Wave 2) (2022)
Appears in	Mario Kart Wii Mario Kart 7 Mario Kart Tour Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Cup	Mushroom Cup
Retro Cup	Shell Cup

Mushroom Gorge is the third course of the Mushroom Cup from Mario Kart Wii. The course is located on a mountainous zone with Trampoline Mushrooms rising over cloudy abysses, where racers have to use some of them as platforms to pass certain gorges. Characters mainly travel the course on land. However, in the middle of the route, they enter a cave where they find an abyss full of Trampoline Mushrooms. Players can drive two different ways over these mushrooms to cross the cave. Some Goombas appear serving as obstacles on the track.

In Mario Kart 7, Mushroom Gorge appears as a Retro Course, more specifically the third course in Shell Cup. While the overall layout is unchanged, in the mushroom cave, two of the mushrooms on the left path have been removed and replaced with a glider segment. It also reappears in Mario Kart Tour starting with the 2022 Mii Tour, and in the second wave of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass as the third course of the Propeller Cup.

In Mario Tennis Open

Mushroom Gorge is featured as the setting of the tennis court Mushroom Valley.

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

The background music of this course is available as a selectable music track on the Mario Circuit stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and on any Mario Kart stage in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as well as Battlefield, Big Battlefield, Small Battlefield, and Final Destination as of the version 8.1.0 update of the latter.

Shortcuts

Mushroom Gorge is one of three courses (others being Grumble Volcano and Wario's Gold Mine) to have a very useful shortcut. However, it is the trickiest to perform of the three. You should have a mushroom for this shortcut. The player should go to about 2/3 down the first stretch before the first bridge, then drive off, use his or her Mushroom, and hit the red Mushroom facing the rock wall in the direction of the start gate. The player should scale the wall by directing his or her control stick down and left. If done correctly, the player should land somewhere in front of the cave, and the game will count it as a lap. This shortcut may not be successful all the time, but if it is, the driver will shave off a ridiculous amount of time. It is recommended to practice a lot in Time Trials, but because of the shortcut's difficulty and how impractical it is to use in a fair WiFi race, it is not done by many people during online races (current world record). It demonstrates one of the faster ways to do the shortcut. The control stick is moved down-right instead of down-left, and the player has a slight chance to land directly behind the finish line, which still makes the lap count.

Another shortcut, which is much easier to take, can be found towards the end of the track. After bouncing on the last mushroom inside the cavern, the player can turn to his or her left instead of going right around the last bend. If the player times a jump right, and uses a Mushroom as they are going off the cliff, it is possible to hop the entire gap, shaving off 3–4 seconds off their lap time.

At the beginning of the track, there is another shortcut, but it is not recommended, due to the little time it shaves off. There are two red mushrooms that must be jumped off. Use a mushroom there and you will bounce off the two red mushrooms, usually landing on the bridge.