It was a four-day ride by horse from Beorn's house directly north to the Forest Gate, which was also to the northeast of the confluence of the Rhimdath and Anduin Rivers. The entrance to the Elf-path at the western edge of northern Mirkwood Forest. On the map, "Wilderland", the Forest Gate is at about the same latitude as Thranduil's Caverns (on the eastern edge of Mirkwood). It lies about halfway between the point where the Grey Mountains abut Mirkwood in the north, and where the Carrock lies in the Anduin/Langflood to the south. The path itself leads almost straight towards the Lonely Mountain.
When Thorin and company came to the gate, they camped there overnight before entering the forest. It was at this point that they released Beorn's ponies, and Gandalf left the party, to the consternation of the dwarves and Bilbo Baggins.
The Forest Gate was the western entrance to the Elf-path that led across Mirkwood to the Elvenking's Halls. It was formed as a sort of arch made by two great trees leaning together that were old, ivy-strangled, hung with lichen, and bearing but a few blackened leaves. Beyond the gate the path became a gloomy tunnel, such that from within the forest the gate appeared as a small bright hole.
The Forest Gate has a small statue of Thranduil's wife, which is covered by the woods. There is also as a symbol of the Eye of Sauron.
Thorin and Company passed through the Forest Gate on the twenty-fifth of July 2941 after Gandalf departed with the ponies. The Forest Gate can be found in the northern Mirkwood region of "Eryn Lasgalen", allowing travel between the forest and the neighboring Beorning-lands.
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