Horse-road

The Great West Road that ran out of Minas Tirith headed northward at first, and then bent around Amon Dîn and the Drúadan Forest before continuing on westward along the feet of the White Mountains. The road was originally made to join Gondor with its fellow kingdom, Arnor, in the far north. By the later years of the Third Age, Arnor had long since fallen, and the road's northern stretches had fallen into ruin. Nonetheless, in the southern lands it was maintained, and after the founding of Rohan in III 2510, it continued to be used by travellers, forming the main route from Minas Tirith to Edoras and the lands beyond.

This road, or at least the eastern part of it length where it ran past the Drúadan Forest, was sometimes known as the 'horse-road', especially by the Wild Men who dwelt in the forest. The name seems to reflect a connection - at least among the Drúedain - between the road and the Rohirrim (who rode down it from the west, and whom they named 'Horse-men').

To the southeast of the Drúadan Forest, where the road turned towards Minas Tirith, it was guarded in later years by a wall, the Rammas Echor, that was built to protect the inner lands of Gondor. During the War of the Ring, a force of Orcs took control of this wall, blocking the Rohirrim from travelling the horse-road to reinforce their allies in Minas Tirith. Ghân-buri-Ghân, the headman of the Wild Men, revealed that the horse-road was not the only route to Minas Tirith, and guided the Rohirrim down a forgotten road that ran parallel to it through the Stonewain Valley. So Théoden and his Riders were able to reach the Pelennor Fields in time to turn the tide of battle there.