Hidden Treasure Hikes: Where to Search for Lost Loot Across America

BY WILL BRENDZA

Finding a cache of gold out in the woods is every hiker’s dream — and sometimes, it comes true. In February 2025, two tourists were hiking on a hill in the Czech Republic when they stumbled upon a life-changing find. They noticed a tin can and a metal case tucked within an old manmade wall.

Upon pulling them out and opening them, they discovered seven kilos of gold objects: 598 coins, 16 cigarette cases, 10 bracelets, a comb, a chain, a key, and a wire mesh bag.

The haul allegedly totaled over $340,000.

It’s a wild story, but not one that’s unheard of. In 2024 (also in the Czech Republic), a woman went for a casual hike and found 2,150 silver coins from the 12th century. In 2021, a hiker in Nivorno, Italy, found 175 gold coins dating back 2,000 years to ancient Rome. And in 2014, two Californian hikers noticed some old tin cans buried along a trail, containing 1,472 unminted U.S. gold coins from the 1800s. The list goes on.

Most “hiker finds treasure” stories involve fortunes no one ever knew were hidden. It’s usually pure chance and good luck that leads people to The Find — but not always. Sometimes, fortune favors the ambitious, and it takes a good old-fashioned Goonies-style treasure hunt to make that dream a reality.

Forrest Fenn’s infamous $2 million treasure, discovered in 2020 in Yellowstone National Park, is a good example. In a poem from his memoir, Fenn penned a sequence of clues that led to his hiding place. Thousands of people struck out in search, some even died in pursuit, and eventually, a man named Jack Stuef found the chest of gold.

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So in the spirit of adventure and good fortune, we’ve pulled together this list of hidden treasures that no one has ever found. Almost every state in the U.S. has one. Many western states, like Arizona and Montana, have many. Some read like tall tales or local legends. However, a few detailed accounts are specific enough to potentially track down.

Do some research and plan a camping or hiking trip around any one of these lost treasures, and who knows? Your story might be the next one to make headlines.

Hidden treasure hikes across the U.S.

La Caverna del Oro: Colorado

Marble Mountain, at left. Photo: David Herrera via Flickr Creative Commons

 

Supposed location: Marble Mountain, Sangre de Cristos Mountains, Southern Colorado

In the 1500s, Spanish conquistadors allegedly discovered a cave rich with gold deposits 3,700m up on Marble Mountain in southern Colorado. They forced an enslaved group of Native Americans to mine and extract it. But eventually, the slaves rose up, revolting and killing all but one of the Spaniards, who escaped with as much gold as he could carry and the legend of La Caverna del Oro.

The Natives, who were nomadic and had no use for its mineral wealth, abandoned the cave. But around 1900, a woman named Elisha Horn said she discovered a skeleton clad in Spanish armor, with an arrow in its back high up on the mountain. The discovery reignited the old legend of the lost mine and led to the rediscovery and exploration of Marble Cave (aka La Caverna del Oro) in the 1920s.

Photo: Screenshot via Google

 

So the story goes. Despite its name, the Spanish treasure has never been found. Other relics from the era, like a 200-year-old ladder and hammer, have been pulled out of the mines, but the gold remains elusive.

Directions: From Westcliffe, drive southwest to the Rainbow Junction trailhead off of Colorado Road 120, just below South Colony Lakes Trailhead. Start on Rainbow Trail and when you reach the ridge, look for Marble Trail on the right. The hike is 11km and involves 1,070m of elevation gain. The area is home to 11 different caves. Marble Cave (aka La Caverna del Oro) is the largest and is very dangerous to explore. It requires special equipment and training.

Reynolds Gang Treasure: Colorado

The Santa Maria Statue of Christ, which the Reynold’s treasure is supposedly located near. Photo: Kari via Flickr Creative Commons

 

Supposed location: Below Mount Logan between Deer Creek and Elk Creek Drainages

In 1861, two Confederate brothers, James and John Reynolds, escaped Union imprisonment in Denver and fled to north Texas. They assembled a motley gang of southern sympathizers and returned to the Centennial State, determined to pillage and raid every settlement they could.

They robbed stages and Mexican mule trains, terrorizing settlements, and fighting Apache Indians along the way. By the time they reached Fairplay, Colorado, they’d amassed a more-than-modest hoard of gold dust, coins, and cash.

Eventually, Denver authorities dispatched scouting parties to apprehend the outlaws, and when the Reynolds Gang caught wind of them, they made immediate efforts to hide their fortune. All but a few (including John Reynolds) were apprehended and executed. But none revealed the location of the treasure.

Photo: Screenshot via Google

 

Years later, when John Reynolds was on his deathbed, he allegedly drew up a map of the exact location of the buried fortune near Kenosha Pass. Many have searched for this lost fortune. If it was ever found, no one ever said a word. It is widely believed to still be hidden somewhere in the hills beneath Mount Logan.

Directions: From Denver, drive up U.S. 285 toward Kenosha Pass. Before the turn-off for Guanella Pass, you’ll pass the Santa Maria Statue of Christ on the right. According to the map, the treasure is located somewhere above the statue, between the Deer Creek and Elk Creek Drainages, which both run off of Mount Logan. You can find an image of the map here.

Lost Cabin Mine: Wyoming

Lost Cabin Mine is hidden somewhere in the Bighorn Mountains. Photo: MJ Rehm via Flickr Creative Commons

 

Supposed location: Bighorn Mountains outside of Buffalo, Wyoming

Sometime around 1860, seven prospectors hit a bonanza motherlode up in Montana’s Bighorn Mountains and built a cabin near (or potentially over) the entrance. Native Americans attacked the miners, though, killing all but two of them. The survivors fled to Fort Reno with around $7,000 in gold.

Whether shrewdly or stupidly, they couldn’t recall the exact location of the mine. Nevertheless, the townspeople of Fort Reno rallied a posse and set out to find it. Those who left with the party were never seen again.

Photo: Screenshot via Google

In the hundred-plus years since, many prospectors and treasure hunters have searched for the Lost Cabin Mine. Two men separately claimed to have found it. But both of them died suddenly and in extremely bizarre manners before they could disclose the location.

It remains one of Wyoming’s most popular tales of lost treasure — and one that’s never been resolved.

Directions: From Buffalo, Wyoming, go west into the Bighorn Mountains. Look for the dilapidated ruins of an old mining cabin and the associated mining shaft.

Henry Plummer’s Gold: Montana

The old structures of Bannack, Montana, still stand. Photo: Larry Myhre via Flickr Creative Commons

 

Supposed location: Near Bannack, Montana, possibly in the Alder Gulch area

Prospectors flocked to Bannack, Wyoming, in 1863, shortly after gold was discovered nearby. With them came outlaws intent on stealing what the miners found. A group known as the Road Agent Gang nearly wiped out the prospectors in the area, stealing everything they could.

Turns out, Henry Plummer, an ex-con turned sheriff of Bannack, was also the leader of the Road Agent Gang. It’s estimated that he and his gang killed more than 120 miners, stealing the rough equivalent of $6 million in gold nuggets, gold dust, and coins.

Photo: Screenshot via Google

 

Eventually, the gang took their violence too far. A posse formed in Bannack. The outlaws were hunted down and arrested, whereupon they revealed the identity of their leader. Plummer was subsequently captured and hanged with his gang. But before he died, he offered to bring the townspeople his weight in gold if they’d let him live.

He was not released, and as far as is known, no one ever found his treasure.

Directions: From Dillon, Montana, drive west along MT-287 until you reach Bannack Bench Road. Turn left and continue to Bannack State Park. The treasure is believed to be somewhere among the hills surrounding the ghost town.

Jarbridge Stage Robbery: Nevada

The Idaho side of Jarbridge Canyon. Photo: BLMIdaho via Flickr Creative Commons

 

Supposed location: Between Three Creeks, Idaho, and Jarbridge, Nevada, possibly in Jarbridge Canyon

The last stage robbery in Nevada state history took place in the northern part of the state, near the Idaho border, in 1916. A two-horse mail stage was somewhere between Three Creek, Idaho, and Jarbridge, Nevada, when bandits allegedly robbed it and shot the driver in the head with a .44 caliber pistol. When a search party discovered the grisly scene, they found that $4,000 was missing.

Photo: Screenshot via Google

 

A man named Ben Kuhl eventually confessed, claiming that he and the stagecoach driver had been in cahoots and buried the money in Jarbridge Canyon. But he’d shot the driver after an argument. The town convicted Kuhl and sentenced him to life in prison. The missing loot has never been discovered.

Directions: From Jarbridge, Nevada, drive north on NF-062 for 21km. Cross the border into Idaho, and continue to Jarbridge Canyon.

Leon Trabuco’s Gold: New Mexico

Photo: Adam Cohn via Flickr Creative Commons

 

Supposed location: Near Farmington, New Mexico

In the early 1930s, a Mexican millionaire named Leon Trabuco bought up much of Mexico’s gold reserves in anticipation of rising gold prices in the U.S. He wanted to move the gold north of the border and sell for a higher price. Trabuco allegedly melted down 15 tonnes (16 tons) of gold, minting it into untraceable ingots.

However, he was unable to find a person or institution he trusted enough to hide his treasure with. So, he decided it was smarter to bury it in northern New Mexico.

Trabuco hired Red Moiser, a local pilot, to smuggle his gold cargo from Tijuana into an airstrip on the Conger Mesa near Farmington, New Mexico, one planeload at a time. There, Trabuco’s men picked up the cargo in a truck and drove it to an undisclosed location.

Photo: Screenshot via Google

But shortly after they’d hidden all 15 tonnes, in 1934, the U.S. banned private gold ownership. That left Trabuco with no one to sell the illegal gold to. He died not long after, taking the location of his wealth to his grave.

However, treasure hunter Ed Foster claimed to have found some clues. Foster alleged that he’d found the airstrip Moiser used near Farmington. He said native Americans who lived nearby confirmed they’d seen Moiser’s plane land there many, many times.

He also claimed to have found a rock marked with the words “1933 16 TON,” and an out-of-place Tijuana-style home on the Ute Mountain Reservation that he believed was Trabuco’s.

Foster believed the treasure was somewhere between Conger Mesa, the Mexican-style home, and the marked rock, which he called “Shrine Rock” in his book.

Directions: From Farmington, New Mexico, drive north toward the town of La Plata, near the Colorado border. Conger Mesa is to the west of the town, accessible via numerous dirt roads.

Lost Adams’ Diggings: New Mexico

Gila National Forest. Photo: Don Barrett

Supposed location: Southwestern New Mexico, in the area of Gila National Forest

The Lost Adams Diggings endure as one of New Mexico’s most maddening mysteries. In 1964, a man known only as Adams met a group of miners in Sacaton, Arizona, who were headed out on a prospecting mission. No one knows what Adams’ first name was, only his surname and that he was originally from Rochester, New York.

When he met the miners he had nothing to his name except 12 horses he offered to the miners if he could join them. Led by a Pima-Mexican guide, Adams and the mining group eventually discovered a canyon described as “crying tears of gold.” The deposit was so rich that the men reported finding nuggets bigger than oak nuts lying on the ground and mixed in with the soil.

They started mining, built a cabin, and amassed a fortune, which they buried much of beneath their cabin. Apache Indians warned them never to venture above the falls within the canyon. The miners said they wouldn’t, but their greed got the better of them.

Eventually, the Apaches realized the men had broken their promise not to explore above the falls and attacked the settlement. They killed almost everyone and burned the cabin.

Photo: Screenshot via Google

Adams, however, managed to escape with his life. He fled all the way to Los Angeles, where he lived until the Apache Wars had ended. Then he returned to try to find his lost treasure.

He’d spend the rest of his life looking.

Many have debated the possible location of the Lost Adams Diggings over the decades, but geologically, the only place in New Mexico where that much gold could be is in the state’s southwestern quadrant. Adams himself spent much of the rest of his life searching around Reserve, New Mexico, near the northwestern corner of Gila National Forest.

Directions: Most of Southwestern New Mexico is fair game for the Lost Adams Diggings. Reserve, N.M., where Adams spent his life searching, is a good place to start. The National Forest is mountainous in that area, and there is a lot of BLM to search. But based on landmarks and descriptions of the original route, some argue that it could be in the Zuni Mountains or in the mountains south of Quemado, N.M. According to the original descriptions, the lost canyon sits at the base of two peaks that “look like sugarloaves.” The miners entered via a small opening just big enough for one rider to enter at a time.

Treasure Troves in Flagstaff: Arizona

Town ruins at Two Guns. Photo: J Jakobson

Supposed location: On the Little Colorado River near Canyon Diablo

In the late 1800s, a man named Hermann Wolf ran a very successful Indian trading post near Canyon Diablo, Arizona — one of the most dangerous towns in the West. Due to the rampant prominence of robberies in the area, he was wary of sending his money anywhere or storing it with anyone. So, he started burying his profits.

According to legend, Wolf buried thousands of gold and silver coins in small containers all over his property. In 1901, 20 U.S. gold coins were discovered at Canyon Diablo. Then, in 1966, a bucket of Mexican silver coins was discovered as well, lending credence to the stories.

Photo: Screenshot via Google

There were probably several other discoveries over the years that were never mentioned. No one knows how much loot old Wolf buried there. Today, Canyon Diablo (Two Guns) is a ghost town, but there’s no knowing how much treasure could be hiding beneath it.

Directions: From Flagstaff, drive east along I-40 for about 50km. Take exit 240 at Two Guns. Drive north about 6km until you see the ghost town of Canyon Diablo. Wolf’s trading post was located about 19km north of the town. You will be on the Navajo Reservation.

Lost Randolph Trail Cache: Oregon

Photo: Alex Derr via Flickr Creative Commons

 

Supposed location: Near Randolph, Oregon

When the Grouleaux (or, depending on your source, Groslius) brothers headed south from the Willamette Valley in 1849 to join the California gold rush, they took the coast instead of traveling further inland. Huge river deltas would have made their passage almost impossible. But lucky for them, they didn’t have to go that far. Before even leaving Oregon, they discovered a beach literally sparkling with gold dust.

The brothers mined the area in secret for three years, amassing a fortune. But in their fourth year of mining, the word got out, and prospectors flooded the area by the hundreds. The boom town of Randolph sprung up as a result. Having had enough, the brothers sold their mining claim for $40,000 in gold.

Photo: Screenshot via Google

But fearing bandits would rob them of the sum if they tried traveling home with it, they buried the loot beneath two gunpowder cans somewhere along the shore. They were already rich, and left it there like it was in a savings account they could come back to later on.

With enough money to live comfortably, they retired. But years later, when one of the brothers returned to find the hidden gold, he couldn’t locate the spot again. Forests grow fast in Oregon, and the coast changes frequently. It would have almost certainly been unrecognizable after so much time.

Their treasure was never found, and somewhere along that coastline, is a fortune worth almost $1.5 million today. After so many years, the gunpowder cans have almost certainly rusted away. But the gold should still be there, lying in wait.

Directions: From Randolph, Oregon, travel west to Bullards Beach State Park Campground. From there, search the coastline.

What should you do if you find lost or buried treasure?

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons

Rule number one of finding buried treasure is: Contact a lawyer first. As soon as people know you have found buried treasure — be it a property owner, the government, or your crazy distant relatives — they’ll want a piece.

Remember the California couple at the top of this article? They found thousands of unminted U.S. gold coins while on a hike and told the world. As soon as the government heard about the discovery, they were contacted and told to return the stolen items as they still belonged to Uncle Sam. Had they refused, the two could have faced criminal penalties.

Of course, not telling anyone you just found treasure is illegal in most countries (and definitely in the U.S.). So if you find buried or lost treasure, the right thing to do is to alert the authorities. If you’re on private property, the find will likely belong to the owner. If you’re on public land (in a national park, national forest, or on BLM), the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 says it belongs to the government.

You very well may have to turn the treasure or valuables over to the authorities. Even if you find the treasure and can stake some kind of legal claim to it (say, you found it on your property), you’ll have to report it as income and claim taxes on it. Moral of the story? Refer to rule number one.

This story first appeared on GearJunkie.