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The Phantom Canyon Treasure Hunt takes place in the canyon it is named for. You'll be sent down a rough road, but one many regular passenger cars take (slowly). This one will also involve climbing up to a scary ledge on a cliff, but there is a safe way up that doesn't require any special skills - if you pay attention. This is also a start of three connected hunts, meaning you have to complete this one to get to the next, and so on.
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Phantom Canyon - The Clues
From either county road 123 or Highway 50, a few miles west of Canon City, go north on 67. This is Phantom Canyon Road. It starts out paved, but becomes a narrow, winding, rocky dirt and gravel road. Your final destination is 8.6 miles after the pavement ends. But before that you need the first clue, so park the car as soon as you pass through the second tunnel. Down below is where you start the search.
Look among the trees between the road and stream. One of them has the letter "V" carved in it. Following that there are some parallel cuts. Count them. The number of cuts is the number of stream crossings you'll have on the next leg of the journey.
Past mile marker 14 you'll come to a curved red bridge of steel, with wooden planking. Park on the south side. Just before the bridge there is a gate. It isn't locked, and can be opened, as it provides access to public lands (close it again behind you). Follow the dirt road until you have completed the number of stream crossings indicated by the first clue (the number of cuts in the log). Very shortly after your final stream crossing there is an opening.
In the opening there may still be a section of a large dead tree on your left. If so, the arrow cut in it points in the direction of a mine or cave high up on a rocky hill. That is where you are going.
Find a safe route up, most likely to the left. Check the two trees closest to the cave, on the ledge just below it. The cave itself is inaccessible without gear. It is just out of reach in the face of the cliff. One of the trees has some letters carved into it, along with some parallel lines. Take a photo of yourself here. Insert the letters (lower case) and the digit representing the number of lines (no spaces) in place of the question marks below to get the URL address of the next treasure hunt page:
http://www.ColoradoTreasureHunting.com/clues???.html
Bonus Treasure
In that opening from where you first saw the cave, there are several coins in small plastic bags buried or hidden here and there, none more than an inch underground. They are within fifty feet of that dead tree with the arrow cut in it, on the stream side. At least one is on the other side of the stream. Take one for yourself if you can find it. Then, to get a bonus prize, name the country it is from and the plural name of the currency it is denominated in. Without spaces, and in lower case letters, insert in place of the question marks below to get the URL address of page with a bonus prize. (for example; "canadadollars").
http://www.ColoradoTreasureHunting.com/z-???.html
Geocaches
There are a couple nice geocaches out this way. The first, "Hillbilly's Cache," is off Phantom Canyon Road, involves a stream crossing and steep hill, and is at the following GPS coordinates:
N 38 31.476 / W 105 07.598
The second, called "Eagle's Hideaway," is at the following GPS coordinates:
N 38° 32.195 W 105° 06.869