The Great Colorado Treasure Hunt

Are you ready for The Great Colorado Treasure Hunt? We are busy hiding treasure and clues several times per week. The Fremont County clues and treasures are placed, as are the clues for the Colorado national Monument. There are ten hunts ready, but there will be many more necessary to claim the grand prize, and these will soon be ready as well.

That first one can be found on the page Fremont County Treasure Hunts, or if you don't want to know more about the Fremont County (hint - it may be helpful to learn a bit about the locations), you can go straight to The First Treasure Hunt Clues. Go to the Treasure Hunt Index for a list of all hunts.

The Rules

1. Each treasure hunt is primarily outdoors, although for some a bit of online research may be necessary, and there are with occasional challenges to get to the next page with clues, such as code breaking or riddles to solve (all will be explained as you go along).

2. You have to get out there! Having friends do the hard parts won't work. In fact, to claim your prize, you'll have to email us (or use regular mail) a photo of you from each of the hunts (it takes three to win a regular prize - see item #4). The clue pages specify where you should take the photo.

3. As specified on the clues pages, there are bonus treasures and prizes available - both treasures you can take with you (cash, old coins, souvenirs) and hidden clues which get you to a special page on the site where you can download a bonus prize. They're not meant to be the primary goal, and may not be there if somebody has beaten you to them (they also can be very difficult to find at times).

4. The primary challenge is to collect the necessary clues to get to the "solution page" which announces that you've completed the hunt, and often also is a "clues page" for the next. Email us the necessary photos to claim your prize any time you have completed any three hunts. The prizes available at the moment are all listed and described on the page, The Treasure Chest.

The grand prize is $100 for completing all hunts on the page Free Treasure Hunt Clues. This means all the hunts listed at the time you start the game (as evidenced by your first claim for a three-hunt prize). More are being added and the grand prize will be increased (see next item).

5. As the success of this web site allows, that grand prize (paid for completion of all treasure hunts) will be increased, hopefully to $1,000 or more. This is not a race, either. With the exception of the bonus treasures and prizes, all prizes can be claimed by any and all who complete the requirements.

6. The first six Fremont County treasure hunts have to be done in order, because the completion of each one is the only way to get to the page with the clues for the next hunt. Others are either independent or in sets of two or three. You can find all the treasure hunts listed on the page: Free Treasure Hunt Clues.

Steve Gillman

stevengillman @ hotmail.com

(Remove the spaces - they are there just to deter email collection programs.)

What To Expect

Clues will be carved in stone, hidden in narrow canyons, marked in trees, and sometime even involve a bit of online research. There are snakes out there, and other wild animals as well. You may have to climb steep hills and small cliffs, and cross streams. We accept no responsibility for your actions, so be careful and remember to bring water and snacks for most of these hunts.

You will need:

* Small Backpack or Fanny=Pack
* First Aid Kit
* Water Bottle
* GPS Device (Coordinates are used in some clues, but it's possible to get by without a GPS.)
* Compass
* Camera (Preferably digital.)

You may want to bring other items as well, depending on the particular treasure hunt. For example, there are several places you'll be going to that have coins hidden under rocks or scattered in the weeds, and a metal detector would help with finding these. Read the clues pages carefully for an idea of what might be helpful.

Most of the treasure hunts will take you no more than an hour or two from your car. None of them require overnight backpacking. Some can be accomplished fifteen minutes after you pull off the road, if you are good. Some may take you a couple tries, if you read the clues wrong or lose your way.