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Golden Crossroads #2 by Redmark Treasure Hunts!
I had the pleasure of chatting about Golden Crossroads #2 with Tom of Redmark Treasure Hunts. This hunt for a treasure valued at over $4500 is set to release in a couple weeks! As you can guess from the title – it is his second hunt in a series. Golden Crossroads #1 was successfully, and cleverly, solved in 2025.
You’re welcome to read the transcript below from the ‘Six Questions Live’ – or watch on the MW YouTube Channel.
(Join discussions on the MW Discord or Facebook group page) Treasures are out there to find!
Six Questions with Tom:
- 1Q) I love how your website’s homepage talks about breaking away from the boredom of routine weekends. Treasure hunting definitely does this! What inspired you to decide to create and offer these opportunities for searchers?
Growing up in rural Oklahoma playing in the woods, taking the city kids out to go snipe hunting, and learning about outdoor hiking and camping techniques via the Boy Scouts is what inspires my BOTG hunts. Once I moved to California I got a taste of real outdoor wildernesses. There’s nothing like breaking away from the weekend boredom than getting outside to discover new places.
In the early 1980’s I solved a treasure hunt published in a national magazine. It inspired me to create my own hunt by hiding 3 gold coins in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Coincidently that’s the same time the Byron Priess was supposedly hiding his “The Secret- a treasure hunt” cask in Golden Gate Park. The story of this coincidence and something I saw on TV 40 years later gets better, but I figure it’s too long to tell here. That event inspired me to start my own hunts again.
- 2Q) Please share how someone can get involved in your hunt? And what is the value of the treasure to find?
To participate in the Golden Crossroads-2 treasure hunt one simply goes to the hunt website to sign-up. The fee is a minimal $35 for the opportunity to test your clue solving and outdoor skills to find a 1-ounce gold coin (today’s value of about ~$4700). This gives the hunter access to the hunt story and 3 clue sets containing poems, riddles, ciphers and eventually a……well the last clue set has to stay secret for now. Each clue must be solved before advancing to the next clue.
- 3Q) This is actually your second hunt. What lessons did you take from your previous hunt that has helped shape Golden Crossroads 2? How are your hunts evolving in terms of complexity or scale? Are you intentionally increasing difficulty, or focusing more on experience?
Wow, we could talk about this forever. My last hunt taught me so much!
I think the biggest lesson was that I don’t need to leave a bunch of breadcrumbs thinking that the hunters need a little help. I learned that hunters in the treasure hunt community are much smarter, ingenious and resourceful than me.
My hunts are delivered online whereby the hunter must enter their solution on a webpage. From this I learned I must be better at building the solution answer so that the hunter can’t just guess the answer. In the last hunt one hunter threw 120 guesses at one of the key clues to advance. A couple people “guessed it” after only 4 or 5 guesses. I now test my answers on 2-3 different computers and 3 different AI systems to ensure they’re AI proof.
One of my objectives is to build a treasure hunt that can be solved. I get it, I’m a treasure hunter too. I personally lose interest in the large hunts that are taking years to find. I find that there is a something a little too unfair about those hunts. On the other hand, my last hunt was solved in a matter of days which is dissatisfying to the hunters, so Golden Crossroads-2 will be more difficult in complexity and scope so that its fun and fair. On the last hunt you could drive up and park next to the hidden treasure box. Golden Crossroads-2 requires a longer car journey, and a hike into the woods? How long and deep, well it depends on a person’s perspective.
Lastly, I’ve intentionally increased the difficulty – or at least I think I have. I know to respect skilled hunters’ abilities. The experience in the last hunt was more about following a story of early California railroad history, the railroad tycoons of the day, and the true-life mystery of one of their family’s ghost. The experience in Golden Crossroads-2 is more around the experience of getting outdoors.
- 4Q) As a treasure hunt creator, what part of the process do you find the most rewarding? Designing the puzzles, building the story, or seeing how players engage with it?
I think my creativity lies in going out hunting for locations and then designing and testing the puzzles around the location. I love both the outdoors, and learning, studying and practicing ciphers. I’m the first one to admit I’m not as creative in storytelling and graphic design as the creators of almost all hunts I’ve studied and who can write an entire intriguing book for their hunt. I hope my fame will be in creating puzzles that hunters shout “Yes!” when they figure one out.
- 5Q) The treasure for Golden Crossroads 2 requires a searcher to go to a location and physically find it. Are all the clues able to be solved from home – before heading to that location? Or are there clues to solve once on the ‘ground’ so to speak? Is the location accessible 24/7?
Yes, the hunt is designed to inspire people to get outdoors and find it. There are 3 clue sets in this hunt. The 1st clue set contains a poem, riddle and cipher. But someone must go to a site to find the answer which must be entered into the website. AI can’t help with the answer and it can’t be randomly guessed. After that the remaining clue sets contain some information that can be figured out at home, but will require more and more onsite exploration, observation and skill. As the hunt story will divulge, my own personal experience means safely hiking for me is a top priority. Don’t hunt in the dark.
- 6Q) What’s your long-term vision for Redmark Treasure Hunts? Could we eventually see hunts outside of the California area?
Yes, On my Dream Board right now is a 2027 multi-location multi-prize hunt with locations that may be in multiple states. The theme is a story about two lovers who start giving each other a large gemstone gift reflecting their love. They begin trying to one-up each other with a better and more valuable present, and better hiding places.
I prefer BOTG hunts which would require hunters to travel, so I want to be aware of this challenge and try to make sure the search area is not too geographically wide. Given this, I may change it to a purely arm-chair hunt. It’s too early to decide yet. I may even open this up to a partnership with a collaborator.