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X Marks NJ SOLVED! Found Treasure!
After five weeks of clues, puzzles, and adventures across New Jersey, X Marks NJ #1 has been solved! Krista and Anthony were the first to uncover the hidden treasure, completing the hunt and claiming the prize.
In this interview, they share how they discovered the hunt, some of their biggest “aha” moments, and what it felt like to finally find the treasure.
Plus, hunt creator Gregory-John reflects on the success of X Marks NJ #1, lessons learned, and what’s next for future hunts.
This all in MW’s Six Questions! (Huge thanks to Krista & Anthony – and to Gregory-John for their excellent answers!)
First 3 Questions with Finders: Krista & Anthony
- 1Q) Congrats on the find! What prompted you to get involved in the hunt and say, ‘We’re doing this’?’
Thank you! We heard about the X Marks NJ hunt from a relative, who saw a post on social media and sent us the link since she thought we might be interested. We like solving riddles and wordplay, and we play a lot of videogames that involve some intense puzzle-solving. We also thought it would be a good opportunity to discover and explore some areas of NJ that we weren’t familiar with. We thought, for a small entry fee, it would be a little adventure and something fun to do on weekends. We both are born and raised in NJ. I don’t think it is very well-known outside of the people that grew up here how much this state has to offer when it comes to history and nature. This hunt, we thought, would be a great treat for us to rediscover everything New Jersey has to offer.
- 2Q) Have you worked on any other hunts? What did you enjoy most about X Marks NJ?
Prior to this hunt, we had no idea there was such a large community for real-life treasure hunts. We were aware of geocaching but had never participated ourselves. At the start of the hunt, Gregory-John suggested that we check out the documentary Gold & Greed: The Hunt for Fenn’s Treasure on Netflix, which we both found very eye-opening.
What we enjoyed most about X Marks NJ were the riddles and clues, and the challenges they posed each week. We definitely preferred the more challenging clues, since they were very satisfying once we figured out the trick. We never knew what to expect, and we looked forward to getting the email every week. After work on Friday, we had pen, paper, and our computers open and ready to go before the clues were sent. After we received the email, we got right down to solving the clues. We usually worked independently for a bit, then would exchange our findings and put our heads together to confirm our conclusions. Then we would head to the location the next day. We always made a nice day out of it after finding the clue, exploring the town and checking out local businesses.
Another thing that we really enjoyed each week was wondering whether the information that we collected at each location was even correct! We were confident in the locations, but did we record the right information once there? We had amassed a bunch of numbers, but how were they going to be used in the final clue? Would they be coordinates, or used in a cipher, or something else entirely? The not-knowing and trying to guess in anticipation of the final week was fun and got the wheels turning in our heads.
We also appreciated that it was clear Gregory-John put a lot of effort and passion into this project, and was very thorough with his communication.
- 3Q) Were there any clues or anything that stumped you for a bit. Please share a few of your ‘aha’ moments and how you worked through the hunt. Also, how confident you were once BOTG and how did you feel once finding the treasure?
Week 3 gave us the most trouble by far. One of the major clues was to follow the arrows, which we dutifully did using the provided map; seemed simple enough. However, we were getting nowhere. Turns out, these arrows were red herrings. It took us figuring out the anagram hidden in the weekly clue video’s file name to narrow it down. Once we knew the location, we were able to work backwards and figured out that the arrows we were supposed to be using were the points of harpoons included in the (what we thought was decorative) border around the map. I wish we had actually solved this one using the arrow clues since it was so clever!
Each clue led to its own “aha” moment, but there were a couple particular ones that really clinched it for us in the end. The final clue came with a ton of attachments that had us both a bit overwhelmed at first. We chose to tackle them by dividing them between the two of us. Anthony read through the long riddle and it was toward the end that something familiar suddenly clicked. He recognized it was referring to specific roads and the final ones in the route were right where he grew up. He said, “I know exactly where this is, get in the car!”. It was an exciting moment of realization, and crazy luck that he grew up in the area and we didn’t live too far away.
My “aha” moment came once we got to the location and started hiking. The map to the treasure had us following a route along large boulders near the Round Valley Reservoir. We had both hiked this area before and knew there were large boulders along the edge of the reservoir, at least in some places. We hiked up and over the mountain and found a trail that went parallel to the water’s edge; perfect, we were on the right track according to the map! We were only a little concerned that we were no longer seeing the numbered markers on the trees, which were confirming clues on the map. After going about 1.5 miles out of our way and looking at the map for the hundredth time, I noticed that the dotted-line trails we were following continued far into what we thought was the water on the map, which didn’t seem quite right… At that point, I realized that what we thought were boulders on the water’s edge were actually boulders at the crest of the mountain, and we should have turned onto a small trail that we deemed a “deer path” higher up the mountain. Once we corrected for this oversight, we found the treasure shortly after!
For weeks 1-4, we had 100% confidence that we solved the clues correctly when we were BOTG. We had essentially unlimited time to figure out the solutions, so we took our time and used the confirming clues each week to seal the deal. For the final week, however, we felt very rushed since we had to be the first ones there. We knew we only solved about half of the clues before going BOTG since we were confident about the general location. But once we were on the mountain and the map wasn’t aligning 100% with where we were going (as described above), we definitely had doubts. The mountain was steep so we were pretty aware that any decision to hike down in elevation would cost us energy and time if we were wrong, which we were. Plus, we hadn’t seen another soul the whole time, so were we even on the right track? It got to the point that we were questioning whether the little red footprints on the map that we were following were actually little red fish (herrings), zooming in on our phones frantically to check! As the sun was setting and our energy levels were draining, we were about to call it quits for the day but decided to give ourselves one more chance to test out our hypothesis about the boulders being at the crest of the mountain, and hey, we had to hike back up it anyway to get back to the car. Our perseverance paid off because it turns out we finally got it right!
Finding the treasure was exhilarating, and a relief! We found the dead tree at the base of the boulders as given in the clues, saw a pile of sticks covering a hole at the base of the tree that looked as if it hadn’t already been touched, reached in and pulled out the treasure chest! We called Gregory-John and sent a photo confirming we found it. The excitement and adrenaline of winning definitely refilled our energy reserves and made the hike back a breeze. We hiked back to the parking lot along the path that we should have taken in, so it felt very full-circle and satisfying that we got to experience the trek the way Gregory-John had intended. He and his family met us at the parking lot to celebrate, along with some other treasure hunters who had arrived a little later. It was really fun to hear everyone’s experiences with the various clues and how they arrived at their solutions, as well as to get some insight from the creator himself. Our hope that we would discover great new places in our state was absolutely fulfilled since this trail is now one of our favorites.
3 Questions with Gregory-John – Creator of X Marks NJ #1
- 4Q) Congrats on putting on a successful and fun hunt! What did you enjoy most about it? Did it go as you imagined?
My favorite part of the hunt was hearing from the players and reading their comments. One message especially resonated with me. A participant reached out to thank me and shared that they had been going through a tough period in their life. They said the hunt gave them something positive to focus on. Hearing that the hunt brought them so much joy made my day.
The hunt itself went far better than I ever imagined. We had 55 people register, which completely exceeded my expectations. When I launched it, I honestly thought I would end up losing money after paying for the bounty, coins, digital tools, and other expenses. Instead, the hunt generated enough income to help fund the bounty for X Marks N.J. II. I am looking forward to starting work on X Marks NJ II.
- 5Q) Were there any surprises or things you hadn’t expected searchers to do or interpret from the clues, etc?
The biggest surprise for me was how difficult it was to remain completely neutral throughout the hunt. I now have a much better understanding of why JCB chose not to answer emails or engage on social media.
Many participants reached out looking for confirmation that their theories or solutions were correct. It was tempting to help, but I had to resist the urge. The most I could do was restate clues that had already been publicly posted. Maintaining that balance between being supportive and preserving the hunt’s integrity was much harder than I expected.
It’s a part of running a treasure hunt that I never anticipated, but it gave me a newfound appreciation for the discipline required to remain impartial.
- 6Q) Now that one hunt is down, what are the plans for the future? Any lessons learned during this experience that will be put forth for the next?
I’m incredibly excited to begin work on X Marks N.J. II and III. I already have several puzzles in mind that I think are clever—the kind that will leave people scratching their heads for a while, only to look back at the solution and wonder how they ever missed it. I think participants are going to have a lot of fun with them.
Looking beyond the trilogy, I have plans for something even bigger: a national treasure hunt. While it’s still too early to reveal many details, I can say that it will be ambitious and unlike anything I’ve seen in the treasure-hunting world. My goal isn’t just to create another hunt, but to offer a fresh experience that challenges some of the traditional assumptions about what a treasure hunt can be.
I don’t want to give too much away just yet, but I’m excited about the possibilities. If everything comes together the way I envision it, I think people are really going to enjoy it, and it may even help reshape how we think about treasure hunts in the future.
X Marks NJ – Treasure Hunts – Join the Adventures
