Mysterious Buried Treasure Found In San Francisco Just 11 Hours Into Hunt

SAN FRANCISCO — A mysterious buried treasure in San Francisco was found just hours after the hunt for the bounty was announced.

A Reddit user named buriedtreasure2025 posted Tuesday morning on r/sanfrancisco about the hunt, including a link to buriedtreasure.carrd.co, a website that explained that a 22-pound chest with over $10,000 in ingots, cash and local artifacts was buried somewhere in the city and clues would lead hunters to the loot.

And they did, in mere hours.

“Well, that went A LOT faster than anyone anticipated. Months were hoped, days felt possible, but 11 hours ... wow,” the user posted in an update Wednesday, adding the person who found the treasure was interviewed for a story to air Wednesday on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

The clues were in a poem that read:

“Eighteen Bold letters, Preserved
In a clearing sight a dark room’s
view of brave surfers reeling
From dry ruin’s gate to solar’s tall
mast, chart a historic cross—
the start of one’s path
To trace the true route, venture
only at night: to be certain of
bearing you’ll need pack a light
In the steadfast basin, where feet part
and agree, dig a shovel’s depth
down—you’ll find the treasure you seek.”

The poem led hunters to a field near India Basin Park, Camera Obscura, Fleishhacker Pool, the “Point of Infinity” sculpture and a trail in Mount Sutro Open Space Preserve, with the treasure buried in a hollow amid large boulders up a side trail, according to the website.

“This was a lot of fun and we'd love to do it again,” the user said in the Reddit update. “If any deep-pocketed collaborators are interested, please do reach out.”