TREASURE FOUND: Married couple finds $25,000 treasure at Temple Quarry Trail in Sandy

SANDY, Utah (ABC4) — The Utah Treasure Hunt, a beloved annual tradition organized by David Cline and John Maxim, is now complete as the $25,000 treasure was found on the Temple Quarry Trail in Sandy.

The winners are a married couple out of American Fork named Hunter and Corinne. While the decoding to find this treasure was elaborate, Hunter, who was the primary treasure seeker, said he was able to use the tie music references in the first hint to The Beatles, whose original name was “The Quarrymen.”

This led him and his wife to Temple Quarry Trail in Sandy, where they found the treasure chest. See the full breakdown of how they found the treasure here.

Read the original hint below:

Begin your search where fabled words resound

Before the standing stairs and kings were crowned

Trace the steps of the lionhearted teams

Only outshone by a jewels unyielding gleam

If you get lost just follow the arrow

As you play peek-a-boo with the pharaoh

Store all these new memories inside the bank

But stay far from the edge when you walk the plank

Whistle with Pricess Peach this simple tune

While you listen to dark of the moon

The treasure is near now check if you’re alone

And discover the chest between two stones

The Utah Treasure Hunt has become an annual summer tradition in the Beehive State. In 2024, the $25,000 prize was found by a father-and-son duo, who cracked the riddle to find the chest full of cash along Grove Creek Trail in Pleasant Grove.

The treasure hunting tradition started in the summer of 2020 with a modest prize of $5,000, and it has since grown every year with more money “buried” in Utah’s wilderness and even more hunters getting outside to track it down.

“When we started, it was just a fun, awesome thing to do during COVID to get people out. But then, as we’ve done it, it’s created a pretty unique community of treasure hunters, and it has a really positive impact on people,” Maxim previously told ABC4.com.

The treasure hunt is free and open to everyone of all ages. The only rules implemented by the event organizers are to be safe, have fun, and don’t trespass onto private property in search of the treasure.

Cline and Maxim said they picked this year’s location with safety in mind, meaning treasure hunters weren’t expected to rock climb, do any “mountain goating,” bushwacking, or digging. The two asked that treasure hunters treat Utah’s mountains and trails with the utmost respect, be aware of wildlife, and pack plenty of water and sunscreen.

A complete solve video is coming soon, available on John Maxim’s Instagram here.