The medallion was discovered by the Delaney family, after 12 clues, at the top of the walking trail in Piñon Park (Virginia City Highlands Park), tucked away in a rocky crevice beneath a piñon pine!
Explanations for the 2026 Nevada Day Treasure Hunt Clues
Clue #1
Nevada Day is coming, and the Hunt’s begun,
With Pumpkins and Pioneers joining the fun!
Tall Tales may fool you, so choose what is true,
The Silver State’s waiting… Now follow your clue!
Explanation: This clue welcomes Treasure Hunters to the 2026 Hunt and gives a nod to the theme of this year’s Nevada Day Parade, Pumpkins, Pioneers, and Tall Tales!
Clue #2
Seek with good hearts, not with selfish desire,
Leave every place untouched as you retire.
Tread lightly on earth, let nature remain,
The treasure lies waiting on public terrain.
No digging or damage, no stone pulled apart,
No climbing or scratching to leave your mark.
No forcing, no trespass, respect every sign,
The treasure awaits those who seek it in kind.
Explanation: This clue is an important reminder for all Treasure Hunters to respect Nevada’s lands, wildlife, and communities while enjoying the Hunt. Exploring our state’s history and wide-open spaces is part of the adventure, but so is taking care of the places we visit. The medallion is always hidden on public land, never on private property, and there is never a need to dig, damage, or disturb anything along the way.
The Nevada Day Treasure Hunt is meant to be fun for everyone, so please hunt responsibly, respect the land, and leave every place just as you found it. By doing so, we can help keep this Nevada tradition safe and enjoyable for many years to come.
Clue #3
Burdens were carried over tear-stained ground,
What once had a name is now not to be found.
Uncover the tarnished, then widen your view,
Its boundaries whisper where not to pursue.
Explanation: This clue leads treasure hunters to Marietta, an old ghost town in Mineral County. The “burdens” refer to the mule teams that once hauled salt and borax from the Marietta and Teels Marsh area. Today, wild burros still wander among the remnants of Marietta’s past. The “tear-stained ground” offers a subtle nod to the salt beneath their feet, while the area’s silver-mining history adds another layer of meaning to the clue. Once hunters identified Marietta, they could eliminate Mineral County from their search, knowing that the medallion is hidden elsewhere this year.
Clue #4
A new path was promised and all would be shared,
No hunger, no hardship, no future impaired.
The desert reclaimed what the dreamers once knew,
That faded Nevada holds nothing for you.
Explanation: This clue leads Treasure Hunters to Nevada City, an experimental cooperative colony established just east of Fallon in 1916. Its founders dreamed of creating a new kind of community built around cooperation, shared opportunity, and a better way of life. Big plans were made, and people came from across the country to be part of the experiment, but the dream was short-lived. Within just a few years, the colony had fallen apart and most of its residents had moved on. Today, little remains of the community they hoped to build. Once you uncovered Nevada City, you also uncovered Churchill County, letting you know the medallion will not be found there.
Clue #5
Trails wander over where pioneers go,
Zealous emigrants risked onward through blinding snow.
Each iron guide held travelers true,
Trace what lies hidden, then bid it adieu.
Explanation: This clue hides its direction in plain sight using three acrostics. The first three words, “Trails wander over,” give you T-W-O, while the first letters of the words in the second line spell Z-E-R-O. The first letters in “Each iron guide held travelers true” spell E-I-G-H-T. Put them together and you have 208, pointing Treasure Hunters to Nevada State Route 208. The highway travels through both Douglas and Lyon counties, so once you uncovered the hidden number and followed its path, you can cross two more counties off your search. The medallion will not be found in either Douglas or Lyon County.
Clue #6
I do not care how grand the stones
They lay above my weary bones.
The spirits raised have long since gone by,
Yet my own, they say, refused to die.
Explanation: This clue leads treasure hunters to William “Whiskey Bill” Johnson, a colorful character from Storey County’s past. The first two lines were recited by the Reverend Patrick H. Willis at Whiskey Bill’s funeral, as documented by Phillip I. Earl in his article “The Requiem for Whiskey Bill,” published by the Nevada Historical Society. The reference to “spirits” carries a double meaning, recalling both the whiskey he produced and the ghostly tales that have survived him. The remains of Whiskey Bill’s home and distillery can still be found in Lagomarsino Canyon, where visitors have reported strange occurrences and claimed the site is haunted. Although Whiskey Bill has long since passed, legend suggests his spirit never truly left. Following his story leads treasure hunters to Storey County, where the medallion is hidden this year.
Clue #7
Three times came darkness, where death held sway,
Through frozen silence, one did not stray.
Long lost in exile, then brought back to stay,
What vanished before may now point the way.
Explanation: This clue tells the heartbreaking story of two brothers, Henry Jones, 14, and John Jones, 9, who perished in a blizzard just before Christmas in 1871. Traveling from their family’s ranch in Truckee Meadows to join their parents near American Flat, south of Virginia City, the boys spent the night at Brown Station, near present-day Damonte Ranch. On December 21, they continued along the less-traveled Ophir Grade rather than Geiger Grade, but never reached their destination. Three days later, on Christmas Eve, searchers discovered their frozen bodies beneath a snowbank, with their faithful horse still standing guard after three days and nights. The brothers were buried together in the Masonic section of Gold Hill Cemetery, where their gravestone remained until it was stolen in the 1970s.
In 1978, the gravestone mysteriously appeared beside a woman’s mailbox in Petaluma, California, nearly 200 miles away. It remained there until a local historian recognized it in 2011. Returned to Gold Hill, it was rededicated in August 2012, more than 140 years after the tragedy. The first two lines recall the boys’ fatal journey and their horse’s loyalty, while the final two reference the gravestone’s disappearance and return. This story leads treasure hunters to Gold Hill in Storey County where the medallion hides this year.
Clue #8
A name not his own left words on the page,
While stone kept its secrets age after age.
One spoke in stories, one in markings unknown,
Their voices remain where sagebrush has grown.
Explanation: This clue brings together two very different chapters of Nevada’s history. The first line refers to Samuel Clemens, better known by his pen name, Mark Twain, who began using that name while working as a journalist in Virginia City during the 1860s. His experiences in Nevada later became part of his famous book, Roughing It. The remaining lines refer to the ancient petroglyphs found in Lagomarsino Canyon in Storey County. These remarkable rock carvings were created by Indigenous peoples long before Twain arrived in Nevada, and many of their original meanings remain a mystery. While Twain preserved his observations through written stories, the earlier inhabitants left their markings carved in stone. Both left lasting records of Nevada’s past, separated by centuries but connected through the stories they continue to tell. The references to Virginia City and Lagomarsino Canyon lead Treasure Hunters to Storey County, where the medallion is hidden this year.
Clue #9
She was buried where no roots could grow,
Her limbs were severed for riches below.
The dead rose upward in search of the sun,
Then sank to their graves when the plunder was done.
Explanation: This clue refers to the enormous demand for timber during the Comstock mining boom. As miners dug deeper beneath Virginia City, vast quantities of lumber were needed to support the underground tunnels. Much of this timber came from the forests surrounding Lake Tahoe, where trees were cut and transported through an extraordinary system of railroads, tramways, flumes, and even a tunnel nearly 4,000 feet long beneath the mountains. The lumber traveled down to the valley floor, where it was loaded onto the Virginia & Truckee Railroad and carried up to Virginia City, built on the slopes of Sun Mountain. The reference to the dead rising “in search of the sun” points to this journey up the mountain, while the final line describes the timber’s ultimate fate, buried deep underground to support the mines. This clue connects Lake Tahoe’s forests, the remarkable engineering of the Comstock era, and Virginia City’s mining history, leading Treasure Hunters once again to Storey County.
Clue #10
Amid fortunes and failures, a harvest was made,
With no seed to sow and no earth for a spade.
Its bounty was gathered, then hidden away,
To hold back the fate of what time would betray.
Explanation: This clue leads Treasure Hunters to the historic ice-harvesting industry in the Lousetown area of Storey County. During the Comstock mining boom, ice was an important commodity, used to preserve food and keep supplies fresh long before modern refrigeration. Unlike a traditional harvest, this one required no seeds or cultivated fields. Instead, blocks of ice were cut from frozen reservoirs during the winter months and stored in insulated icehouses to slow their melting during warmer weather. Lousetown was home to an early Virginia City ice project, a little-known piece of history documented on the Lousetown Historical Marker along Geiger Grade. The final two lines refer to the winter harvest being stored away to protect perishable goods from the passage of time. This clue points Treasure Hunters toward Lousetown, narrowing the search to an area north of Virginia City in Storey County.
Clue #11
24 years the hunters sought one,
Across 8 counties, three times the fun.
In five or 6 you will not find,
Yet something unsaid may be yours to unwind.
Explanation: This clue celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Nevada Day Treasure Hunt and contains a hidden reference to the county where this year’s medallion is located. Over the past 24 years, the treasure has been hidden across eight Nevada counties, with some counties hosting the hunt as many as three times.
The key to solving the clue is in the numbers. When the eight counties are listed alphabetically, Storey County is number seven. The poem deliberately includes every number from one through eight except seven, using a combination of written words and numerals. The final line, “Yet something unsaid may be yours to unwind,” encourages hunters to recognize what is missing. The unspoken number seven points to Storey County, where the 25th Nevada Day Treasure Hunt medallion is hidden.
Clue #12
One quarter was measured, two hundred the prize,
Three forces assembled beneath watchful eyes.
Dust rose in fury as the contest was run,
While thunder rehearsed for the storm yet to come.
Explanation: This clue refers to the historic Lousetown racetrack in Storey County, near the present-day intersection of Cartwright and Lousetown Roads. On August 6, 1876, a quarter-mile horse race was held there for a $200 purse. The track featured a covered grandstand that could accommodate approximately 200 spectators.
The grounds were also used for training by three Nevada National Guard units based in Virginia City: cavalry, infantry, and cannoneers. The final line uses “thunder” as reference to the artillery associated with the cannoneers, while “rehearsed for the storm” represents military training in preparation for possible conflict.
The clue combines two very different historical uses of the same location, horse racing and military exercises, to lead treasure hunters toward the Lousetown area of Storey County.