Treasure hunters, we are absolutely thrilled to announce that the $20,000 Griggs Gold treasure, hidden right here in Grand Forks, North Dakota, has officially been found! We have had so much fun putting this Seven Paces adventure together and want to thank everyone who got out there and participated.
Now that the hunt is over, we are excited to reveal the official walkthrough of how the clues in the book led to the treasure!
Part 1: The Book Solve & The Plaques If you read The Legend of Griggs Gold carefully, you might have noticed that each chapter featured a direct quote from a specific plaque located around Grand Forks. Seekers were meant to visit these seven locations:
- The Courthouse Conundrum: The Alexander Griggs statue at the courthouse.
- Zen and the Art of Treasure Hunting: The Japanese garden at Sertoma Park.
- Flood of Memories: The Grand Forks floodgates at Bumfight Plaza.
- A Walk in the Park: Lincoln Park (referred to as Porchlight Park) at the Lincoln School wildflower garden plaque.
- Echoes of the Past: The Schoolhouse plaque at the Myra Museum (Homestead Heritage Museum).
- Hat Tricks and Hot Dish: The Sitting Bull statue at the Ralph Engelstad Arena (Ross Anglestaff Arena).
- Scholarly Pursuits: The Port Denord statue at University Park (Scholars Grove).
Once you found the plaques, the next step was to look at the specific numbers written as numerals in each chapter of the book (for example, 105, 306, 3). By doing a character count on the plaque’s text—reading left to right, top to bottom, and ignoring all punctuation—these numbers corresponded to specific letters.
When all the letters from the seven locations were put together, they spelled out a secret URL: thesevenththpace.com. Registering on that website unlocked the final riddle!
Part 2: The Final Walkthrough For those who unlocked the final riddle, here is the official breakdown of how it led to the exact location of the $20,000:
- “When you’re finished breaking bread where will you land”: This was a reference to the mill (breaking bread) and the boat landing, which is where the final walk began.
- “Will your long and winding road end with eternal damnation / Or will you find salvation with the prince of peace”: This was a nod to the nearby dam, as well as a trail marker featuring royal purple rocks painted with a Prince symbol and a peace sign.
- “When faced with a choice avoid peril at all cost”: Seekers following the road eventually came to a “Y” intersection. Going left led to a big sign warning “Danger Suburbs dam 300 ft ahead,” so the correct path was to avoid the peril and stay true to the right.
- “Stay true Seek and ye shall find the Holy Trinity”: A clever play on words where “Holy” translated to “H O L E Y,” leading hunters directly to Hole 3 of the riverside frisbee golf course.
- “Now all that is left is to take a walk Maybe you’ll get lucky”: “Lucky” meant taking exactly seven paces left from Hole 3.
Those final seven paces brought the lucky seekers right to the base of a big, old gnarly tree, where the treasure was originally hidden under a rock.
Watch the Video Updates! Want to see the exact locations, the plaques, and hear more about the conclusion of the hunt? Check out our video updates here:
- 🎥 [The Legend of Griggs Gold has been solved! Here’s Part 1 of the solve!] (A walkthrough of the 7 plaques and the URL cipher)
- 🎥 [Griggs Gold Solve 2] (Featuring a complete walkthrough of the final location and the riddle!)
- 🎥 [The $20,000 Treasure in Grand Forks, North Dakota has been FOUND!!!] (Our official announcement)
We will be coming forward with more details soon to talk about how the treasure was actually found, what we felt we did well, and what we think we can improve on for future hunts. We hope you enjoyed yourselves, and be looking forward to the next hunt!