Solving This Riddle Will Uncover A Millionaire's Lost Treasure

Few things in life tickle our fascination more than the thought of uncovering buried treasure. And while some folks have been lucky enough to find treasure buried in their own homes, we tend to associate treasure hunts with epic, perilous adventures.

In the movies, we always see our heroes struggle with cryptic clues on an old pirate's map until they finally find the fabled spot marked with an X. As children, many of us dreamed of embarking on these breathtaking journeys, but when we grew up, we kind of stopped thinking we'd ever find such a map.

Well, now it looks like you can finally have that adventure you've been craving for so long. The treasure doesn't belong to a pirate and its location probably isn't marked with an X, but as far as we can tell, there is a real treasure out there that promises a hefty payout for whoever finds it.

If you're interested (and why wouldn't you be?) here's what you need to know to get started.

COMMENT and let us know if you're going to give it a try.

Nestled somewhere in the Rocky Mountains is a bronze chest weighing about 40 pounds.

At the moment, only one man knows exactly where it's buried.

That man is millionaire Forrest Fenn, who buried it in the first place.

He said he hid the box when America was in the midst of the Great Recession to cheer people up and give them a reason to explore the outdoors.

As he put it, "Sure, I'm eccentric. I pride myself on being eccentric. I don't want to go down the center line like a lot of people do."

However, the reward for finding it isn't just a bit of fun in the sun.

It's apparently filled with gold nuggets, gold coins, and all manner of precious stones including diamonds and sapphires. Estimates of these treasures vary with NPR saying "over a million" and the Daily Mail putting the number at $2 million.

But either way, it's a purse most folks wouldn't want to miss out on.

And this map and poem is our biggest clue as to where it's buried.

In particular, it seems you'll want to pay attention to the second and third stanzas for vague directions on where to travel.

In case you can't make them out here, they say, "Begin it where warm waters halt and take it in the canyon down, not far but too far to walk. Put in below the home of Brown."

The poem goes on to say, "From there it's no place for the meek, the end is drawing ever nigh; There'll be no paddle up your creek, just heavy loads and water high."

If it seems impossible to find it in such a big area with just these hints, not to worry. There are a few more clues.

The treasure is apparently about 5,000 feet above sea level.

We already know that it's in the Rocky Mountains, but more specifically, it's between Santa Fe and the Canadian border.

There's also something you should know before you dig under a poor Mr. Brown's house.

Fenn said the treasure isn't in any mines or near any other human structures. It seems like you're strictly sticking to the natural world if you're hoping to find it. 

As you might imagine, there are a lot of hunters trying to uncover Fenn's treasure.

According to one New Mexico hunter, the part that's tripping people up the most is the "where warm waters halt" part. They can't seem to agree on whether it's a spot where two rivers meet, a hot spring, or what else Fenn could mean by that.

This is likely a big part of the reason why nobody's found it yet. 

And it looks like Fenn's already given out all the clues he's going to.

Every day, he gets emails from treasure hunters asking for more clues and he's said that these aren't the kind of messages he responds to.

So it looks like we're on our own.

Remember to COMMENT and tell us if the allure of this treasure has drawn you in.

h/t NPR