Treasure Hunting in Utah

Spanish-cache legends, Butch Cassidy outlaw country, and Lost Rhoades Mine in the Uinta Mountains.

Top Utah treasure regions: Uinta Mountains (Rhoades); Robbers Roost; Henry Mountains; Old Spanish Trail corridor.

Famous documented cases in Utah: Lost Rhoades Mine; Butch Cassidy Robbers Roost caches; Spanish silver caches (Uintas).

Lost Rhoades Mine (1850s–1860s, status: unrecovered): Thomas Rhoades supposedly mined gold from a Ute-guarded site in the Uinta Mountains for Brigham Young in the 1850s. The mine's exact location remains unknown. Ute tribal claims complicate any modern search. Where: Uinta Mountains, Utah (Ute Tribal land likely). Land rules: Uintah and Ouray Reservation — entry without tribal permission is criminal trespass.

Butch Cassidy Wild Bunch Caches (1890s–1900s, status: unrecovered): Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch conducted bank and train robberies across the Mountain West from the 1890s into the early 1900s. Multiple caches are referenced in period accounts in Robbers Roost (UT) and Hole-in-the-Wall (WY). Where: Robbers Roost, Utah; Hole-in-the-Wall, Wyoming. Land rules: Mostly BLM land. Recreational detecting permitted outside ARPA sites.

Terrain in Utah: Slickrock canyon country, alpine Uintas, and basin-and-range.

Best seasons for field work in Utah: April–October.

Utah state parks are managed by Utah State Parks (https://stateparks.utah.gov/); check its rules before detecting in any state park.