Look, we've all been there. You're riding through the Heartlands, your horse is low on stamina, and you've got maybe twelve cents in your pocket. Arthur Morgan deserves better. He deserves a gold bar. Or maybe twenty. Tracking down Red Dead Redemption 2 treasure locations isn't just about the money, though—it’s about that weird, obsessive thrill of matching a crude drawing of a rock to an actual rock in a game world that is, frankly, too big for its own good.
Rockstar Games didn't make this easy. They didn't want it to be easy. If you’re looking for a map marker to just pop up, you’re playing the wrong game. You have to squint at sketches, climb mountains you probably shouldn't, and occasionally get mauled by a cougar while trying to look at a tree.
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Why Everyone Starts with the Jack Hall Gang
Most players stumble into their first hunt near Bard's Crossing. You meet Maximo, a "famed explorer" who is basically just a guy looking to offload a map for ten bucks. Buy it. Don't rob him—or do, I guess, it’s a western—but get that map.
The Jack Hall Gang treasure is the perfect introduction because it forces you to actually look at the topography. You end up at Caliban's Seat. It’s a massive limestone ridge south of Valentine. You’ll find yourself shimmying along narrow ledges where one wrong thumbstick tilt sends Arthur screaming into the dirt. It’s frustrating. It's great.
Once you grab the second map from a crevice there, you're heading to Cotorra Springs. The geysers are cool, but the treasure is tucked away in a stone circle. The final payoff? O'Creagh's Run. There’s a tiny island in the middle of the lake. Swim out there (make sure your horse has stamina) and check under a rock. Two gold bars. That’s $1,000 at the fence. In 1899, that's "buy the whole camp a boat to Tahiti" kind of money. Except Dutch will still say you need more.
The Poisonous Trail: A Literal Nightmare
If Jack Hall is the tutorial, the Poisonous Trail is the final boss of Red Dead Redemption 2 treasure locations. This one starts way up in the snowy hell of Ambarino at Cairn Lake. You have to find a cabin, look under a bed, and then the real hunt begins.
This hunt is notorious among the RDR2 community because of Face Rock. Have you seen it? It’s a rock formation that looks like a human face. It’s eerie. But the real challenge is the end of the trail: Elysian Pool.
The Cave Beneath the Water
Behind the waterfall at Elysian Pool lies a dark, damp cave system that has ruined many a player's afternoon. You need a lantern. If you don't have a lantern, don't even bother. You’ll be sliding down slippery slopes into pitch-black pits. At the very end, behind a small opening, you’ll find a stash of four gold bars.
Pro Tip: While you're in that cave, look at the walls. There are ancient cave paintings that actually hint at other secrets in the game. Rockstar loves those layers.
High Stakes and Higher Altitudes
The High Stakes treasure is annoying for one reason: the guy holding the map is a random encounter. You’ll hear him shouting through binoculars on a hill somewhere near Wallace Station or Cumberland Falls. He’s a nervous wreck. You have to hogtie him or rob him to get the map.
This trail takes you to the literal edge of the world. Or at least it feels like it. You end up at the mountain pass of Monto's Rest and eventually a treacherous path on Mount Shann. One of the maps leads you to a spot behind a waterfall at Cumberland Falls. It’s a classic trope, but it works. The final destination is a precarious ledge on a cliffside. One slip and Arthur is crow food. The reward? Three gold bars. Honestly, by this point, you’re probably richer than Leviticus Cornwall.
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The Ones Nobody Talks About
Everyone knows the big three. But what about the weird stuff? The Landmark Riches map starts at the "Pointless Structure" (the Obelisk) way out west in Big Valley. It’s a long trek that takes you across the entire map, eventually ending at the Mystery Hill Home—basically the Hobbit hole of the New Hanover region.
Then there’s the Strange Statues. This isn't a traditional map hunt, but it’s one of the best Red Dead Redemption 2 treasure locations because it’s a puzzle.
- Find the cave near Window Rock.
- Count the fingers on the statues.
- Press the buttons in the right order (prime numbers, usually).
- If you mess up, go around the back and reset them.
- The center statue opens up to reveal three gold bars.
It’s fast. It’s lucrative. It requires actual brain power rather than just following a line on a screen.
Fact-Checking the "Glitches"
A lot of people online will tell you there are infinite gold bar glitches. Back in 2018? Sure. You could stand at Limpany—that burned-down town near Horseshoe Overlook—and keep looting the sheriff’s desk. Rockstar patched that pretty quickly. If you're playing an updated version of the game, those "get rich quick" schemes are mostly dead.
The Limpany gold bar is still there, though. One bar, sitting in a lockbox under a desk. It doesn't require a map. You just walk in and take it. It’s the easiest $500 you’ll ever make in the game. Same goes for the derailed train in the ravine near Granite Pass. You have to do some "Skyrim-style" mountain climbing to get into the upright train car, but there are two bars waiting at the bottom of it.
The Reality of the Hunt
Is it worth it?
Well, if you want to upgrade the camp, buy the best horses (the Rose Grey Bay Arabian is calling your name), and customize every single gun with gold inlay, then yes. But there’s a limit. Eventually, you’ll have more money than the game knows what to do with. The real value is in the exploration. You see parts of the map you’d otherwise ignore. You find the "Meditation Monk" on a cliffside or the remains of a failed expedition.
The world of Red Dead 2 is dense. These maps are just breadcrumbs leading you to the stuff the developers spent years hand-crafting.
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Actionable Next Steps for the Aspiring Outlaw
- Head to Limpany first. It’s right near the Chapter 2 camp. No map needed. One gold bar. Instant upgrade for your gear.
- Grab the Jack Hall map. It’s the most straightforward and gets you used to how the game represents 3D landmarks on a 2D sketch.
- Invest in a better horse. Before you hit the mountains for the High Stakes or Poisonous Trail hunts, get a horse with decent health and stamina. A Thoroughbred or the white Arabian near Lake Isabella will save your life.
- Visit a Fence. Remember, gold bars are useless in your satchel. You have to sell them to a Fence (like the one at Emerald Ranch or Saint Denis) to actually get the cash.
- Clean your guns. You’ll be spending a lot of time in the wilderness. Dirt and swamp water will degrade your weapons. Bring gun oil.
The hunt is slow. It's supposed to be. Put on some headphones, listen to the wind howling in Ambarino, and start looking for those landmarks. Arthur’s retirement fund isn’t going to build itself.