I Remember Fenn's Treasure Hunt As It Was Happening, And I Can't Believe It Took So Long For Netflix To Make A Documentary About It

Amid the endless true crime docs that drop seemingly daily, a great docuseries that isn’t about a crime hit the Netflix schedule last week. Greed & Gold: The Hunt For Fenn’s Treasure tells the whole wild story of Forrest Fenn and his treasure hunt that fascinated and compelled thousands of treasure hunters (just like those on Netflix's Outer Banks) over a decade-long search. I remember following it from afar while it was happening, and I’m surprised it took this long for someone to make a documentary about it. It was worth the wait, though.

For Ten Years, The Hunt Enthralled Fenn’s Followers

In 2010, an enigmatic octogenarian named Forrest Fenn published a memoir about his life as a pilot in Vietnam and an art dealer in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In the memoir, he included a poem that purportedly left clues to a treasure -- like a real-life National Treasure -- that he’d hidden somewhere in the mountains “north of Santa Fe.” Before long, a few people started hunting for the treasure, though who was even to know if Fenn was telling the truth.

I first heard about the treasure probably in 2012 or 2013, I don’t remember exactly. I followed a rabbit hole after first reading about it on a message board, which led to a subreddit, which led to a few stories in mainstream media. Stories about the man, the poem that included the supposed clues, and updates from people who were trying to crack the code and find the treasure, which Fenn claimed was worth millions of dollars.

I Followed The Hunt From Afar

For the next few years, I would check in on the subreddit and read about the various theories people had about where the treasure could be found. Aside from everyone agreeing it was in the Rockies somewhere, there were as many wild ideas as there were people hunting. I never tried to read Fenn’s book, nor did I try to crack the code, and I certainly never went “boots on the ground,” as the hunters would say when in the wilderness hunting, but I was entranced by the hunt. Was the treasure even real? Would it ever be found? Every kid is fascinated by buried treasure, and here I was, a grown man, still fascinated by the idea.

It all ended somewhat unceremoniously when Fenn announced in December of 2020 that the treasure had been found. The hunt was over. The finder told Fenn he didn’t want his name released ot the public, so that was pretty much it. It was found, and Fenn provided some photos of the treasure, and that was that. It was pretty anti-climatic. Fenn died about two months later, which only added to the finality, though eventually, the “winner” revealed himself to be a medical student who had been playing Fenn’s game for a long time.

Finally, The Whole Story Is Being Told

The 3-part Netflix series is a wonderful recap and retelling of the story. Fenn left behind lots of TV appearances on the Today show and other outlets that the producers had plenty of footage to mix of the man with stories from multiple treasure hunters who dedicated huge chucks of their lives to the search. While the actual finder isn’t in the series, plenty of hunters are, and they all say they aren’t disappointed they didn’t find it and that the thrill of the chase was all the reward they needed.

That might be how these folks feel, but others took to Reddit and Twitter and other social media to decry that the whole thing was a scam, and Fenn was lying when he said he wasn’t involved in the discovery. Some treasure hunters sued his estate, claiming that they were cheated out of the treasure. The documentary, which is one of the best documentaries to hit the 2025 TV schedule and a great way to fill your time waiting for the final season of Outer Banks, covers it all and more. It starts at the very beginning and goes right up until today, including what has become of the treasure and the hunters who looked so hard for it.