A New England treasure hunt has a prize worth over $25,000: Here's how to join

Somewhere, in what looks like it could be about any lightly wooded area in the eastern U.S., is a small golden trophy.

As of Sept. 26, the trophy itself is valued at more than $26,000, and there are several thousand people who have registered for a modern day trophy-hunt to track it down. If someone finds it before Oct. 10, the prize will be worth significantly more, as every official entrant into the search contributed $20 that will go toward prize money in the form of Bitcoin only accessible through winning the contest.

It's all part of Project Skydrop, and right now only a few people, including creators Jason Rohrer and Tom Bailey, know where to find the prize.

Where is the Project Skydrop treasure?

The search began last week with an area encompassing around 500 miles generally centered around southern New England and New York City. The treasure map to the trophy's location shrinks each day.

Those who join the treasure hunt receive daily clues about its location, further narrowing down just where they might look.

Who is behind the treasure hunt?

As profiled in Wired Magazine earlier this month, Rohrer is a video game designer who lives in New Hampshire and began conceiving of the game in 2021. His friend Bailey is a musician.

How to join the Project Skydrop treasure hunt

The treasure hunt is one of the oldest human fables, and the modern day equivalent is not without precedent. Perhaps the most famous is the Forrest Fenn treasure, a trove of gold and other valuables, the search for which lasted more than a decade.

This hunt, though, has a definitive end date, as the map will narrow down to the exact location of the treasure by Oct. 10.

As of Sept. 26, the search area has narrowed down to a portion of southwestern New England, roughly between Albany, New York, Hartford, Connecticut, and Amherst, Massachusetts.

For those considering joining the search, as Rohrer told Wired Magazine, "the east coast of the United States is pretty safe" and the prize is actually not far from a road.

Happy hunting.

Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com