We invite you to head out to Virginia State Parks in search of some hidden treasure. While we won't give you the GPS coordinates to find these, we will provide the park where they are located and let you do the rest.

These are not buried treasure of gold, silver and jewels supposedly estimated to be worth over US$43 million, like hidden in the Beale Ciphers in Bedford County, Virginia. We still think these are pretty neat to find. Treasure hunting, even if the secret hiddne treasure is only photographed, is still a lot of fun.

1. HIDDEN ROCK CARVING - NATURAL BRIDGE STATE PARK

Find this hidden treasure: a J.R.R. Tolkien quote carved on a rock

Natural Bridge State Park

Mystery: Who put this writing in stone here, and why? How long has it been here?

Bonus: We know historically that Thomas Jefferson once owned Natural Bridge, the geological wonder in Rockbridge County, Va. He purchase the bridge and 157 surrounding acres from King George III of England for 20 shillings.

It is taken as common knowledge by some, that George Washington (G.W.) carved his initials on Natural Bridge when he surveyed it. But many are now questioning if this is a myth, and have taken it upon themselves to prove this false. Did George carve his initials somewhere at Natural Bridge?

Trivia: What killed the 1600 year Arbor Vitae that is featured in this 1930's era postcard? See a current image to the right. You can still see the tree today and there is a small sign recognizing it.

More Trivia: Herman Melville made a reference to the bridge in his 1851 book Moby Dick, "But soon the fore part of him slowly rose from the water; for an instant his whole marbleized body formed a high arch, like Virginia's Natural Bridge..." 

Park Location: From I-81, take exit 175 or 180A to U.S. 11 and follow signs to the park.

Click here for a Google map. Park coordinates: Latitude, 37.6288872. Longitude, -79.5451583.

Hours: 8:00 a.m. to dusk

 

2. HIDDEN STONE CHIMNEY - SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE STATE PARK

Find this hidden treasure: old stone chimney from a homestead

Smith Mountain Lake State Park

Mystery:

Who owned this homestead that may predate colonial America? It seemingly stood the test of time and survived or was left abandoned, when the landscape changed dramatically to dam-up the Roanoke River and create ae lake for hydroelectric power generation. This rolling farmland in the Blue Ridge Foothills became Smith Mountain Lake 51 years ago.

During construction, an excavation was performed by Smithsonian Institute archaeologists. They discovered that the native Algonquin Peoples fished and hunted here many years ago.

Park Location: The Park is on the north shore of Smith Mountain Lake in Bedford County, approximately 40 miles from both Lynchburg and Roanoke and 140 miles from Richmond. To get there, take U.S. 460 to Route 122 South to Moneta, then go east on Route 608 to White House. Next go south on Route 626 for two miles to park entrance.

Click here for a Google Map. Park coordinates: Latitude, 37.079625. Longitude, -79.610993.

Hours: 8:00 a.m. to dusk

Trivia: The movie "What about Bob" starring Richard Dreyfuss and Bill Murray was filmed nearby Smith Mountain Lake State Park. Some of the locations can still be found, if you search hard enough. Dr Leo Marvin's House is privately owned, and has changed its look quite a bit, but it is near the state park. A scale model was used when Bob accidentally blew up the house. Remember to ask permission before entering private property.

Famous movie lines:

• Dr. Leo Marvin: Are you married?
• Bob Wiley: I'm divorced.
• Dr. Leo Marvin: Would you like to talk about that?
• Bob Wiley: There are two types of people in this world: Those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don't. My ex-wife loves him.
• Dr. Leo Marvin: [pause] I see. So, what you're saying is that even though you are an almost-paralyzed, multiphobic personality who is in a constant state of panic, your wife did not leave you, you left her because she... liked Neil Diamond?

 

3. HIDDEN SLAVE CABIN - CHIPPOKES STATE PARK

The second oldest slave quarters in Virginia

Mystery:

Was this a slave cabin, indentured servants or overseer's quarters for the share croppers? So who lived here, and how many generations were born and raised here?

Just across the James River from historic Jamestown in Surry County, Chippokes is one of the oldest continually farmed plantations in the country. A working farm since 1619. Carefully understanding the history of the planters in Virginia and the "indentured servants" that worked the agriculture on this farm as share croppers, and household help, is an important history lesson, and we are respectfully reminded how far we have come as a nation.

Edited 10/09/17: This hidden treasure's location has been removed as it is inaccessible to the public. 

 

SUPER BONUS - GEOCACHE AT EVERY VIRGINIA STATE PARK

Find hidden treasure: participate in a geocache adventure

Available at any Virginia State Park

In addition to these hidden treasures each Virginia State Park offers geocaching, the tech-way to treasure hunt. If you love geocaching and visiting Virginia State Parks, you'll love the geocaching adventures program. Get special prizes just for taking part. You might also enjoy Trail Quest.

Geocaching is a fun way to merge technology and outdoor exploration. Find parks matching your amenity choices. Folks hide a cache, typically a small container with a log book, somewhere, and people use a GPS receiver to find it. When a cache is found, the finder goes here to log the visit, maybe upload a photo and read what others said about it. Participants visit that website also for lists of caches and coordinates for the GPS-based hunts. Visit More About Geocaching in Parks for coordinates of caches in state parks.

Most state parks have at least one cache. They range from simple quick grabs easily reached from a trail to challenging multi-caches that require collecting information at one site before moving on to the next. Others, virtual caches, earth caches or waymarks, have no cache box; geocachers usually must log visits to this type of cache by providing information obtainable only by visiting the site.

SAFETY AND STEWARDSHIP

1. Do not damage plants, trees, animal nests, etc. Practice Leave No Trace™.
2. Comply with all signs and barriers.
3. Do not disturb soil or landscape. Geo-caches are never buried.
4. If the area looks unsafe, don’t go that way.
5. Pay attention to surroundings. Look back as you go in so that you’ll recognize the way out.
6. Cache In – Trash Out: Never litter, and pick up for those who may have dropped something.
7. Notify park staff if you see anything that needs attention.

If you find a hidden treasure that we may not know about, take a photo and share it with us on our Facebook page, or tag us on Instagram: #vastateparks.

FIND OUR HIDDEN TREASURES