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Published: April 8th 2013
Hiking Down the Gorge to Manby Hot Springs
The hike is about a mile long, and we descended about 800 feet. It was a little dangerous at parts because of the drop off and the loose gravel.Our most promising lead to find Forrest Fenn's treasure was to head to Manby Hot Springs. Manby Hot Springs, or Stagecoach Hot Springs, are natural hot springs on the bottom of the Rio Grande Gorge, right along the Rio Grande River. They are nearly impossible to find if you don't know the area. We took Highway 64 east to Tune Road. We turned left on Tune Road, and everything turned to dirt road. The directions I printed didn't help, as there were no street signs, and none of the roads even had names. They were just well-worn dirt treads that wound through scrub. The area was vast, and the nothingness went on for miles in every direction. It seemed hopeless to find the hot springs. We didn't even know what we were looking for.
I spotted a sign for The Dobson House, a bed and breakfast. I remembered seeing The Dobson House when I'd read about the area online. I needed to use the restroom, so we decided to head to it for the facilities and to get directions. It's a good thing Andy had four-wheel drive! We dipped in and out of ruts and put his shocks to the
Bighorn Sheep
There are sheep drinking water from the Rio Grande. test. We roared up a steep, dirt driveway, and finally made it to the front doors of The Dobson House. I think it was made from earthship construction. It's a technique we learned about in the Taos area. We saw many homes in various phases of construction. The walls were built with upcycled tires, bottles, and aluminum cans. Then, they're covered in adobe. A man stepped out of the home. He seemed a little uncomfortable seeing a group of four men standing there. I instantly felt guilty about encroaching on his home. I apologized. I told him we were trying to find Manby Hot Springs, but we got turned around. I also told him I really needed to use a bathroom. He was very nice to me. He said I could come in, but he asked the guys to stay outside. The home looked small from the front entrance, but it was incredibly spacious inside. The views were breathtaking!
After using the restroom, the owner stood with me by the front windows and pointed out the parking lot for the hot springs. He told me to turn left out of the drive. He specifically told me not to make
Manby Hot Springs
These springs are also referred to as Stagecoach. They are natural springs right on the edge of the Rio Grande River. You have to hike down the gorge to get to them! the first right, which is a dirt road that is very treacherous. He said to turn a hard right after coming to The Dobson House sign. It wound lead us up to the parking lot. I thanked him and went back out to meet my friends. I pointed out the parking lot to them, and we set out for Manby Hot Springs. When we turned off of the drive to the left, I kind of zoned out. I only tuned in to what the guys were saying when I saw Andy turn on to the first turn to the right. "Wait, no!" I cried. I quickly tried to explain that the road was supposed to be really bad. Unfortunately, all of the dirt "roads" in this area are one-way. We couldn't turn around. The road tipped off deeply to one side and then the other. At one point, I was angled closer to the ground than I was upright. I held on tight and closed my eyes and hoped we didn't roll! We went over dips and dodged potholes. It was awful! After what seemed like ages, it met up with the other dirt road. It was much more stable,
Not Far, But Too Far to Walk
Could Forrest Fenn have meant we needed to take a boat? We tried climbing along the edge of the shore. and we took it to a large parking lot (which has a port-a-potty, by the way).
The hike down the gorge to Manby Hot Springs is fairly difficult. At a couple points, there's a straight drop-off down the gorge. There was loose gravel in some spots, which made it easy to slip. We spotted some bighorn sheep on the other side of the gorge as we descended. We made it down without trouble, but another woman twisted her ankle.
At the bottom of the gorge, we found the hot springs. Like Black Rock Springs, these were located right on the river. These pools were larger, and the views were just as stunning. However, they were also more popular, and we saw lots of people coming at going. Black Rock Springs was quieter, easier to find, with an easier (but still moderately difficult) hike. There were two pools. One was very warm but filled with algae. The other wasn't quite as warm but didn't have algae growing in it. We decided to hike first and soak after.
If this was the spot Forrest Fenn wrote about in his poem, then the Manby Hot Springs would be the start
of the treasure hunt. "Begin it where warm waters halt..." There was no where to navigate upstream, so we hiked a bit downstream. The water levels of the Rio Grande were pretty low, and so we could walk down the bank, or "take it in the canyon down." The next part of the poem says the treasure is "not far, but too far to walk." Now, many people searching for Forrest Fenn's treasure have come to this exact spot. I didn't read about anyone who interpreted this part of the poem. When most people read "not far, but too far to walk," they try to think in distance of walking. Some say 5 miles, some say more. Me, I think he is telling us that you
can't walk to where he buried the treasure. Why? You need a boat to get there. It's not far, but it's too far to walk. You can't walk along the banks forever because of the canyon walls. The next part, he writes, "Put in below the home of Brown." Now, we all feel
very confident he's writing about boating. After all, when you canoe, you have to put in the water. They even call
the places where you enter the water on your raft a "put in." The trouble, then, is deciding what he could mean by "home of Brown." Some people, including my friend Andy, think he is talking about the Red River. The locals call the Red River the "Brown Trout River," and it's the home of brown trout. The Red River is north of this location by about 10 miles. It seems unlikely he would use that landmark for this area, though, right? Maybe we were starting at the wrong place. Andy thinks we need to start closer to the Red River. I'm skeptical because I couldn't find any information about warm water sources up there.
If Manby Hot Springs was the right place to start, which I started to doubt, then we would have to raft down the river. That part of the river has a lot of rapids, and it really is only for experts to navigate ("From there, it's no place for the meek"). Andrew and Drew canoe a lot, but we don't know this river at all. I thought it would be possible for Forrest Fenn to have rafted this part if he wasn't going far
The End of the Road
I couldn't get any farther. The rocks were slick, so I had to turn back. and knew exactly where he was going. I was getting a little skeptical of this location, though, because I also knew he wouldn't have been able to carry a treasure chest all the way down the slippery trail. Still, we made it this far. We needed to explore! The water levels of the river were low enough that we could hike along the edge for nearly a mile. So, we walked close to the river's edge. What were we looking for, exactly? Drew and I were on the lookout for a dry creek bed. We think the trail Fenn mentions in his poem is an old creek bed, as he writes, "There'll be no paddle up your creek." We wanted to find a dry creek bed he could have pulled his raft into, and then he could have place the treasure somewhere there. We hiked a long way. We climbed over some slippery boulders. I kept in mind that, if this was the place, Fenn would have done this from a boat in the water. He wouldn't have gone far.
I finally had to give up on the hike. I was slipping, and it wasn't worth falling. Andrew and
The Thrill of the Chase
I had to turn back without finding gold, but I was awestruck by where our treasure hunt led us. Drew followed me back, but Andy and Adam pressed on. "Look for a dry creek bed," I urged them. We made our way back to the hot springs. Andrew, Drew, and I soaked in the pools for a while. We talked to a family from Fort Collins. They'd lost their home in the High Park Fire last summer, and they came out to this area of New Mexico to learn about earthship construction. I told them about our treasure hunt. Their boys looked so excited! They started asking me questions, asking me where it could be. I explained the poem is a riddle, and there are a lot of people trying to figure out where the treasure is. The father told me the closest dry creek bed is pretty far south, close to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. That area isn't hike-able. We'd have to take a boat, which we didn't have. I told him if we found it from his information, we'd help buy some materials for their new home.
It took over an hour for Andy and Adam to get back to the hot springs. I had a little hope they'd actually found something, but, of course,
they hadn't. We soaked in the hot springs for a while longer. We might not have struck it rich, but we were having a lot of fun treasure hunting. I guess that's probably why Forrest Fenn named his memoir, "The Thrill of the Chase." If it wasn't for this treasure hunt, I don't know if I ever would have gone down to New Mexico. I know I never would have searched out these natural hot springs pools, and we definitely wouldn't have gone off-roading through steppe to get there. No, we don't have millions of dollars worth of cold, but his treasure hunt has put us on an adventure. I'm thrilled!
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