How to Get Gold Bars in Red Dead Redemption 2: Every Treasure Map, Bar Count and Fence Price

Money is tight for most of Arthur's journey, and nothing fixes that faster than a stack of gold bars. Each one sells for $500 at a fence, and the best way to collect them is the game's treasure hunts: chains of hand-drawn maps that end in a hidden stash of gold.

This guide is current for Title Update 1.32, which is still the latest Red Dead Redemption 2 patch in November 2026. Rockstar hasn't changed Story Mode treasure since then. Landmarks of Riches and the Elemental Trail, first added in the PC release, are on PlayStation and Xbox too.

Quick answer

That's 16 bars, or $8,000, from treasure maps alone. Sell them at any fence: Emerald Ranch, Rhodes, Saint Denis or Van Horn. They all pay the same.

Requirements

• Chapter 2 or later. The world opens up after you leave Colter, and that's when the first hunts become available.
• A lantern for the Poisonous Trail cave, which is pitch dark.
• A lasso for High Stakes.
• The Epilogue for the Elemental Trail, since New Austin is off-limits until then.
• A fence. Gold bars are stolen goods, so general stores won't buy them. The Emerald Ranch fence unlocks during the Chapter 2 mission "Pouring Forth Oil."

Step 1: Jack Hall Gang (2 bars)

1. Start the Stranger mission "All That Glitters." Ride to the hill west of Flatneck Station and talk to Maximo Cristóbal Valdespino.
2. Buy the map for $10.
3. Map 1 leads to Caliban's Seat, the rocky formation south of Valentine. The second map is tucked into the rocks there.
4. Map 2 leads to Cotorra Springs, the geyser field in the Grizzlies. Search among the geysers for the third map.
5. Map 3 leads to O'Creagh's Run. The gold sits under a rock on the small island in the middle of the lake.

Step 2: Poisonous Trail (4 bars)

1. Go to Flaco Hernandez's cabin at Cairn Lake in northwest Ambarino. The first map is in the lockbox under the bed. Flaco is one of the Gunslingers from the Stranger mission "The Noblest of Men, and a Woman," so finish that duel first.
2. Map 1 points to Face Rock in Scarlett Meadows, a rock that looks like a face. Search a hollow tree trunk behind its hill.
3. Map 2 points to Serpent Mound, south of Annesburg and southwest of Van Horn. The next map is in the stone-filled hole at the center of the coil.
4. Map 3 points to the waterfall cave at Elysian Pool. Walk through the water behind the falls, light your lantern and work your way down into the hidden side tunnels.
5. Grab the four bars at the end of the tunnel system.

Step 3: High Stakes (3 bars)

1. Look for a scruffy treasure hunter with maps spread around him, roaming New Hanover and the area around Strawberry and Valentine.
2. Lasso and tie him up before he runs, then search him for the map.
3. If he gets away three times, buy the map from a fence instead.
4. Map 1 leads behind Cumberland Falls, west of Valentine. Climb into the cave behind the water and search the far end.
5. Map 2 leads to Barrow Lagoon in Grizzlies West. Check a broken stump wedged between rocks on a small hill.
6. Map 3 leads to the cliffs above the river at Bacchus Station. Carefully drop down the rock ledges to the treasure.

Step 4: Landmarks of Riches (6 bars)

The biggest payout, and the longest ride.

1. Find the obelisk on a hilltop just past Lake Owanjila, northwest of Strawberry. Examine the plaque on the back.
2. Map 1: the Tiny Church in Lakay, just north of Saint Denis. Climb onto it and search the little bell tower.
3. Map 2: the Mysterious Hill Home, a house half buried in a hillside north of Bacchus Station. Search the boarded window on the roof.
4. Map 3: Bolger Glade south of Rhodes. Search the hollow old tree stump in the middle of the glade.
5. Map 4: the sundial on Mount Shann, north of Strawberry. The six bars are under the rock below the sundial.

Step 5: Elemental Trail (1 bar)

1. Ride to the Sea of Coronado in western New Austin during the Epilogue. Shoot the rope holding a hanging body and loot the map.
2. Search the chimney of a burned-out house south of Armadillo, east of Lake Don Julio.
3. Check the old aqueduct at Benedict Point. The map sits between two planks.
4. Head to Coot's Chapel's graveyard, south of Armadillo. Examine the rock beside the wooden-cross grave under a tree for one bar and the Crow Beak Trinket, which gives you 10% more ammo from looting.

Other gold bars worth grabbing

• Limpany sheriff's office (1 bar): a lockbox in the burned-out town southwest of the Horseshoe Overlook camp.
• Granite Pass train wreck (2 bars): loot the derailed train at Granite Pass in the Grizzlies.
• Strange Statues puzzle (3 bars): a hidden cave in the Grizzlies near Fort Wallace. Press the statues in the order 2, 3, 5, 7 fingers.

Tips

• Start with the Jack Hall Gang hunt. It's available early, costs only $10 and pays back a hundred times over.
• Chain the Grizzlies stops. Cotorra Springs, O'Creagh's Run, Bacchus Station, the Mysterious Hill Home and Granite Pass are all in the same region, so plan one trip north once you hold the right maps.
• Sell at whichever fence is closest. They all pay $500 per bar.
• Save the Elemental Trail for later. The hunt only starts in the Epilogue, so pick it up when you start exploring as John in the Epilogue.

Common mistakes

• Letting the High Stakes hunter escape. Get close and lasso him quickly. If he gets away three times, you'll have to pay a fence for the map.
• Entering the Elysian Pool cave without a lantern. It's pitch dark, and the treasure is deep in a side tunnel.
• Trying to sell gold at a general store. Only fences buy it.