The 2025 St. Paul Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt medallion was found Saturday in Roseville’s Central Park, after the seventh clue had been published. Here are all the clues and their explanations.
Clue 1
Santa Ana’s churning, things are burning
The city hills are glowin’
The beast returns as the hunter yearns
The answer my friend is blowin’
Explanation: We refer to the winds and fires that are devastating Los Angeles, including Pasadena, the “City of Roses” and the home of the Rose Bowl. Ramsey County’s “city of roses” is Roseville, whose Central Park is the place the medallion is hidden.
Clue 2
Over hill over dale hit the dusty trail
Better keep rolling along
In and out hear them shout
If you want to belong
Explanation: “Hill” and “dale” not only refer to the topography of Central Park in Roseville, but “dale,” “rolling along,” “in and out” and “shout” refer to the noise and bustle of the nearby commercial traffic of Rosedale Shopping Center.
Clue 3
To recognize this year’s prize
Seek not geometry of yore
Would it be found stop looking around
Only the edgy will score
Explanation: This year’s medallion breaks tradition by taking on a square (edgy) shape rather than the traditional circular shape. “Would” suggests it is attached to wood from nearby fallen trees.
Clue 4
Water and field a refuge did yield
A place to play when cold or hot
But as changes came they did proclaim
A new use for this pleasant plot
Explanation: Once a prominent attraction with an ornate fountain on what is now Martin Luther King Boulevard and Cedar Street, Central Park in St. Paul was ultimately swallowed by the growing state Capitol campus nearby, as recounted in the Pioneer Press’ special section on the 175th anniversary of St. Paul’s park system. All that remains of the park is a parking ramp with a bronze plaque commemorating “Central Park.” The medallion is hidden at Ramsey County’s other Central Park in Roseville.
Clue 5
When hunters were bidden to where it was hidden
By forces beyond their ken
We got a clue to start things anew
And hope it won’t happen again
Explanation: In 2007, the medallion was found prematurely in Hidden Falls Park after three clues, so we had to scramble and hide a second medallion and create a second set of clues. The second hiding place was Central Park in Roseville, which we have reprised for this year’s hunt.
Clue 6
For noble or peasant life is more pleasant
If the elements are kept at bay
The greatest story gives power and glory
To those who follow the way
Explanation: Across Bennett Lake from the site of the prize, one can see such landmarks as the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and a large power tower. On its property Prince of Peace provides tiny houses, or “sacred settlements,” for the homeless. The path around Bennett Lake will lead hunters to the prize.
Clue 7
To be or not to be
See the quandary once raised
From the town to the crown
Our hero was left half-crazed
Explanation: The prize is hidden in Central Park in Roseville just off of Bennett Lake in the section between County Roads B2 and C and Lexington Avenue and Victoria Street.
Clue 8
A thrust to Mars can’t be made in cars
Even in your wildest imagination
If you felt that burn, think you would return?
Is this your time for celebration?
Explanation: A large “rocket” sits near the parking lot of Central Park’s westernmost section, and only flies in the imaginations of children who play on it. If hunters continue from that lot, past the rocket, they’ll be on a general path toward the hiding spot. The line “Is this your time for celebration?” is a reference to Minnesota hockey coach Herb Brooks’ famous speech before the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team’s game against the Soviet Union: “This is your time,” he told the players. And if hunters started searching in the park adjacent to Brooks Avenue, it could be their time, too.
Clue 9
He ran again and drew Z gen
Oft the boys overlooked
Tale to be told, the play was bold
Brokenness really cooked
Explanation: A reference to the most recent U.S. presidential election and the role Gen Z boys played in the results contains an anagram: the first word of each sentence – “He,” Oft,” Tale,” “Brokenness” – rearranged reveals “shores of bennett lake,” which are near this year’s hiding spot.
Clue 10
If you see man’s cascade we can’t masquerade
There might be a prize for you
If you like to sit up high you might be our guy
As long as your seat is not blue
Explanation: A manmade waterfall sits across Bennett Lake from the hiding spot of the medallion, which is ensconced amidst the ground litter down a hill from one of the park’s many benches. This one is red, unlike many in the park that are blue.
Clue 11
If you followed the clues, it’s probably no news
A rosy park is central to hunt the medallion
Skip gardens and diamonds and things where kids climb and
Stick near trails, heed signs and don’t be the hallion
Explanation: Since we’re near the end of the clues, we divulge the park that holds the prize – Central Park in Roseville. It’s a big park, so we try to rule out some of the main sections – the many ballfields, playgrounds and the Muriel Sahlin Arboretum, specifically. We go further and try to have hunters look near the trails – especially the “Thin Ice” signs that surround Bennett Lake. The prize is tucked very close to one.
Clue 12
If you’re in Central Park and it’s after dark
Look for the lakeside trail light below Aglen
As you face the loch it’s for you to stalk
Two big stumps with a “Thin Ice” sign between them
For five strides take flight as you stay to the right
Stopping just past the aforementioned view
Look down to the ground and start rooting ‘round
Stuck to bark, the prize, it’s waiting for you
Explanation: We give our final directions, zeroing in on the medallion, telling hunters to head to a spot on the lakeside trail. There, a trail light sits below the terminus of Aglen Street and is our beacon to the hiding spot. Two large stumps sit just off the trail, one of the many “Thin Ice” signs in the park planted between them. By taking just a few steps off the trail, hunters can start rifling through the many pieces of bark on the ground, looking for the one that is attached to the puck.
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