The WORST episodes of Expedition Unknown
Every episode of Expedition Unknown ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Expedition Unknown!
Expedition Unknown chronicles the adventures of Josh Gates as he investigates iconic mysteries across the globe. Gates begins by interviewing key eyewitnesses and uncovering recent developments in the story, then springboards into a fully immersive exploration. This authentic, roughshod adventure leads Gates closer to the truth behind these unanswered global enigmas, such as the disappearance of Amelia Earhart’s plane. Josh Gates is an adventurer and avid explorer with a unique brand of humor and passion for off-the-map excursions.
#1 - Mystery Ruins of the Stone Age
Season 15 - Episode 7 - Aired 8/6/2025
Josh investigates rumors swirling around a Turkish dig site that is 6,000 years older than Stonehenge. Separating fact from fiction, they uncover evidence of tribal skull rituals, debunking the legend of an alien-constructed observatory.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#2 - Hitler's Atomic Secrets
Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 6/22/2016
Josh Gates goes to Austria to solve two of the most enduring mysteries of the Third Reich.
#3 - Ghost Ship of the Great Lakes
Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/8/2019
Josh Gates tackles an enduring maritime mystery, the first ship to be lost in the Great Lakes, The Griffon. Using a state of the art two-man submersible, Josh dives in to find a ship so elusive, it's known as "The Holy Grail of Shipwrecks."
#4 - Legend of the Crystal Skull
Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/15/2019
Josh Gates enters Central America's jungles to investigate the legendary crystal skull discovered by a renowned adventurer who was the inspiration for Indiana Jones. Josh probes whether the skull is an invaluable relic or archaeology's tallest tale.
#5 - America's Lost WWII Hero
Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/22/2019
Josh Gates explores the case of lost World War II hero Gertrude "Tommy" Tompkins of the Women Air Force Service Pilots, who went missing when her P-51 Mustang crashed. Josh joins search teams using cutting-edge technology to bring the lost hero home.
#6 - Gold Rush of the Atlantic
Season 7 - Episode 10 - Aired 10/9/2019
Josh Gates has a fresh lead on the massive lost treasure of the shipwrecked 1715 Spanish fleet. Josh returns to the waters of Florida's Atlantic coast and dives in with a new expedition that uses the latest high tech to locate the fleet's flagship.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#9 - Escaping the Rock
Season 10 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/6/2022
Tackling the most famous prison break of all time, Josh retraces the 1962 Alcatraz escape. New leads take Josh from San Francisco to the jungles of Brazil where he finds witnesses and evidence that re-write the FBI's version of the story.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#12 - Chasing Everglades Treasure
Season 10 - Episode 10 - Aired 8/3/2022
Josh digs deep into the swamp to hunt the lost fortune of notorious bootleggers and bank robbers the Ashley Gang; Josh needs to retrace the outlaw family's criminal empire, which included a blood feud with the local Florida sheriff.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#13 - Mysteries of Moses
Season 10 - Episode 11 - Aired 8/10/2022
Looking to answer enduring questions around Moses' existence and the story of Exodus, Josh takes an epic adventure that starts with opening an ancient Egyptian tomb and ends with trekking what could be the true Mount Sinai.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#14 - Chasing the Mysteries of Moses
Season 10 - Episode 12 - Aired 8/17/2022
In the epic conclusion of his two-part investigation, Josh Gates re-traces Moses' steps from the peak of Mount Sinai deep into the Israeli desert. To separate man from myth, Josh dives the Sea of Galilee and investigates what is said to be Moses' tomb.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#15 - Donner Party Horror and Heroes
Season 10 - Episode 13 - Aired 8/24/2022
Josh treks the punishing Donner Pass to uncover how desperate pioneers trapped by blizzards in the Sierra Nevada mountains turned to cannibalism. In an unprecedented six-month investigation, Josh retraces the steps of the courageous rescue teams.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#16 - Finding Italy's Lost Empire
Season 10 - Episode 14 - Aired 8/31/2022
Searching a city of the dead, Josh unearths artifacts from the mysterious Etruscans who ruled central Italy before being conquered by the Roman Empire. A dig site unearths clues that reveal the Etruscans may have inspired Rome's greatest achievements.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#18 - Lost Gold of Scotland
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/1/2019
Hunting for a lost cache of gold, Josh Gates heads to the Scottish Highlands. His search focuses on a huge gold reserve hidden after the Jacobite Uprising of 1745 and never recovered. Josh joins treasure hunters chasing a new lead across the Highlands.
#19 - Atlantis of the Andes
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/24/2019
Josh Gates dives into a mystery below South America's Lake Titicaca. During the investigation, Josh discovers multiple structures of the ancient Tiwanaku people, including ruins hidden in the lake's depths, dubbed "The Atlantis of the Andes".
#20 - Secrets of Christopher Columbus
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/2/2015
In part 1 of a two-part special, Josh visits Portugal & Haiti to discover whether Christopher Columbus was a hero or history's greatest villain. He hopes to find the remnants of Columbus's legendary flagship, the Santa Maria.
#21 - Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/7/2019
Josh Gates travels to the Holy Land to dig in with an archaeologist who has recently discovered new Dead Sea Scrolls. Josh also sees cutting-edge technology restore scroll fragments in a way that could change how we read the Bible.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#22 - Deciphering the Last Nazi Code
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/10/2019
Josh Gates ventures into the former Third Reich in search of an elusive Nazi fortune hidden with a code allegedly created by Hitler's private secretary, and embedded into a piece of sheet music.
#23 - Butch Cassidy's Lost Loot
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/24/2018
Josh immerses himself in Wild West lore on a quest to find Butch Cassidy's missing money. He traces the iconic outlaw's footsteps through Colorado, Utah and Nevada, eventually learning that he may need to find the man himself to locate the lost loot.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#24 - The Quest for King Arthur
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/7/2015
In the Season 2 premiere, Gates travels to England, Wales and Scotland to explore the legend of King Arthur.
#25 - Blackbeard's Hidden Gold
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/21/2015
Josh explores the ocean floor of the Cayman Islands and the coasts of North Carolina in his quest to find the lost treasure of the legendary pirate Blackbeard.